Nikki Gray Shoultz

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Nikki Shoultz is a partner in the Utility Group. Nikki represents utilities, energy industry stakeholders, municipalities, large industrial and commercial energy consumers, landowners, and developers in state and federal regulatory proceedings, litigation, and private business transactions.  She has more than twenty years of experience representing clients with energy, telecommunications, technology, wind, solar, water and sewer matters. Prior to entering private practice, Nikki served for four years with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission as Chief Administrative Law Judge, general counsel, and assistant general counsel.

Nikki’s career highlights include:

• Prevailing in a proceeding that approved a new rate structure for large industrial customers, allowing access to the wholesale market for power, which identified up to $60 million per year in savings for large industrial customers.
• Intervening in a regulatory proceeding that would have shifted $45 million in costs to retail customers related to their wholesale power operations. The shift in cost was eliminated, which reduced the power cost to retail customers.
• Saving a large, publicly traded industrial company $14 million a year by negotiating advantageous electric rates for its manufacturing facilities.
• Prevailing in a multi-million dollar contractual dispute on behalf of an electric provider with more than a billion dollars in assets.
• Serving as counsel for the City of Indianapolis in its highly contested, yet ultimately successful, acquisition of the Indianapolis Water Company.
• Efficiently navigating several national telecommunications carriers through complex regulatory issues, including carrier-to-carrier and competition related disputes, state and federal universal service fund obligations, slamming investigations, and matters affecting the payphone industry.
• Consulting with clients on wind and solar renewable energy project development from start to finish, including financing, siting, real estate, permitting, taxation, environmental compliance, transmission access, and renewable portfolio standards.
• Advising numerous clients on cogeneration arrangements including interconnection agreements, coordination with MISO/PJM/NERC and transmission facilities.
• Lobbying and testifying before the Indiana General Assembly on a number of utility related issues on behalf of clients and as president of the Indiana State Bar Association’s Utility Law Section.