BRIEFS
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter donned
a cardigan sweater, took a seat by the
fireplace in the White House library and
told Americans the country was in an
energy crisis.
The light bulb had not yet gone on for
most Americans, but attorney Sheila Hollis
understood the significance.
At the time, Hollis, still in her 20s, was
acting as the first director of the Office
of Enforcement of the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission. There, she
helped establish the fundamental energy
enforcement and compliance policies that
remain in place today.
“It was a tremendously exciting
time, helping to lay the foundation for
something so vital,” she says. “We were
heading into uncharted territory, knowing
that the work we did would make an
impact for years to come. I just loved
everything about it.”
Hollis, now chair of the Washington,
D.C., office of Duane Morris and
a member of the firm’s executive
committee, is still focusing on her first
love—energy—with a side of water and
environmental matters. She represents
municipalities and other government
bodies, as well as power and natural
gas industries, in the United States and
around the world. Her work has taken her
to Central and South America, China, East
Africa, Europe, Russia and Southeast Asia.
“[Liquefied natural gas] export matters
that encompass opportunities for enhancing
our energy stature around the globe are an
arena that I particularly enjoy,” she says.
“After 40 years of U.S. imports of energy,
it is a tremendous change to embrace the
SHEILA HOLLIS HAS BEEN HAVING FUN IN ENERGY LAW SINCE THE LATE 1970S
BY EILEEN SMITH DALLABRIDA
ENERGY BAR
policy. We are poised to shift the basic
assumptions about our place in the world as
an energy importer.”
Hollis feels privileged to be hard at
work on a number of projects seeking to
develop gas reserves for U.S. consumption
as well as export. “Essential to making
this all work is a close adherence to
environmental and land use laws by
producers, availability of infrastructure to
encourage development of transportation
and distribution and wise use of oil and gas
reserves,” she says.
The first woman president of the Energy
Bar Association, Hollis is a natural pioneer.
Her grandparents were Irish immigrants
who headed west from Philadelphia
to Colorado. Her grandfather, a step
dancer who emigrated from Tipperary,
Ireland, was ill with tuberculosis when his
train crossed the prairie. Her mother, a
geological draftsman, designed nuclear
weapons at Los Alamos. Her dad was
working on a doctorate in neuroanatomy.
Hollis, a precocious only child,
grew up listening to adults discuss
complicated topics.
“They expected me to understand
whatever they were talking about,” she
recalls. “So, I did.”
She uses that skill every day.
“A cutting-edge issue in which I am
heavily involved is the transition of clients
dealing with the complexities of aging
electric generation, both coal and nuclear,”
Hollis says. “Confronting the realities of
possible plant closures, and the impact on
communities, labor, tax base and reliability
and availability of power, is a tremendous
challenge. In some cases, entire
around the generation facilities. Many
times, the plant workers are highly skilled
and trained, embedded in the community
and among the most highly paid in the
area. Yet the lights are starting to be
turned off; and planning how to absorb the
changes, to obtain the fairest treatment
possible for all involved, including the
generators, is a major challenge, calling
upon the visionaries from all perspectives.”
Outside of the plants, the average
American doesn’t need to look far to see the
evolution of energy on an everyday basis.
“Appliances are more efficient. Cars
are more efficient. Buildings are designed
better,” Hollis says. “We have reduced
water use, especially in industry.”
Hollis also notes that behind the scenes,
corporations have grown their ranks of
compliance and risk officers to make
certain that businesses meet regulatory
standards, the kind of positions that
were scarce when Hollis led the Federal
Enforcement Office.
“It is not in their best interest not to
toe the line,” she says. “Energy is a huge
concern for everyone, and will continue to
be so.”
