Pillsbury has teamed with distinguished Energy regulator, lawyer and lobbyist Richard S. Mroz, Esq. as a consultant to assist its clients. A Managing Director of Resolute Strategies LLC, Mroz will assist the firm’s clients in connection with regulatory concerns and governmental relations, particularly as they relate to state-level issues and how they are viewed by federal agencies.

“We are really very excited about this collaboration,” said Pillsbury Energy Practice Section Leader Jeffrey Merrifield. “Richard is a smart, seasoned and incredibly well-connected business advisor whose extensive experience spans a number of industries. The relationships he has established over a lifetime of public service—in the Energy sector and elsewhere—will prove invaluable to our clients.”

Mroz has held numerous national and regional leadership positions in the energy and utility industries. He is the immediate past President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU), where he served as chairman and chief administrative officer of the agency. He is also a member of the United States Department of Energy’s Electric Advisory Committee—following a July 2018 appointment from Energy Secretary Rick Perry—and an active member of the New Mexico State University Center for Public Utilities Advisory Council.

He previously served as Chairman of the Critical Infrastructure Committee for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), where he advanced cybersecurity, workforce development, and infrastructure improvement efforts, as well as NARUC’s liaison to the Electric Sector Coordinating Council, a CEO-led forum for managing potential widespread power grid outages. He also was New Jersey’s representative to—and eventually President of—the Organization of PJM States, Inc.

Prior to his work in the Energy industry, Mroz had an impressive run in state government. In 1993, then-New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman appointed him to the first of several senior positions in her administration, including Director of Authorities and Governor’s counsel for several of the State’s largest independent agencies. He would later be named Special Counsel and ultimately Chief Counsel, serving as the Governor’s primary advisor for legislative affairs, judicial and prosecutorial appointments, and legal, policy and management issues.

Other notable roles include an ongoing seat on the Board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York—a congressionally chartered wholesale bank with assets over $100 Billion—for which Mroz has served on every major board committee. Additionally, President George W. Bush appointed him to the Commission on White House Fellows in 2007 and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie named him Delaware River & Bay Authority Commissioner in 2012.

Pillsbury has one of the legal industry’s largest and most storied energy practices. One of the few firms serving all industry fuel lines, we provide clients with a comprehensive understanding of the unique issues specific to oil and gas, LNG and power (whether generated from gas, hydro, coal, nuclear or renewable sources) companies. Our U.S. experience is extensive—dating back to the incorporation of Chevron’s predecessor in 1900—and more than half of our current work is cross-border in nature.