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BrendaColella

She | Her |Hers

Partner

"Brenda Colella is excellent in terms of her regulatory knowledge and she is incredibly responsive." —Client in Chambers & Partners

Overview

Biography

For over 20 years, Brenda has practiced energy and regulatory law, focusing on the development of energy and infrastructure projects, complex regulatory issues, and energy transactions. She began her career in federal litigation involving environmental and property law.

Brenda currently serves as Barclay Damon's Regulatory Practice Group leader, managing eight of the firm’s practice areas. She also serves as the Regulatory Practice Area co-chair and co-leader of the Renewable Energy and Energy Markets Teams. Brenda represents a wide array of clients, including renewable-energy developers and investors, electric generators, transmission line and pipeline owners and developers, and regulated utilities.

Brenda regularly represents developers of transmission and generation projects in major infrastructure siting and regulatory proceedings, including Public Service Law Article VII, VIII, and 10 proceedings before the New York Public Service Commission, Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Transmission, and the New York Siting Board for Electric Generation and the Environment, respectively. Brenda also routinely handles other regulatory matters, including those involving the approval of transfer of assets and ownership interests, financing approvals, and other approvals under Public Service Law Sections 68, 69, and 70; retail and wholesale-market issues; and compliance with safety laws and regulations.

Brenda often counsels energy clients in the preparation and negotiation of transactional documents such as interconnection, power purchase, energy management, fuel supply, and transportation agreements. She also represents clients in all aspects of project development, including site acquisition, right-to-build and environmental issues, preparing and negotiating EPC and construction contract documents, and securing project financing and funding, including real property tax mitigation and development incentives.

Bar Associations

  • New York State Bar Association, Environmental and Energy Law Section and Public Utility Law Section
  • Energy Bar Association
  • Onondaga County Bar Association
  • Central New York Women's Bar Association

Selected Memberships & Affiliations

  • American Clean Power Association
  • Oceantic Network (formerly Business Network for Offshore Wind)
  • New York Solar Energy Industries Association
  • Alliance for Clean Energy New York
  • New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV), Central and Western New York (CWNY) Chapter, Board Member
  • Women in Communications and Energy (WICE)
  • Women’s Energy Network (WEN), Greater Albany Chapter
  • Barclay Damon’s Women Forum

Languages

  • Spanish
Experience

Representative Experience

  • Representation of LS Power New York Grid and the New York Power Authority in the development, permitting, construction, and operation of, including obtaining siting approval under Public Service Law VII for, the Central East Energy Connect Project, including 93 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and related infrastructure from Marcy, New York, to New Scotland, New York.
  • Representation of the New York Power Authority in obtaining siting approval under Public Service Law Article VII for the Smart Path Project, including 78 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and related infrastructure from Massena, New York, to Croghan, New York.
  • Representation of New York Power Authority in obtaining siting approval under Public Service Law Article VII for the Smart Path Connect Project, including 100 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and related infrastructure between Clinton, New York, and Massena, New York, and from Croghan, New York, to Marcy, New York.
  • Representation of Forward Power (a joint venture of Invenergy and energyRe) in obtaining siting approval under Public Service Law Article VII for the Clean Path New York Project, including 178 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and related infrastructure from Delaware County to Queens, New York.
  • Representation on Queensboro Development, an affiliate of Rise, Light & Power, in obtaining siting approval under Public Service Law Article VII for the Queensboro Renewable Express Project, including 18.5 miles of submarine, high-voltage transmission lines and related infrastructure from the boundary of federal waters to the Ravenswood site in Queens, New York.
  • Representation of Bull Run Energy, an affiliate of Invenergy, in obtaining siting approval under Public Service Law Article VIII for the Bull Run Wind project, including 449 MW of wind facilities and related infrastructure to be constructed in Clinton County, New York.
  • Representation of Rock District Solar, an affiliate of Greenbacker Renewable Energy Corp., in obtaining siting approval under Public Service Law Article VIII for the Rock District Solar project, including 20 MW of solar facilities and related infrastructure to be constructed in Carlisle and Seward, New York.
  • Representation of Howard Wind, an affiliate of Greenbacker Renewable Energy Corp., in obtaining a declaratory ruling from the Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Transmission regarding the repowering of certain wind facilities.
  • Representation of Danskammer Energy in obtaining siting approval under Public Service Law Article 10, as well as air and other permits from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, for the repowering of an existing major electric-generating facility.
  • Representation of Number Three Wind on compliance and regulatory issues related to the Number Three Wind project, a 104 MW wind facility operating in Lowville and Harrisburg, New York.
  • Representation of Greenidge Generation and Greenidge Pipeline, an affiliate of Atlas Holdings, in the development, permitting, construction, and operation of a natural-gas pipeline and plant upgrades in connection with the conversion of a coal-fueled electric-generation facility to a natural-gas-fueled facility.
  • Representation of various owners and developers of distributed-generation solar facilities in the preparation and negotiation of financing documents, EPC contracts, O&M agreements, and interconnection agreements and in applying to and negotiating with local industrial development agencies for real-property-tax mitigation and other incentives.
  • Representation of various energy clients in the due diligence for and acquisition or sale of various energy projects, including solar, wind, energy storage, and non-renewable-power facilities, transmission lines, and energy-efficiency businesses.
  • Representation of various energy clients in seeking approvals under Public Service Law Sections 68, 69, and 70 for certificates of public convenience and necessity, financing approvals, and approvals of transfers of energy assets and ownership interests in energy corporations.
  • Representation of a regional planning authority on the cooperative procurement process in connection with the procurement of a solar developer to install, operate, and maintain multiple solar facilities on municipal land, including the review and negotiation of a template power-purchase agreement and lease.
  • Representation of a developer with respect to a petroleum pipeline project involving environmental review, various federal and state permits, and the review of local laws for consistency.
  • Representation of a power-generation owner in a proceeding before the New York State Public Service Commission with respect to the approval of an increase in the power rating for a generating facility in New York State.
  • Representation of a transmission developer in a generation-retirement contingency plan proceeding before the New York State Public Service Commission with respect to a major, buried high-voltage direct current transmission line.
  • Representation of a natural-gas energy company in obtaining necessary approvals from the New York State Public Service Commission for the transfer of a natural-gas pipeline to a new entity, lightened regulation, and the transfer of an amendment to an Article VII certificate for the natural-gas pipeline.

