Lisa A. Gilbreath

Lisa Gilbreath is a partner in the Environmental, Land Use, and Energy Infrastructure Development, Acquisition & Financing practice groups. Lisa works on a wide variety of environmental and energy matters, offering clients strategic advice in regulatory, legislative, and judicial proceedings.

In her environmental practice, Lisa assists clients with numerous issues including regulatory enforcement proceedings, energy and environmental litigation, federal and state environmental permitting, development and defense of Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements under NEPA, Maine DEPlegislative and regulatory activities, hazardous substances and hazardous waste management (particularly with regard to PFAS), and contaminated property investigation, remediation, and litigation. Notably, Lisa was named 2023 Best Lawyers "Lawyer of the Year" in Portland, Maine for Environmental Litigation.

Lisa has broad experience obtaining federal, state, and local regulatory approvals for major energy infrastructure projects – as well as successfully defending those approvals on appeal – and works closely with her colleagues in the Energy Infrastructure practice group to provide clients with comprehensive development and siting counsel, particularly in the renewables space.

Lisa's clients include transmission, solar, wind, biomass, hydro, and energy storage developers, as well as electric and natural gas utilities and clients with cogeneration capabilities. Importantly, Lisa advises clients at the forefront of the rapidly growing areas of solar and energy storage in New England and nationally, including on beneficial reuse of contaminated properties. Maine is a leader in the nation in PFAS regulation, and Lisa is closely involved not only in PFAS regulations, investigations, and remediations, but also regulatory incentives and permitting to develop PFAS-impacted properties and brownfields sites, a salient piece in solving the climate change crisis through successful development of renewable energy generation and storage.

She also assists energy project owners and developers with due diligence in connection with energy infrastructure acquisitions, and represents electric utilities in major rate case proceedings, mergers and acquisitions, certificates of convenience and necessity, affiliate transactions, and other regulatory proceedings. Lisa’s background in energy law gives her a unique ability to advise clients in matters that intersect environmental and energy law issues.