ELI Leadership Council Admits Two New Members

December 2014
The Environmental Law Institute is pleased to announce the entry of two new members to its Leadership Council.  Bill Wehrum, the head of the Administrative Law Group and chair of the Environmental Team for Hunton & Williams, leads a practice focusing on air quality issues, including regulatory development and related litigation; compliance counseling and enforcement defense; legislative advice; and permitting. Prior to joining Hunton & Williams, Mr. Wehrum served for two years as Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation at the U.S. EPA, where he was responsible for all aspects of the Agency’s air program−from stationary sources, to motor vehicles and fuels, to climate change. Before accepting this position, he served for four years as the chief counselor of the Assistant Administrator. Mr. Wehrum has testified on air quality issues before Congress on numerous occasions and has spoken at dozens of environmental conferences over the past several years. He is a member of the US District Court for the District of Columbia and the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. He is also a Registered Professional Chemical Engineer in the State of Delaware.  “Bill Wehrum is one of the leading Air lawyers in the nation,” said John C Cruden, President of ELI. “He brings exceptional government and private practice experience to the Leadership Council and will be of great value in advising and assisting ELI in the future.” Suedeen G. Kelly, a partner with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington, D.C., is co-chair of the firm’s energy regulation, markets and enforcement practice. She is an internationally-recognized energy industry veteran and former Commissioner with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Ms. Kelly represents a variety of clients in the electric and natural gas industries on business, regulatory, litigation, enforcement and policy matters such as electricity and gas markets, renewable energy, electricity transmission, natural gas and oil infrastructure, LNG, electricity reliability standards, hydro licensing, carbon emissions, smart grid, energy efficiency and distributed generation. During her three terms as FERC Commissioner, Ms. Kelly resolved 7,000 disputes with published Commission decisions and personally authored 100 separate statements during her tenure. She is credited with spearheading change in numerous regulatory policies, including transmission interconnection and planning reform, integration of renewables into the grid, deployment of smart grid technology to the transmission grid,the inclusion of smart grid demonstration grants in the stimulus effort, and natural gas quality standards. In addition to her time at FERC, Ms. Kelly served as regulatory counsel for the California Independent System Operator and was a law professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law where she taught energy law, utility regulation, administrative law and legislative process. ELI is honored to announce that Suedeen Kelly will be joining our prestigious Leadership Council,” said ELI President John C. Cruden. “As a former FERC Commissioner and law professor, Suedeen continues to be one of the foremost energy law experts in the United States and she will assist ELI in expanding our energy focus in education, publications, and research.” The ELI Leadership Council is the Institute’s group for the most prominent environment, energy, and natural resource leaders in the nation. The Council recognizes leaders for their commitment of resources and time to the Institute’s vision of a healthy environment, prosperous economies, and vibrant communities founded on the rule of law. Members participate in events and have a chance to network and engage other leaders in discussions about key environmental law and policy issues.