History

Julia Weller began working in international energy in 1999 when she headed up a bid for her firm, Hunton & Williams LLP, to win one of the first two USAID Indefinite Quantity Contracts ever awarded to a law firm by USAID's Europe and Eurasia Bureau.  For eight years, Ms. Weller was the Project Manager of a consortium of legal and regulatory advisers  under that Legal and Regulatory Reform IQC.  In addition to the Hunton & Williams lawyers, the team consisted of economists, engineers, tariff consultants and market design experts drawn from a number of different consulting firms.  With a background in energy regulation at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and in private practice representing natural gas users in proceedings involving rate-making and construction certificates, Ms. Weller used her experience to deliver energy sector reform advice to governments and state-owned utilities throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States, and Central and Eastern Europe.  

In 2008 Ms. Weller moved to Pierce Atwood LLP, the Portland, ME-based firm that had won the other Legal and Regulatory Reform IQC contract and opened their Washington, DC office.  There Ms. Weller continued to work in international energy sector reform and expanded into renewable energy and energy efficiency and construction of cross-border high-voltage transmission lines.  Her clients included the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and The World Bank Group and she began working in the Caucasus region, Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.  At the end of 2017, Ms. Weller decided to start her own practice as a sole practitioner under the name of Energy Law International.      

Why Choose Energy Law International 

At Energy Law International, we know that drafting the laws and regulations needed to attract private investment into energy infrastructure in emerging markets is not an easy task and requires sensitivity regarding the social impacts of such changes.  Ms. Weller and colleagues from different disciplines with whom she has worked and with whom she teams on a regular basis all have broad experience in dealing with social and environmental issues.  We also understand that private capital is mobile and will go where it can earn the highest returns at the lowest risks.  That's why Ms. Weller and her colleagues have excelled at creating legal and regulatory frameworks that minimize risks by providing for stability, predictability and accountability.  Ms. Weller and the colleagues she has worked with (See Colleagues) have the kind of expertise needed to deliver seamless, focused, on-time and on-budget results needed by countries in transition.   Energy Law International is a certified woman-owned company.