Practice FocusEnergyFacility Siting and Land UsePublic Utility RegulationEnergy TransactionsTransmission & InterconnectionCompliance & EnforcementRenewable EnergyTransportationPublic Agency RepresentationConsumer RepresentationLegislationEnergy PolicyNegotiation, Alternative Dispute Resolution & LitigationWaterPublic Utility RegulationUtility RepresentationDesalinationEnvironmentalPublic Utility RegulationBiosolidsCEQA / NEPAFacility Siting and Land UseGHG Regulation
Bar and Court AdmissionsState Bar of CaliforniaAll California State CourtsU.S. District Court, Northern District of California
EducationJ.D., University of California, Davis, 1989B.S., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1981
Ronald Liebert is a Partner in Ellison Schneider Harris & Donlan. Ron assists regulated and municipal utilities, agricultural, commercial and industrial gas and electric utility customers, and renewable energy developers in resolving a wide range of energy, rate design, and environmental regulatory and compliance issues before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and California Energy Commission (CEC).
Representative Experience
For over 33 years, Ron has represented utility, commercial, industrial, and agricultural utility customers and energy developers in regulatory proceedings at the CPUC, including over 30 large electric and gas utility general rate cases (GRCs), numerous policy and rate design proceedings and consumer complaint cases. Ron also has assisted regulated and municipal utilities with revenue, rate design, and tariff matters.
In addition, Ron has participated in a wide variety of other energy and environmentally related issues at the CPUC, the California Legislature, the CEC, the California Water Resources Control Board and Regional Water Quality Control Boards and local county boards and agencies, in particular, to craft regulations governing the use of biosolids, water recycling and biogas and the siting of natural gas storage and solar PV facilities.
Ron also was actively involved in the regulatory and legislative efforts to restructure California’s electric operations and markets and served on the Board of the California Power Exchange (CalPX), where he was elected Chair of the Legal/ADR Committee.
Prior to returning to private practice with Ellison, Schneider & Harris, Ron was an Associate Counsel for the California Farm Bureau Federation. For nearly 15 years, Ron represented California’s agricultural customers’ interests at the CPUC, participating in nearly every energy and gas-related proceeding relevant to agriculture and agricultural customers. Ron also was a registered lobbyist for the Farm Bureau, where he assisted with energy-related matters of concern to the California Legislature.
The legal profession is actually Ron’s second career. Before attending law school, Ron worked for five years as a nuclear engineer specializing in energy-related design, construction and operational issues for nuclear and gas-fired generating plants, which included extensive on-site experience.Representative ClientsCalifornia Manufacturers & Technology AssociationEnergy Power PartnersVote SolarSpreckels Water CompanyIndustries ServedCommercial and Industrial ManufacturingRenewable Energy DevelopersAgricultureWater Supply
Professional InvolvementInstructor, University of California, Davis Extension’s Environmental Hazard Management Program, 1993-1995.Courses included “Legal and Regulatory Aspects of Site Assessment and Remediation” and “Project Planning, Decision Making and Communications”California Power Exchange Board of Governors – 1997-2000. Chair, Legal/ADR Committee, 1997-2001State Bar of California, Environmental Law Section - currentConference of California Public Utility Counsel - current
Sacramento County Bar Association – current. Chair, Environmental Law Section, 1995-1996
Awards and Professional Recognition
Charter Member, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Tau Beta Pi, National Engineering Honor Society. Vice-President, UCSB Chapter, 1981
Representative Speaking Engagements
Speaker, UC Cooperative Extension, San Luis Obispo County, Biosolids Workshop – 1998
Speaker, California Senate Energy, Utilities & Communications Committee informational hearing on California Energy Issues - 1999
Speaker, ABA Conference on Environmental Law, Keystone, Colorado, Biosolids Use for Agriculture - 2001
Speaker, Yolo County Operational Energy Summit – 2001
Speaker, Allied Insurance, Sacramento, “California Energy Crisis” – 2001
Panelist, 22nd Annual Utility Energy Forum, South Lake Tahoe, CA – 2002
Speaker, California Association of Sanitation Agencies Annual Conference, Monterey, CA “Going Green, Energy Opportunities in California” – 2012
Guest Speaker, Florin High School Law Academy (through Sacramento County Bar Association) - 2014
Speaker, California League of Food Processors Committee Day, Sacramento, “Energy issues, rates and bill impacts” - 2015
Panelist, California Energy Ratepayers Roundtable, Sacramento – 2018
Speaker, California League of Food Producers, Energy Committee, “Natural gas issues and rates” - 2018Publications
Article, “State UST Fund Update,” published in the Spring 1993 ed. of Hydrovisions, a publication of the Groundwater Resources Association.
Article, “Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Costs: Spreading the Pain,” published in the Summer 1993 ed. of Hydrovisions.
Several articles on energy and biosolids issues for the California Farm Bureau Federation’s Ag Alert newspaper – 1996-2010.
Article, “Grappling with the growing threat of wildfires and costs in California,” published in the California Lawyer Daily Journal on Dec. 5, 2018.
Community Involvement
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America – 1983-1985Leadership Folsom, 1992Volunteer, numerous elementary, junior high and high school fund-raising and sporting events, 2000-2013
Media CoverageRon has been interviewed for and quoted a number of times over the past 25 years on energy and biosolids issues in a variety of news articles published in California
