MATTHEW CAHILL focuses his practice on energy, transportation, and infrastructure matters under the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Surface Transportation Board, Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and state public utilities commissions. He represents clients on a variety of regulatory compliance, transactional, and litigation matters involving U.S. wholesale electricity, natural gas markets, freight rail transportation, and motor carriers.
In the energy sector, Matthew regularly advises commodity, energy, and financial institutions and utilities on federal, state, and RTO/ISO compliance obligations related to market-based rate authorities, tariffs, transmission services, price caps, capacity market participation, financial transmission rights, renewable energy credits, and licensing. Recently, he successfully represented a major developer of utility-scale offshore wind projects in a watershed proceeding before a state regulatory commission that is expected to transform renewable energy markets in the western U.S.
His transportation experience includes supporting negotiations for multi-user rail access with a West African national government; advising Class I railroads on federal safety waivers and rulemakings relating to dispatching, signaling, crew size, and employee certifications; representing a Class I railroad in a high-profile rail access dispute in the southeastern U.S.; advising Class I rail operators and private equity clients in rail-sector mergers and acquisitions; and counseling clients on compliance requirements in trucking and intermodal freight transactions. Recently Matthew represented Canadian National Railway in its proposed acquisition of the Iowa Northern Railway Company; Norfolk Southern Railway Company in its acquisition of the Cincinnati Southern Railway; and GIC, OMERS Infrastructure, and Wren House in their purchase of Direct ChassisLink, Inc.
Matthew also maintains an active pro bono practice, advising the nation’s largest freight railroad safety organization and assisting criminal defendants with appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, the latter in collaboration with Northwestern University’s Carter G. Phillips/Sidley Austin LLP Supreme Court Clinic.
Prior to joining Sidley, Matthew was a consultant to federal transportation regulatory agencies, local infrastructure operating agencies, and private-sector transportation operators and suppliers, providing project management, government affairs, communications, and business development services. He advised the federal government on oversight of US$2.5 billion in grants to improve railroad infrastructure in the midwestern and northeastern U.S. Matthew earned a B.S. from Eureka College and a J.D. and MBA from Northwestern University.