Mark J. La Fratta

Partner

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Practices
Industries
International
Education
  • William & Mary Law School, JD, Senior Editor, Environmental Practice News, 1981
  • University of Notre Dame, BA, 1978
Admissions
  • Virginia
Affiliations

Member, Virginia Bar Association

Member, Section of Administrative Law, Virginia State Bar

Member, Energy Bar Association

Member, St. Thomas More Society of Catholic Lawyers

Mark has a wealth of experience on the "front end" of energy and industrial projects such as LNG facilities, power plants and food processing facilities, including EPC and other construction contracts, power purchase agreements, raw material and feedstock procurements, tolling agreements, O&M contracts, thermal energy contracts, equipment purchases, fuel supply and transportation contracts. He has represented the owners, lenders and customers of most types of power generation project, including hydro, biomass, coal, lignite, pet coke, nuclear, natural gas, waste fired, landfill gas, wind and solar (PV and CSP) — projects varying in size from less than 1 MW to more than 2,000 MW.

He has negotiated more than 30,000 MWs of long-term power purchase and tolling contracts on behalf of the power purchasers and developers of such projects, as well as trading contracts using EEI, ISDA NAESB and WSPP documents. He has represented clients for state and federal energy regulatory approvals, facility siting certificates (including for PURPA qualifying facilities), “avoided cost” rate matters, federal QF and market based rate filings. He has worked on the development, purchase and sale of inside-the-fence energy projects for industrials, including food production plants, warehouses, chemical plants and paper mills. He also has experience with procurement of commercial users’ purchased energy needs for everything from big-box retailers to grocery store chains, and from bowling alleys and shopping centers to large industrial users. He has represented participants in projects throughout the United States and in Europe.

A recognized authority in his field, Mark has written on energy and utility related topics for a number of publications, including the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation (Drafting and Negotiating Power Purchase Agreements), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (Design Build Projects), and has taught classes at a number of industry venues and conferences including most recently the Association of Corporate Counsel (3 programs: Casting some Light on Solar Projects, Working with Traditional and Alternative Project Delivery Systems, and Mechanics’ Liens), and the American Institute of Architects (Virginia Construction Law).

Prior to joining McGuireWoods in 1991, Mark was with another firm for two years and an in-house attorney at Dominion Virginia Power from 1981-1989.

While earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, Mark was awarded Outstanding Bandsman.

Mark was named by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as Virginia Man of the Year in 2013.

Mark J La Fratta
vCard
T: +1 804 775 1106F: +1 804 698 2096Gateway Plaza
800 East Canal Street
Richmond, VA 23219-3916

Solar: Counsel to developers, integrators, lenders, contractors and purchasers of solar projects, including from rooftop PV to commercial and utility scale PVs and CSP from 500KW to 200 MW in Virginia, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina and Utah concerning PPAs, equipment procurement, installation, O&M, LTSAs and long term performance guarantees, interconnection, participation in PJM, Midwest ISO, ISO New England, CAISO and regulatory matters.

Wind: Counsel to developers of and lenders to wind generation projects in Virginia, Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, North Dakota, Texas and West Virginia concerning PPAs, equipment procurement and installation/EPC, and O&M/LTSAs.

LFG, wood and other biomass: Counsel to developers/owners of and lenders to projects in Virginia, Georgia, Rhode Island, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Iowa, Alabama, Idaho, concerning PPAs, EPC (or other construction arrangements), equipment procurement, interconnection, participation in PJM, Midwest ISO, ISO New England, CAISO and state and federal regulatory matters.

Large Conventional Generation: Counsel to utilities, independent producers of large coal, gas, hydro and nuclear facilities including EPC (or other construction arrangements) for new plants, turbine replacements, emission control retrofits, purchase and sale of facilities, PPA and other output sales and purchases, in Virginia, North Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Mexico, and California.

Construction and Supply Chain generally: Counsel to developer/owners for construction of LNG facilities, electric power generation plants, paper companies, chemical companies, food processing companies for energy and industrial projects in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi, California, Alabama, Rhode Island, Texas, Florida, and Illinois under true EPC/design build and other contractual arrangements, multiprimes, open book design phase leading to fixed price, target price, and other pricing structures, and has negotiated such contracts and worked with most major contractors and A&Es including Bechtel/Beacon, Black and Veatch, Burns and McDonnell, CB&I (including former ShawGroup), Fluor, Graycor, Jacobs, KBR, Kiewit/TIC, Stone & Webster/Technip, Swinerton, Sargent & Lundy, URS, First Solar, Signal, AMEC, Wanzek and equipment vendors, GE, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Westinghouse, Toshiba, Siemens, STEAG, Alstom, and B&W and others.

Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Energy Law, Energy Regulatory Law, Woodward/White, Inc., 2010-2017