Sheridan Pauker

Partner

Sheridan Pauker

Partner

Sheridan’s practice focuses on renewable energy, energy storage, microgrids, transportation electrification, and energy efficiency regulation, incentives, development, and financing, with particular emphasis on state energy regulatory programs. She helps clients advance the clean energy transition by advocating before the California Public Utilities Commission and other federal and state agencies; negotiating a variety of clean energy transactions; and counseling businesses, associations, nonprofits, local government agencies, community choice aggregators, and investors regarding energy law, regulations, and incentives, and their implications for project and business plan development.

Sheridan joined Keyes & Fox as a Partner in 2017 and brings over 25 years of experience in energy and climate policy and regulation, environmental law, finance, and sustainability. Prior to joining the firm, she practiced for ten years in the Energy & Infrastructure Finance Group at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, served as an environmental fellow at Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger, and clerked for the Honorable Richard A. Paez of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Sheridan previously served as a financial advisor with a focus on sustainable investments in U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray’s Social Equity Investment Group, and as an aide to U.S. Representative Henry A. Waxman based in Washington, D.C.

  • State Bar of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • Advocate on behalf of a wide variety of clients before the California Public Utilities Commission since 2006 regarding demand flexibility, dynamic rates, energy efficiency finance and implementation, energy usage data, transportation electrification and electric vehicles (EVs), municipalization, microgrids interconnection, energy storage procurement and policy, transmission siting and regulations and policies applicable to community choice aggregators.
  • Successfully advocated on behalf of Valley Clean Energy Alliance for the approval and expansion of a dynamic rates pilot across PG&E territory.
  • Successfully advocated on behalf of community choice aggregators regarding direct access issues.
  • Successfully advocated on behalf of an energy storage developer regarding the Self Generation Incentive Program.
  • Represent clean energy developers, original equipment manufacturers (OEM), community choice aggregators, and real property owners in the analysis, drafting and negotiation of commercial, industrial, and residential distributed power purchase agreements (PPAs), energy storage offtake agreements; engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreements; solar, storage and electric vehicle charging infrastructure leases; community solar participation arrangements; services agreements; and other transactions.
  • J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law
    • Order of the Coif
    • Articles Editor, Ecology Law Quarterly
    • Jurisprudence Award (Administrative Law); Prosser Prizes (Property, International Law); Moot Court Advocacy Award
  • A.B., Environmental Science and Public Policy, Harvard College
    • magna cum laude
  • Past Board Chair and member, Vote Solar
  • Past President, Board of Directors, As You Sow
  • Advisory Committee Member, American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Finance Forum (2013, 2014); conference Co-Chair (2015)
  • State Bar of California’s Wiley W. Manuel Certificate for Pro Bono Legal Services
  • Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati’s 2009-2010 John Wilson Award in recognition of outstanding legal service to pro bono clients
  • “No Longer Nascent: Energy Storage Hits a Stride,” Yosemite Environmental Law Conference (October 21, 2023).
  • “California’s Preferred Resources: Energy Efficiency, Distributed Generation, Energy Storage and Negawatts,” Electric Power in California (November 4, 2016).
  • “Microgrids and Storage,” Storage Week, San Diego, California (January 26, 2016).
  • Plenary Session Chair, “The Policy Landscape: Impact on Energy Efficiency Finance and Role as a Demand Driver,” ACEEE Finance Forum (June 1, 2015).
  • “California’s Market-Making Energy Storage Procurement Process: Upcoming RFOs and Industry Perspectives,” Infocast (July 10, 2014).
  • From Megawatts to Gigawatts: California Energy Storage Procurement under the CPUC’s Energy Storage Procurement Framework, Infocast (November 6, 2013).
  • “Driving a Robust Rooftop Solar Market: Financing, Incentives & Regulation,” Sierra Club (May 8, 2013).
  • Co-author, “CPUC Net Metering Decision Is Good News for Clean Energy,” Law360, February 3, 2016
  • Co-author, “Innovations and Opportunities in Energy Efficiency Finance,” Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati white paper, May 2012, May 2013, and May 2014
  • “Spraying First and Asking Questions Later”: Congressional Efforts to Mitigate the Environmental, Health and Economic Impacts of U.S.-Sponsored Aerial Fumigation of Coca in Colombia,” 30 Ecology Law Quarterly 661, 2003
  • “Ninth Circuit Follows Laidlaw by Keeping the Door Open to Environmental Citizen Suits,” 29 Ecology Law Quarterly 438, 2002
  • Co-author with T. Van Dyck, “Qualitative Screening: Looking Behind the Balance Sheet,” Public Retirement Journal, April 2001
  • Co-author with T. Seastedt, “Effects of Mobile Tree Islands on Soil Carbon Storage in Tundra Ecosystems,” 77(8) Ecology 2563, 1996