Prior Experience

  • Hiscock & Barclay, LLP, Partner
  • Gilberti Stinziano Heintz & Smith, PC, Partner
  • Gilberti Stinziano Heintz & Smith, PC, Associate
  • Marzulla Law, Associate

Selected Community Activities

  • Greater Strathmore Neighborhood Association, Member
  • Strathmore Huntley Group, Member and Historic Building Investor

Selected Honors

  • The Best Lawyers in America®: Energy Law, 2023–2026; Oil and Gas Law, 2023–2026
  • Chambers USA, New York State: Energy: State Regulatory & Wholesale Electric Market, 2021–2025
  • City & State New York, Law Power 100, 2025
  • Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter, Exceptional Women of Central New York Award, 2016
Knowledge

Selected Speaking Engagements

  • New York Energy Summit, April 2025, “New Developments in Transmission Planning and Renewables Integration,” Moderator
  • New York Energy Summit, April 2024, “Challenges and Progress in Streamlining Siting and Permitting Processes,” Moderator
  • Barclay Damon Renewable Energy Webinar, June 2020, “Article 10 vs. Section 94-c: A Path to New York State’s Renewable Energy Future,” Presenter
  • AEP Webinar, March 2020, “Article 10 and Beyond,” Presenter
  • Madison County Training Seminar, November 2019, “Article 10 Overview,” Presenter
  • New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, “Central New York Renewable Energy Forum and Roundtable,” September 2019, Moderator
  • New York State Bar Association Environmental and Energy Law Section Fall Meeting, October 2017, “A Second Wind: US Offshore Wind Development, Lessons Learned from the Block Island Wind Farm and Other Projects,” Presenter

Selected Media

Selected Alerts & Blog Posts

Featured Media

Alerts

Massachusetts Federal Court Permits Sharing Clause in Protective Order in Products Liability Case

Alerts

NYS Court of Appeals Holds That Parent May Not Recover for Emotional Injuries in Prenatal-Injury Case

Alerts

Smarter Inventory Management for Pharmacies: Navigating Online Marketplace Compliance

Alerts

Emergency Wine Run, Now Legal: New York State Opens Retail-to-Retail Sales

Alerts

California's Updated Privacy Regulations: Automated Decisionmaking Technology, Cybersecurity Audits, and Risk Assessments, Part 1

Alerts

Pharmacies on High Alert: Optum Rx's 25-Percent Therapeutic-Class Cap Creates Major Legal, Operational, and Competitive Risks