Photo of Sean Farrell

Sean combines his experience in real estate law and energy regulation to help clients build the renewable energy projects that will drive the future.

After beginning his legal career in litigation and real estate agreements, Sean found himself drawn to news articles regarding changes in energy law and energy programs through the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT). Realizing his true interest lay in the energy sector, he pivoted from his law firm job and took a position as a PUCT attorney, where he represented the public interest in proceedings before the Commission. Sean served as the lead attorney for the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone docket and regularly addressed matters involving transmission lines, violations and rulemakings.

Sean later returned to the private sector, representing clients in administrative proceedings before the PUCT, including contested rate cases and cases involving placement of transmission lines. He then transitioned from energy matters to real estate law, negotiating commercial leases and purchase and sale agreements, resolving title and survey issues, and representing landlords, tenants and developers.

Today, Sean combines both aspects of his background and represents renewable energy project developers and owners in a variety of real estate matters. He advises clients on title and survey issues, leases, easements, acquisitions and dispositions of property, landowner negotiations, and financing and investment agreements.

Sean greatly values the opportunity to work in such an important and evolving area of law, and he’s particularly excited to work with clients on the cutting edge of energy development. He knows renewable energy is a field the world is increasingly—and necessarily—embracing, and he finds great satisfaction in helping clients build a better and prosperous future.

The Texas Attorney General recently issued Opinion KP-0467 (the “Opinion”) addressing “whether a person who negotiates a lease for property for the development of a wind power project on behalf of another, for compensation, must have a license from the Texas Real Estate Commission (“Commission”).”

Put simply, do Texas landmen need a Texas real estate license to negotiate wind leases? 

As discussed previously in this blog, physical attacks against substations have been on the rise. However, the U.S. power grid[1] is also vulnerable to cyberattacks from U.S. adversaries, which includes hostile foreign governments, as well as individual bad actors such as insiders and criminals. Although there have been more physical attacks than cyberattacks

Between October 2022 and February 2023, at least nine substations were attacked in North Carolina, Washington State, and Oregon, resulting in power outages for tens of thousands of people.  Damage to two substations in Moore County, North Carolina on December 3, 2022 caused 45,000 people to lose power, some for five days.