Dane McKaughan
Partner
Overview
Dane McKaughan is an energy attorney in Holland & Knight's Austin office and currently serves as the chair of the State Bar of Texas Public Utility Law Section. He primarily focuses on litigation matters involving regulated entities, including electric utilities, gas utilities and pipelines, and transmission providers. Mr. McKaughan has extensive experience representing clients before state regulators, such as the Public Utility Commission of Texas and Railroad Commission of Texas.
In addition, Mr. McKaughan is Board Certified in Administrative Law by the State Bar of Texas and acts as appellate counsel in administrative appeals from agency orders. He has served as lead counsel in more than 40 natural gas utility ratemaking proceedings, including full rate cases, cost of service adjustment (COSA) proceedings and Gas Reliability Infrastructure Program (GRIP) proceedings.
In addition, Mr. McKaughan represents vertically integrated electric utilities in cost of service rate and fuel reconciliation proceedings, as well as distribution and transmission utilities in cost of service rate proceedings. He also acts as counsel for numerous commercial clients in state and federal courts.
Representative Experience
- Serves as general counsel to a municipal water district overseeing creation of the district and representing the district in federal court in challenge to its statutory authority
- Represented the largest gas utility in Georgia in a 2019 rate case
- Acted as lead counsel for a large intra-state pipelines on regulatory issues at the Railroad Commission of Texas
- Represented a major electric utility in an acquisition of the largest electric utility in Texas
- Acted as lead counsel in a dispute with a water utility, including representation at the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the Missouri Public Service Commission, Texas district court and the American Arbitration Association
- Acted as lead counsel in gas utility docket resulting in approval of first formula rate tariff adopted by the Railroad Commission
- Acted as lead and co-counsel in numerous electric and gas utility rate cases in Texas, Colorado and Georgia
- Acted as co-counsel representing initial rate case for a new transmission utility in Texas
- Acted as co-counsel regarding $700 million hurricane cost recovery proceeding for transmission and distribution utility
- Represented a pipeline in bid to the Federal Electricity Commission in Mexico to construct a multibillion-dollar gas pipeline from Texas into Mexico
Credentials
- The University of Texas School of Law, J.D.
- The University of Texas at Austin, M.P.A.
- Austin College, B.A., with honors
- Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
- American Bar Association, Administrative Law Section; Environment, Energy, and Resources Section
- Austin Bar Association
- State Bar of Texas, Public Utility Law Section, Chair
- State Bar of Texas, Administrative and Public Law Section; Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Section; Public Utilities Section
- Texas Bar College
- Texas Utility Lawyers Association
- The Best Lawyers in America guide, Energy Law, 2019-2024
- Outstanding Services Award, American Bar Association Military Pro Bono Project, 2019, 2021
- Top Energy Lawyers in the U.S., Legal Media Group's Expert Guides, 2015-2018
- State Bar of Texas, Utility Law Section Council, 2015-Present