Michael Espinoza

Partner
He/Him/His

Mike Espinoza advises on energy transactions across the power, gas, regulated utility, renewables, and nuclear sectors. He represents buyers, sellers, and investors in mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures involving regulated utilities, electric generation and transmission assets, nuclear facilities, and energy-related manufacturing operations. He regularly advises on complex joint venture and investment structures involving the development and ownership of electric transmission and generation assets, and he represents clients on power purchase and project agreements for traditional and renewable projects.

Mike also advises clients on general corporate matters and corporate governance issues. His clients include regulated utilities and utility affiliates, generation and transmission owners, retail energy providers, infrastructure funds, and private equity investors.

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"
An incredible corporate attorney who is very experienced in the utility sector. He is exceptionally smart, very practical and extremely responsive.
Chambers USA
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Very strong in negotiations and very hard-working.
Chambers USA
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  • NorthWestern Energy Group Inc. in its approximately $7.8 billion all-stock merger with Black Hills Corp
  • American Electric Power Company Inc. in the $2.82 billion sale of a 19.9% equity interest in its Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan transmission companies to investment funds managed by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board
  • American Electric Power Company Inc. in the $315 million sale of its distributed generation business AEP OnSite Partners to funds advised by Basalt Infrastructure Partners LLC
  • GE Vernova Inc. in its acquisition of Woodward Inc.’s heavy-duty gas turbine combustion parts business based in Greenville, South Carolina
  • Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District in its acquisition of 114 MW of additional ownership interests in the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, located in Arizona, from Public Service Company of New Mexico and various financial institutions, along with additional ownership interests in related transmission assets
  • General Electric Co. and GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC in the sale of the Vallecitos Nuclear Center, located in California, to a subsidiary of NorthStar Group Services Inc. for nuclear decommissioning
  • A multinational energy company in the formation of a joint venture to own a developer of US hydroelectric projects
  • HQI US Holding LLC, a subsidiary of Hydro-Québec, in its approximately $2 billion acquisition of Great River Hydro LLC, the owner of 13 hydropower-generating stations in New England, from an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners LLC
  • American Electric Power Company, Inc. in its $2.846 billion sale of Kentucky Power Company and AEP Kentucky Transmission Company, Inc. to Liberty Utilities Co., a subsidiary of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp.
  • Summit Utilities Inc. in its $2.15 billion acquisition of the Arkansas and Oklahoma gas distribution utility businesses of CenterPoint Energy Inc.
  • National Grid Millennium LLC, a subsidiary of National Grid plc, in the $552 million sale of its 26.25% interest in Millennium Pipeline Company LLC, the owner of an interstate natural gas pipeline located in New York, to a subsidiary of DT Midstream Inc.
  • Lake AIV LP, a portfolio company of Basalt Infrastructure Partners, in its sale of Upper Peninsula Power Holding Company, the owner of a regulated electric utility in Michigan, to Axium UP Holdings LLC, a portfolio company of Axium Infrastructure
  • A power generation company in its acquisition of a 300 MW wind generation facility in South Dakota from a major wind developer
  • FirstEnergy Corp. and its subsidiaries, Metropolitan Edison Company, Jersey Central Power & Light Company, Pennsylvania Electric Company, and GPU Nuclear Inc., in the sale of Three Mile Island Generating Station, Unit 2, which permanently closed after a partial meltdown in 1979, to TMI-2 Solutions LLC, a subsidiary of EnergySolutions
  • A power generation company in its acquisition of a 56 MW wind generation facility in West Virginia from a major wind developer
  • Black Bear Transmission LLC, a portfolio company of Basalt Infrastructure Partners, in its acquisition of Ozark Gas Transmission LLC, the owner of an interstate natural gas pipeline, and Ozark Gas Gathering LLC, the owner of a natural gas gathering system, from a subsidiary of Enbridge Inc.
  • ENMAX Corporation in its $1.3 billion acquisition of Emera Maine, a regulated transmission and distribution utility in Maine, from Emera Inc.
  • Hydro One Limited in its proposed $5.3 billion acquisition of Avista Corporation, a regulated electric and gas utility in the Pacific Northwest
  • Great Plains Energy in its stock-for-stock merger of equals transaction with Westar Energy Inc., creating Evergy Inc., a company with a combined equity value of approximately $15 billion
  • A consortium led by Basalt Infrastructure Partners II LP in its acquisition of Detroit Renewable Energy LLC, an integrated renewable energy system comprised of Detroit Thermal, Detroit Renewable Power, and Hamtramck Energy Services
  • Talen Energy Corporation in its $189 million sale of Interstate Energy Company LLC, the owner of a natural gas and oil pipeline in Pennsylvania, to Adelphia Gateway LLC, a subsidiary of New Jersey Resources Corp.
  • A power generation company in its $469 million acquisition of a 90.1% interest in a 257 MW wind generation facility in Texas from a major wind developer
  • Talen Energy Corp. in its $1.175 billion acquisition of MACH Gen LLC, the holding company of three large natural gas-fired power plants in New York, Massachusetts, and Arizona with a total capacity of over 2,500 MW
  • Duke Energy Corporation in its $2.8 billion sale of its entire Midwest merchant generation business to a subsidiary of Dynegy Inc., which included ownership interests in 11 power plants with a total capacity of approximately 6,100 MW, as well as Duke’s competitive retail electric and gas business (Platts Global Energy Awards, 2015 Strategic Deal of the Year)
  • Basalt Infrastructure Partners in its formation of Texas Microgrid LLC, a joint venture with Enchanted Rock, Ltd. to construct distributed gas generation microgrids on customer sites in Texas
  • National Grid USA in its contribution of its equity interests in Iroquois Gas Transmission System LP to Dominion Midstream Partners LP in exchange for approximately $225 million in public equity
  • A private equity fund in its acquisition of 12 solar projects totaling 80 MW from a developer
  • Integrys Energy Group Inc. in its sale of a portfolio of more than 50 distributed solar projects to TerraForm Power LLC
  • Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation in its negotiation with R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant LLC, a subsidiary of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group LLC, of a reliability support services agreement for the continued operation for reliability purposes of a 581 MW nuclear power plant in Ontario, New York
  • Integrys Energy Group Inc. in its sale of its competitive retail electric and natural gas business, Integrys Energy Services Inc., to Exelon Generation Company LLC
  • Integrys Energy Group Inc. in its $300 million sale of Upper Peninsula Power Company, a regulated electric utility in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, to Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Partners LP
  • New York University School of Law, 2006, J.D.
  • University of California, Los Angeles, 2003, B.A.
  • New York

Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Energy Law, New York (2025, 2026)

Ranked, Energy: Electricity (Transactional), USA, Chambers Global (2022–2025)

Ranked, Energy: Electricity (Transactional), Nationwide, Chambers USA (2021–2025)

Recommended, Energy: Energy transactions: electric power, The Legal 500 US (2025)

Recommended, M&A/corporate and commercial: M&A: large deals ($1bn+), The Legal 500 US (2020)

Recommended, Energy: Renewable/Alternative, The Legal 500 US (2017, 2018, 2025)

Rising Star, New York Metro Super Lawyers (2017, 2018)

Member, Project Finance Editorial Advisory Board, Law360 (2020, 2021)