Daily Journal Names Anne Mudge One of California's Top 100 Attorneys

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Noting her success with numerous challenging wind projects in the past year, the Daily Journal has named Anne E. Mudge among California's Top 100 Lawyers for 2012. A partner in Cox Castle & Nicholson, Mudge chairs the firm's Renewable Energy and Climate Change practice and is known as one of the state's top siting and permitting attorneys.

Throughout her career, Mudge has been involved in the development of thousands of megawatts of renewable energy in the Western United States, guiding numerous major energy plants and residential, commercial and industrial developments through the permitting process. Also a land-use litigator, she has numerous published land-use decisions and more than 20 years of experience in a range of areas, including with CEQA, NEPA, zoning and planning, wetlands and endangered species, water supply planning, coastal development, and the Williamson Act.

In a Daily Journal article released in conjunction with its Top 100 list, the newspaper noted that Mudge had been lead permitting counsel for eight multimillion-dollar wind projects in the past year or so, a role that meant getting permit approvals from more than 15 state, federal and local agencies, all on tight deadlines before federal tax credits for the projects expired. Among them was Patton Energy Group's $250 million Ocotillo ExpressWind Energy Facility in Imperial County.

Mudge also helped the developers of a number of other renewable energy projects across the state gain approval including the nation's largest wind farm, the 1,020-megawatt Alta Wind Center in the Tehachapi Mountains, the $300 million Shiloh IV Wind Energy Project in Solano County and Recurrent Energy's 88-megawatt solar energy facility near Sacramento.

Mudge told the newspaper that the best part of her job was helping renewable energy projects become a reality and helping the environment in the process.

“Once they're in the ground, the energy they create is emissions-free,” she told the Daily Journal. “I find that very exciting work.”