Deanne M. O'Dell

Overview

Deanne O’Dell, former counsel to a commissioner of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, has nearly 20 years of public utility law experience. Over the past decade, she has represented a diverse mix of clients, including electricity generation suppliers, natural gas supplier and distribution companies, competitive telecommunications carriers, rural incumbent telephone companies, wireless carriers, cable companies, entities in rail-highway crossing matters, and water utilities. On behalf of these clients, she has engaged in all facets of regulatory law including business planning, licensing, regulatory compliance, policy advocacy, and monitoring of relevant issues. In addition, Deanne has litigated numerous major cases before various public utility commissions and, in Pennsylvania, has represented several clients before the appellate courts up to and including the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Prior to entering private practice, Deanne’s seven years of experience at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission prepared her to successfully represent public utility clients. During that time, Deanne served as counsel to one of the five Pennsylvania commissioners. In the course of providing legal, technical, and policy advice to the commissioner, Deanne gained valuable insight about the commission. Importantly, through first-hand experience, she learned strategies that can successfully advance a client’s objectives at the commission. Deanne also served as an assistant counsel in the Commission’s Law Bureau and represented the commission in administrative, appellate, and Federal Communications Commission proceedings. As a result of her time at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Deanne acquired broad experience regarding all aspects of public utility law, which she continues to draw upon today as she serves her clients.

Representative Matters

• Comprehensive representation before the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission of trade organization consisting of over 20 retail electricity and natural gas suppliers operating throughout the United States. These matters include a variety of litigation and policy-oriented proceedings related to retail electricity competition. For example, the representation of the client’s interests in several complex and litigated proceedings involving the electric distribution companies resulted in the implementation of important retail market enhancement measures in Pennsylvania. These programs include the customer referral and purchase of receivable programs that were ultimately structured consistent with the client’s recommendations. This noteworthy outcome has presented excellent opportunities for electric generation suppliers doing business in Pennsylvania to provide competitive generation supply to consumers.
• Representation of retail electricity generation suppliers in a multitude of rulemaking and policy-oriented matters. In Pennsylvania, this process generally involves the initiation of a docket, a stakeholder process, and an opportunity to submit formal comments. Matters typically involve highly technical issues and/or complex business processes that need to be understood and carefully explained to policymakers to ensure resulting rules are reasonable. Through significant involvement in such matters, key regulations directly applicable to electricity generation suppliers have been implemented in a measured and reasonable manner. These regulations include sales and marketing requirements, customer disclosure notice requirements, and accelerated switching processes.
• Advised and counseled one of the largest energy suppliers in North America in navigating the regulatory requirements imposed by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to enter into a consumer retail marketing partnership with the largest cable company in the United States.
• Routinely represent and provide legal counsel to a variety of telecommunications, electricity, and gas supplier companies regarding Pennsylvania Public Utility licensing, certification, and compliance requirements. That includes reviewing customer contracts, marketing practices, and reporting obligations of these entities to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Represent telecommunications carriers requiring approval from the Pennsylvania Public Utility for changes in control and asset transfers. As an example, the purchase of one Pennsylvania rural incumbent local exchange carrier by another involved the filing of multiple applications, tariffs, and additional information as requested by the Commission prior to receiving authority. All approvals needed to be acquired within a short timeframe due to the need to quickly consummate the transaction. Through preservation and determination, all approvals were timely received to permit a smooth transition.
• Represented a competitive telecommunications provider in an highly-contested complaint proceeding involving an issue of first impression for the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. After addressing numerous procedural hurdles—including an attempt to dismiss the complaint through interlocutory review, numerous discovery objections, and a petition for reconsideration—the commission concluded that it had the authority to apply federal law to resolve disputes pertaining to the compensation for ISP-bound traffic. As a result, the commission determined that the client was entitled to significant compensation that had not been paid over a period of seven years. This was a significant win for the client.