James Steinbauer

James Steinbauer is a senior public affairs advisor in Holland & Knight's Washington, D.C., office and a member of the Federal Government Affairs Practice and Energy Technology Team. Mr. Steinbauer helps energy and industrial clients pursue federal funding and financing by translating complex projects into clear, credible, agency-ready narratives that enable decision-makers to quickly grasp a project's value, feasibility and readiness to deliver.

Companies across the energy and industrial economy – including energy producers, manufacturers, artificial intelligence (AI) and data center campus developers, and mining and critical minerals companies – can rely on Mr. Steinbauer to advise on strategy and execution for major federal loan and grant processes, with a particular focus on U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) programs. He helps clients select the right pathway (loan, grant or other), sequence actions across accelerated timelines, and position projects to meet program requirements and align with evolving federal priorities. His work also includes preparing teams for engagement with program offices and policymakers and anticipating the questions reviewers typically raise regarding technical merit, commercial readiness and public benefits.

A core part of Mr. Steinbauer's practice is developing the materials agencies rely on to evaluate projects, including applications, memos, white papers, strategic narratives and unsolicited proposals. He brings structure and editorial discipline to interdisciplinary teams, distilling inputs from technical, legal, finance, government affairs and communications stakeholders into a cohesive narrative and defensible set of claims. Clients value his ability to synthesize complex information quickly, refine arguments without overselling and reduce last-minute revisions by delivering decision-ready writing that leadership teams can approve with confidence. As a result, his clients submit sharper, more persuasive materials that move through federal processes with greater speed and positive results.

Mr. Steinbauer is part of Holland & Knight's Energy Technology Team, a multidisciplinary group that supports energy, industrial and critical minerals clients across the full federal funding and financing life cycle – from early strategy and agency engagement through proposal development, negotiations, compliance and, when needed, dispute resolution. The team pairs deep program fluency with the Firm's broader bench of project finance, energy regulatory, environmental, tax and litigation capabilities, bringing an integrated approach to high-stakes, capital-intensive projects. Together, the team has helped clients secure billions of dollars in federal support in recent years and is regularly trusted to guide complex DOE processes from first positioning to final execution.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Steinbauer worked as an environmental journalist, most recently as a contributing writer for Sierra, the national magazine of the Sierra Club, where he covered national environmental policy matters.