Christopher J. Townsend is a member of Clark Hill's Environment, Energy, & Natural Resources Practice Group in the firm's Chicago office. Chris has over two decades of experience advising large industrial, institutional and commercial energy users, municipalities and other governmental entities with energy-related issues; assisting alternative electricity and natural gas suppliers in developing the structures for energy markets; representing energy project developers on complex and cutting-edge projects; and assisting numerous other large-scale energy industry participants.
On a local, state, national, and international level, Chris helps clients address risks and opportunities associated with the on-going restructuring of the electricity and natural gas industries. He has been involved in a wide variety of regulatory proceedings before the Illinois Commerce Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, specifically with an emphasis on matters related to bringing additional efficiencies to the energy industries. He also has served as counsel to several consortia composed of large industrial, institutional, governmental and commercial electricity consumers as well as retail energy suppliers, a public water district, and a small privately owned water company. Globally, he worked with the U.S. State Department and counseled the Government of Iraq on multibillion-dollar energy and infrastructure projects.
Chris views the energy industry in terms of where it is headed, in order to advise his clients on how to prepare for the future. His approach is holistic, looking beyond the immediate demands of a given document or goal to the entire solution that each client needs. He is well-known for finding innovative solutions for his clients, particularly with respect to infrastructure projects and multi-faceted administrative proceedings. He is creative but practical, imaginative but grounded, and also personally dedicated to a delivering a level of outstanding client service that few other attorneys in his area of practice provide.
