Bernard L. McNamee is the Street Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Appalachian School of Law. McNamee is a former Commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). McNamee is also a Partner at McGuireWoods LLP and a Senior Advisor at McGuireWoods Consulting where he provides clients with legal, policy and legislative guidance on a wide range of energy and environmental issues.
McNamee completed a term as a commissioner on FERC in 2020. During his time on the Commission, McNamee was recognized as a leader on a number of important energy issues and participated in more than 1,700 published orders on issues related to wholesale electricity markets, natural gas pipelines, liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities, oil pipeline rates, hydro facilities, reliability standards, and ratemaking. He also testified before Congress and was invited to speak before energy organizations throughout the country. McNamee assists clients with high-stakes and complex issues involving the Federal Power Act (FPA), Natural Gas Act (NGA), Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), Interstate Commerce Act (ICA), and Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
Before joining FERC, McNamee served in the U.S. Department of Energy as Executive Director of the Office of Policy and Deputy General Counsel for Energy Policy. His career in public service includes key leadership positions under Attorneys General
in Virginia and Texas and policy advisor roles for a U.S. Senator from Texas and a Governor of Virginia.
McNamee previously was a partner in McGuireWoods’ Regulatory & Compliance
Department. He assisted electric and natural gas utilities in rate cases and in obtaining approvals to build generating facilities and transmission lines, as well as the development of renewable portfolio standards (RPS) and integrated resource planning (IRP). He played an integral role advising clients during implementation of the 2007 Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act, which returned the state’s utilities to a modified cost-of-service regulatory model.
