Richard A. Heinemann has spent nearly his entire twenty-plus year career in the energy industry, primarily representing municipal electric utilities and joint action agencies. He currently serves as outside general counsel for four such agencies: Central Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (CMMPA), Great Lakes Utilities (GLU), Northern Illinois Municipal Power Agency (NIMPA), and the Upper Midwest Municipal Energy Group (UMMEG). The municipal electric utility members of these agencies are located in states throughout the Upper Midwest, including Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota.
Richard has advised clients on a wide range of matters, including power supply contracts; generation project development; agency governance and formation issues; strategic planning; asset transfers; construction agreements, intergovernmental agreements, territorial disputes; sustainability (“green”) practices, brownfield redevelopment; regulatory compliance and transmission matters in both the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and PJM Interconnection (PJM).
Mr. Heinemann has a wide-range of experience in state and federal regulatory matters, including environmental and transmission-related issues, and has represented joint action agency clients before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), as well as state municipal utilities and regulatory agencies in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota.
Admitted to Practice
- Wisconsin
- Illinois
- Minnesota
Representative Work
- Assisted City of Rochelle to obtain federal regulatory approval to become a transmission owner in a regional transmission organization
- Negotiated wind and solar power purchase agreements on behalf of Great Lakes Utilities, the Upper Midwest Municipal Energy Group, and Central Minnesota Municipal Power Agency
- Assisted EnergySolutions obtain state regulatory approval to acquire ownership of the Kewaunee Power Station in order to perform nuclear decommissioning licensing activities
- Advises Electric and Water Plant Board of City of Frankfort, Kentucky on wholesale power supply and agency membership matters
- Advises Northern Municipal Power Agency on wholesale power supply matters
- Advised Oconto Electric Cooperative on negotiating a long term wholesale power supply full requirements agreement
- Represents Winnebago County Solid Waste Management Board on waste to energy facility matters
- Represented City of Marshfield in obtaining state regulatory approval to construct a 55 MW combustion turbine
- Assisted a group of 13 municipal utilities transfer transmission assets to the American Transmission Company in exchange for ownership interests
- Negotiated a multi-million dollar environmental liability transfer agreement on behalf of Kaukauna Utilities
Representative Clients
- Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin
- Great Lakes Utilities
- Central Minnesota Municipal Power Agency
- Upper Midwest Municipal Energy Group
- Northern Illinois Municipal Power Agency
- Northern Minnesota Power Agency
- Western Wisconsin Biosolids Facility Commission
- Winnebago County Landfill Gas Facility
- City of Marshfield, Wisconsin
- Kaukauna Utility Commission
- City of Geneva, Illinois
- City of St. Charles, Minnesota
- Midwest Independent System Operator
Honors & Recognition
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America®
- Real Estate Law, 2013-Present
- Energy Law, 2021-Present
See our disclaimer regarding third-party awards.
Presentations, Publications, & Contributions
- Co-author, “Municipal Utility Governance: Options and Responsibilities,” Municipality March 2020
- Presenter, Municipal Law Update, Public Utilities Institute March 2020
- Presenter, Aligning Market Outcomes with State Policy Goals and Consumer Preferences”, Renewable Energy in the Midwest Conference, 2018
- Presenter, “Bringing Solar to Your Community: Recent Success Stories and What Local Governments Can Do,” Wisconsin League of Municipalities Attorneys Institute, 2017
- Author, “Sun Cities: How Wisconsin Communities Can Invest in the New Solar Economy,” Municipality, 2016
- Frequent presenter and contributor to Midwest Energy Bar Association, Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Bankers Association and other organizations on regulatory matters, utility collection and bankruptcy issues, municipal finance and renewable energy development
Community Involvement & Board Memberships
- Midwest Energy Bar Association, Vice President
- Boys and Girls Club of Dane County, Secretary and Executive Committee Board Member
- Sustain Dane, Secretary and Executive Committee Member
- Wisconsin Environmental Initiative, Board Chair
Professional Memberships
- The American Bar Foundation, Fellow
- Energy Bar Association, Renewable Energy and Climate Change Committee
- State Bar of Wisconsin
- Energy and Telecommunications Section
- Environmental Law Section
- State Bar of Illinois
- State Bar of Minnesota
- Dane County Bar Association
Education
- J.D., cum laude, University of Wisconsin Law School
- Order of the Coif
- Editor in Chief, Wisconsin Law Review
- Ph.D., German and Social Thought, University of Chicago
- Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Federal Chancellor Scholar
- Mellon Fellow in the Humanities
- A.B., magna cum laude, Brown University
Richard’s Latest Writing & Presentations
Restrictive Renewable Energy Ordinances May Be Vulnerable to Legal Challenge
Municipal Law Newsletter | 08.01.24
With the continued push toward development of largescale wind and solar projects, some municipalities have responded by passing restrictive ordinances protecting against perceived threats to local health and agriculture.