Overview:
About Patriot Hydro:
Patriot Hydro owns and operates 39 hydroelectric power generation projects across 10 states and six ISO markets, totaling approximately 311 MW. The company focuses on safe and reliable operations, responsible stewardship of its facilities, and disciplined management of legal and regulatory obligations.
Position Summary:
Patriot Hydro is seeking a Counsel or Senior Counsel to provide hands-on legal support across its hydroelectric portfolio. The role is weighted toward day-to-day commercial and transactional work — materials and service contracts, standard terms and conditions, real estate and easement matters, access agreements, and the vendor negotiations that come with operating a fleet of 39 facilities. The work is high in volume and generally moderate in individual contract value, so the ability to move quickly and apply consistent, practical judgment across many agreements matters more than experience with a small number of very large transactions.
The position also provides general regulatory guidance and interpretation when the business needs it, supports FERC filings and compliance deadlines, and handles contract disputes and questions about the company's rights and remedies under existing agreements. Specialized regulatory proceedings and licensing work are handled with outside counsel and consultants, with this role coordinating and directing that support rather than leading a standing regulatory affairs function. Direct hydropower or energy experience is preferred, but candidates with strong commercial contracting experience in regulated energy or infrastructure will also be considered.
Responsibilities:
Key Responsibilities:
- Draft, review, and negotiate the company's day-to-day commercial agreements, including materials and equipment purchases, service and vendor contracts, operations and maintenance agreements, consulting agreements, and confidentiality agreements.
- Own the company's standard terms and conditions and contract templates, and maintain a practical playbook of preferred and fallback positions so that routine vendor redlines can be resolved quickly and consistently.
- Work through vendor- and counterparty-requested changes, weighing commercial urgency against risk, resolving the majority at the working level and escalating only the terms that genuinely warrant it.
- Handle real estate and land matters across the portfolio, including deeds, leases, easements, rights-of-way, access and crossing agreements, flowage rights, title review, and encroachment issues.
- Advise on risk allocation and mitigation — indemnities, limitations of liability, warranties, insurance and bonding requirements, and termination and remedy provisions — across a large number of moderate-value contracts rather than a handful of outsized ones.
- Interpret existing agreements and advise operations, procurement, and commercial personnel on the company's rights, obligations, and remedies, including notice requirements, change orders, delay, warranty claims, and termination rights.
- Manage contract disputes and claims from early issue identification through negotiation and settlement, escalating to outside counsel where litigation or arbitration becomes necessary.
- Prepare and support FERC filings and related submissions, and help maintain the filing calendar and compliance deadlines across the fleet.
- Provide first-line regulatory guidance and interpretation when the business needs it, including FERC license conditions, ISO and RTO tariff questions, market-based rate authority, and state and environmental permitting requirements, and identify when specialized outside support is warranted.
- Support interconnection agreements, power purchase and renewable attribute agreements, and hedging documentation in coordination with the commercial team.
- Maintain practical legal controls, including contract standards, signature and delegated authority procedures, document retention, and escalation protocols.
- Advise on corporate governance, entity management, insurance, and financing matters in coordination with the finance team, and support acquisitions, divestitures, and financings through diligence, contract negotiation, and closing.
- Select and manage outside counsel and consultants on specialized matters, establish scopes and budgets, and ensure that external advice is timely and commercially practical.
Qualifications:
Qualifications:
- Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school and active bar membership in at least one United States jurisdiction, with the ability to satisfy applicable in-house counsel requirements.
- Five or more years of relevant legal experience, including meaningful responsibility for commercial contracting in an energy, utility, infrastructure, or other operating business.
- Demonstrated ability to draft, negotiate, and close a high volume of commercial agreements independently, balancing legal risk against commercial urgency and the practical needs of the business.
- Working knowledge of real estate and land rights, including easements, rights-of-way, access agreements, and title matters. Experience with flowage rights or other hydro-related land interests is preferred.
- Familiarity with FERC filings, federal energy regulation, ISO and RTO matters, environmental permitting, or utility regulation sufficient to provide first-line guidance and to recognize when specialized counsel is required.
- Experience managing contract disputes and claims from initial issue identification through resolution.
- Sound judgment and a record of providing clear, practical advice to operations, procurement, and commercial personnel, not only to senior executives.
- Strong drafting, negotiation, and communication skills, and comfort working independently in a lean legal function supporting a geographically dispersed portfolio.
- Prior in-house experience is preferred.
Success in the role:
Success will be measured by the speed and quality of contract turnaround, consistent and well-documented risk positions across a large number of agreements, reliable support for FERC filings and compliance deadlines, effective resolution of contract disputes, and the confidence of the business in bringing matters to this role early rather than after a problem has developed.