georgia n. crump

Principal
(512) 322-5832

A Principal, Georgia Crump has been with the firm since 1989. Georgia has been actively involved in municipal law and utility administrative law throughout her legal career.

Currently, she focuses primarily on utility and telecommunications related issues, including the representation of both private and municipal clients. Georgia was born in Clarksville, Texas, and was raised in Texas, Michigan, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Australia. She attended the University of London for a semester, and received an A.B. in 1975 from Muhlenberg College, and a J.D. from Baylor University School of Law in 1978. Georgia is AV Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Areas of Practice

Representative Experience

Administrative and Litigation practice with emphasis in the fields of Municipal and Utility Law. Specific areas of practice include representation of coalitions of municipalities and individual municipalities in state-wide and regional gas rate cases at the Railroad Commission of Texas, representation of electric cooperatives and municipally owned electric utilities and other clients before state agencies, assisting cooperatives and municipally owned utilities in electric restructuring activities at the Public Utility Commission of Texas, and assisting municipalities in gas and electric franchise negotiations and renewals. Recent representation of landowners in applications for certificates of convenience and necessity ("CCN") at the Public Utility Commission of Texas with regard to the routing of transmission lines for Competitive Renewable Energy Zone ("CREZ") projects.

Representation of municipalities in gas rate proceedings at the Railroad Commission of Texas, including:

TXU Gas/Atmos Energy Corporation state-wide rates;
Atmos Energy Corporation Mid-Tex and West Texas Divisions filings under the Gas Reliability and Infrastructure Program (“GRIP”);
CenterPoint/Entex South Texas Division and Texas Coast Division system-wide rates;
Atmos Energy Corporation gas cost review.

Representation of electric cooperatives, municipally owned utilities and municipalities has included representation of these entities in various dockets and rule-making proceedings at the Public Utility Commission of Texas (“PUCT”) arising out of S.B. 7, the electric restructuring legislation adopted in 1999. The dockets and proceedings at the PUCT include:

the development of educational programs for retail electric customers;
the development of codes of conduct for investor-owned utilities and municipally-owned utilities and electric cooperatives;
securitization of stranded costs for investor-owned utilities and electric cooperatives;
standards and certifications for retail electric providers and aggregators;
market power mitigation plans;
cost and business separation plans;
municipal leasing of dark fiber facilities; and
retail competition pilot projects.

Provision of assistance to municipalities in South Carolina, Delaware, and Florida on pending and adopted electric restructuring legislation. This assistance included analysis of proposed/adopted legislation, comparison with provisions in other jurisdictions, and analysis of impact of legislation on municipal activities, authority, and revenues.

Additional practice area is assistance to municipalities in Texas and other states in the development and implementation of right-of-way franchising and management practices to protect and maximize the municipal regulatory and financial status vis-à-vis gas, electric, cable, and telecommunications entities. Specific activities include:

the development of right-of-way management practices and ordinances;
the development and negotiation of franchise agreements with gas, electric, cable, and telecommunications providers;
the development and negotiation of utility service agreements for the provision of water and wastewater services, both wholesale and retail;.
representation of coalitions of municipalities in gas distribution utility rate cases;
representation of municipal utilities and customer groups in water and wastewater rate cases; and
municipal leasing of dark fiber facilities.

Professional Licenses and Education

Admitted to State Bar of Texas (1978)
J.D., Baylor University, Waco, Texas (1978)
A.B., Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania (1975)

Professional Associations and Memberships

State Bar of Texas
American Bar Association
Federal Communications Bar Association
Austin Bar Association
Texas City Attorneys Association
International Municipal Lawyers Association
National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors
Texas Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors

Honors and Awards

Best Lawyers in America: 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc.

Publications and Presentations

Managing Editor, Environmental & Municipal Update, a quarterly publication of the Firm.
“Is Life a Beach After SB 5?” 12th Annual Texas Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors Conference, August 3, 2007.
“Advanced Communications Services; An Update,” Texas City Attorneys Association Summer Conference, June 9, 2005.
“Market Deregulation Will Get You If You Don’t Watch Out!,” Texas Public Power Association Legal Seminar, November 4, 2004.
“Recent Cases Affecting Franchise Renewals, Transfers, and Enforcement,” 8th Annual Texas Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors Conference, August 14, 2003.
“Making Your Voice Heard Before Regulatory Agencies and Legislative Bodies,” Texas Coalition of Cities For Utility Issues Annual Meeting, 2002.
“Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Utilities and Managing Your Rights-of-Way But Were Afraid to Ask,” Texas Coalition of Cities For Utility Issues Annual Meeting, 2002.
“Cities in the Crosshairs on Broadband, Cable and Telecommunications Issues at the PUC and FCC (and other places, too), What’s New in 2002,” conference hosted by Lloyd, Gosselink, Blevins, Rochelle, Baldwin & Townsend, P.C., 2002.
“The Establishment and Enforcement of Cable Customer Service Standards,” 7th Annual Texas Association of Telecommunications officers and Advisors Conference, August 2002.
“The Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996: Its Impact on Right-of-Way Use and Municipal Compensation,” County Counselors Association of Kansas Annual Meeting, 2001.
“Municipal Fees under H.B. 1777; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, or Just When You Thought You Knew What H.B. 1777 Meant,” Texas Coalition of Cities For Utility Issues Annual Meeting, 2001.
“Terms and Conditions of Distribution Access,” Texas Public Power Association Marketing and Customer Service Annual Conference, 2001.
“Federal Communications Commission; Recent and Current Proceedings,” Texas Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors Conference, 2000.
“Code of Conduct for Municipally-Owned Utilities and Electric Cooperatives,” Texas Public Power Association Annual Meeting, 2000.
“Telecommunications Restructuring in Texas; H.B. 1777 and Rule-making by Public Utility Commission,” Texas City Attorneys Association Annual Meeting, 1999.
“The Challenge of Managing the Transition to a Deregulated Environment,” National Forum for Black Public Administrators, 17th Annual Conference, 1999.
“Cable TV Franchising 101,” Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers Conference, 1999.
“Municipal Franchise Issues: Point/Counterpoint,” State Bar of Texas, Public Utility Law Section Seminar, July 1999.
“Cable Franchise Renewals,” 4th Annual Texas Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors Conference, 1999.
“S.B. 7 - Electric Restructuring and Retail Competition; An Overview,” Texas Mining and Reclamation Association, 1999.
“Exploring the Hot Issues of Local Government Law; Open Forum: Municipal Right-of-Way Issues,” International Municipal Law Officers 63rd Annual Conference, 1998.
Texas Innovation Group Right-of-Way Management Training Seminars, Lenexa, Kansas and Plano, Texas, 1997.
“Management of Public Rights-of-Way under the 1996 Telecommunications Act,” Tennessee Municipal League Annual Conference, 1997.
“Electric Utility Deregulation Issues and Concerns for Municipalities in Texas,” Texas Municipal League Annual Conference, 1997.
“Don’t Get Burned by Deregulation in the Electric Industry,” Texas Town & City Magazine, 1996.
“Leaky Pipe Blues,” Texas City Attorneys Association Newsletter, 1996.
“Solid Waste Collection Franchising,” 1996 Texas Lone Star Chapter, Solid Waste Association of North America Annual Conference, 1996.
“The Fine Points of Right-of-Way Management,” Florida League of Cities Annual Convention, 1994.

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