Partner
and access,
Steve Griffin is a partner in Beggs & Lane’s Pensacola office and heads the firm’s Energy and Public Utilities practice group. He represents public utilities, developers, independent power producers, and providers of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Steve is top-ranked by Chambers USA for his expertise in Energy and Natural Resources and has been awarded a Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent® peer review rating for the highest level of professional excellence. He has also been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2018 through 2022 editions of The Best Lawyers in America® guide, for his practice in the areas of Energy Law and Energy Regulatory Law. Steve was recognized by Best Lawyers in America® as the 2022 “Lawyer of the Year” (Tallahassee) for his practice in Energy Law. Steve has served in leadership roles on a wide array of renewable energy initiatives, including utility-scale battery storage projects, utility-scale solar projects, large-scale wind power purchase arrangements, community solar programs, landfill-gas-to-energy projects, and reclaimed water projects enabling the recycling and beneficial reuse of hundreds of millions of gallons of municipal wastewater. Many of these initiatives have captured public attention due to their innovative nature, including solar initiatives which, at the time, were the largest solar installations east of the Mississippi River and wind projects which received Deal of the Year Award from Commodity Business Awards, Deal of the Year Award from Platts Global Energy, and Deal of the Year Award from Risk.net. Steve has substantial experience developing and negotiating power purchase agreements (PPAs), engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreements, requests for proposals (RFP), long-term service agreements, and franchise agreements. Steve also regularly represents clients before the Florida Public Service Commission, the agency responsible for regulating electric, natural gas, water and wastewater utilities across the state of Florida. His experience includes utility revenue requirement proceedings, utility territorial disputes, energy efficiency proceedings, including proceedings under the Florida Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act, and administrative rule-making proceedings.