Brian Bell

Energy Law

• In re N. States Power Co., No. A15-1831, 2016 WL 3043122 (Minn. Ct. App. May 31, 2016): Successfully advocated for an investor-owned utility before a state utility board and appellate court related to its solar gardens program
• In re Enbridge Energy, 964 N.W.2d 173 (Minn. Ct. App. 2021): Represented group of crude oil shippers intervening in a contested case for a certificate of need for the replacement of a crude oil pipeline. The certificate was granted and sustained on judicial review
• Tri-State Generation and Transmission Ass’n, 174 FERC ¶ 61,021 (2021): Secured acceptance by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) of generation-and-transmission cooperative’s revised generator interconnection procedures
• Tri-State Generation & Transmission Ass’n, Inc., 179 FERC ¶ 61,118 (2022): Obtained approval for energy sales below price index but above FERC-imposed price cap in the western United States
• Montana v. Talen Montana, LLC, No. CV 16-35-H-DLC (D. Mont.): Defended an investor-owned utility against suit by a State for rents for the utility’s hydroelectric facilities’ use of riverbeds, successfully defending against a motion to remand to state court, winning dismissal of certain claims, and moving the court to require joinder of the United States
• Crow Wing Coop. Power & Light Co. v. Great River Energy, No. A18-0471, 2019 WL 114200 (Minn. Ct. App. Jan. 7, 2019): Won dismissal of the majority of claims brought by a distribution electric cooperative against a generation-and-transmission cooperative
• Renewable Energy Aggregators, 177 FERC ¶ 61,040 (2021); Letter Order, Arizona Sacaton Pumped Hydro Storage Project, P-14869 (Mar. 4, 2020): Represented mining company and pumped-storage developers in proceedings before FERC
• N. States Power Co., 168 FERC ¶ 62,028 (2019): Successfully applied to FERC for approval for an investor-owned utility to acquire several wind-energy facilities
• Represented clients in rate proceedings before state utility commissions
• Assisted client in filing for approval of its smart-meter technology
• Assisted an investor-owned utility in the purchase of an 80 megawatt, $143-million wind farm

Natural Resources Law

• Advocated for mining company seeking to reverse adverse mineral leasing decision by the Department of the Interior
• Conducted due diligence for natural resource projects in the Midwest, West, and Alaska;
• Represented mining company in disputing federal government’s withdrawal of minerals on national forest system lands
• Advocated on behalf of copper-nickel company in receiving government approval for a 211-mile right-of-way to the company’s mineral holdings and in mine permitting

Environmental Law

• State ex rel the Associated Contract Loggers & Truckers of Minn. v. N. States Power Co., Court File No. 11-CV-17-2090 (Minn. 9th Jud. Dist.): Successfully won dismissal of a Minnesota Environmental Rights Act lawsuit by a trade association against an investor-owned utility seeking to prevent the utility from closing a biomass power generation facility
• Represented client in enforcement action, which was eventually dropped, before the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for alleged violations of Clean Water Act permits
• Assisted manufacturer in obtaining liability protection through Minnesota’s brownfields program
• Won an over 50 percent reduction in a metal-plating company’s unpaid sewer discharge fees
• Persuaded the Environmental Protection Agency not to pursue enforcement action against a company that had neglected to make a release report under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)

Land Use

• Successfully overturned adverse decision denying approval of surface parking lot in central business district
• Secured denial of neighborhood appeal and petition for environmental review for a mixed-used development
• Represented a manufacturer in preventing adverse decisions in connection with a municipalities’ adoption of its comprehensive plan and obtaining approval for a street vacation
• Completed land use due diligence for an investment company acquiring a hotel in an urban core
• Conducted land use due diligence for a real estate company seeking to invest in a mixed-use development