Michael C. Powell, Member

I focus on 'how' to get from A to B, but I also, occasionally, help clients decide whether B is really where they want to go.

Contact

mpowell@gfrlaw.com
410-576-4175

vCard

Michael is a Member in the firm’s Energy & Environmental practice group.

Michael was named Maryland “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in America® for Environmental Law in 2025, 2019, 2016 and 2014 and “Lawyer of the Year” for Environmental Litigation in 2017. He has been named one of the Best Lawyers in America® in this region for more than two decades. Michael has also been named a Maryland Super Lawyer®. He received the 2023 F. Patrick Hughes Award of Excellence from NAIOP for his work representing business interests during the drafting of Maryland’s Climate Change legislation and regulations and was named to the Daily Records list of Influential Marylanders in 2022. Michael chairs the Maryland Chamber of Commerce’s Energy and Environment Policy Committee and frequently speaks to groups on environmental and energy issues such as data center development, power plant permitting and climate change regulations. He has the highest possible rating in Martindale-Hubbell (established by peer review) and was a founding member and the first elected Chair of the Environmental Section of the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA).

Prior to joining Gordon Feinblatt, Michael served as Principal Counsel to the Maryland Department of the Environment. In this role, he was the chief environmental attorney for the state and the principal advisor to the Attorney General on environmental issues. He also served as an Assistant Attorney General advising the state, at various times, on issues involving hazardous waste, water pollution, solid waste, radiation control and other environmental and regulatory issues. After joining the firm, Michael developed an additional practice focusing on energy development – including natural gas, coal, nuclear, wind and solar energy generation – as well as data center permitting.

Since 2015, Michael has served as one of the two business representatives on the Maryland Climate Change Commission. He also co-chairs the Mitigation Work Group of the Commission, which is developing plans to meet Maryland’s greenhouse gas targets. Michael was recognized for his dedication to the practice of law and to his community with the 2009 Leadership in the Law award, presented by The Daily Record and received a Professional Service Award in 2011 for his pro bono work from the Maryland Fuel Fund. Michael's practice covers energy law, environmental law and governmental relations. Typical clients include large nuclear, fossil fuel and renewable energy power plants, data centers, real estate developers and industrial interests.

Michael's energy work has included the permitting of new energy projects in Maryland. He currently represents a number of coal, natural gas, nuclear and solar energy companies seeking or renewing state permits. He has also provided advice on rate proceedings for large energy customers and for energy producers. Michael was appointed by Governor Martin O'Malley to serve as one of the inaugural members on the Strategic Energy Investment Fund Advisory Board, which provides advice to the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) on the budgeting of funds from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative auctions. He is a registered lobbyist for a number of energy and data center clients and provides advice on new legislative and regulatory initiatives in those areas.

Michael's environmental work has included advising companies on compliance with building energy performance standards and other climate change regulations, defending companies from governmental and third-party environmental claims, providing advice on greenhouse gas regulations and legislation, negotiating remediation agreements (including brownfield applications) on contaminated properties, and negotiating the terms of environmental permits. Projects on which Michael has worked include solar energy projects; residential and commercial developments; natural gas and petroleum pipeline projects; co-generation projects; hazardous waste incinerators; waste-to-energy plants; infectious waste incinerators; waterway construction permits for developers and municipal water supply facilities; wetlands permits for developers, energy companies and mining operations; critical area approvals for developers; water appropriation and water discharge permits; landfill and other solid waste permits; permits to construct and operate air emission sources (including Title V permits and CPCN permits for energy projects); and work on air and water discharge permits for industrial and energy clients.

Described by The Baltimore Sun as a "high-profile lobbyist representing builders and industrial interests," Michael's lobbying practice has included the representation of energy companies, data centers, energy customers, manufacturing interests, and residential and commercial developers before the General Assembly. Michael has helped draft many of the most significant Maryland environmental and energy legislation, including the Maryland Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act (both the original Act in 2009 and the renewal in 2015), the Maryland Electricity Restructuring Act, the Maryland Brownfields Act and statutes reforming the process for issuing environmental permits in Maryland. He has testified or lobbied on the most consequential environmental legislation introduced in Maryland in recent decades.

Gordon Feinblatt’s web page includes numerous bulletins and podcasts by Michael on a variety of environmental, energy and data center issues. Because of his extensive legal background, Michael is a contributing author to the LexisNexis Practice Guide: Maryland Environmental Law.

Representative Matters

Counsel to a Fortune 200 company on nuclear and natural gas generation in Maryland.
Counsel to a natural gas utility on legislative and regulatory issues in Maryland.
Counsel to a Fortune 1000 company on permitting and compliance by a large fossil fuel plant.
Counsel to a large data center client on the permitting of a hyperscale facility in Maryland.
Counsel to a Fortune 200 company on the remediation and redevelopment of a large chemical plant.
Counsel to a Fortune 500 company on the brownfields remediation of a closed aluminum plant.
Counsel to several national homebuilders on environmental due diligence and remediation of residential sites.
Counsel to several large industrial companies on environmental compliance and energy rates.
Counsel to the Maryland Chamber of Commerce on the drafting of a Maryland Brownfields statute.
Counsel to a suburban DC county on brownfields issues for a major redevelopment project.

Honors

Named to Baltimore Magazine Top Lawyers, 2026

Recipient, F. Patrick Hughes Award of Excellence, NAIOP Maryland, 2022

Appointed by Governor Lawrence Hogan, Jr. and President Mike Miller to the Maryland Climate Change Commission

Named one of The Daily Record's Influential Marylanders 2022

AV Preeminent^™ rating in Martindale-Hubbell^®

Named to Best Lawyers in America^® since 1995

Named Baltimore's "Lawyer of the Year" in Environmental Law by Best Lawyers in America^®2014, 2016, 2019, and 2025

Named Baltimore "Lawyer of the Year" in Litigation - Environmental by Best Lawyers in America^®, 2017

Selected to Maryland Super Lawyers^® list for Environmental Law in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and since 2015

Recipient, Outstanding Professional Service Award, Fuel Fund of Maryland for the contribution of legal services, June 2011

Recipient, Award of Excellence as "Consultant of the Year," Home Builders Association of Maryland, Land Development Council, 2010

Recipient, Leadership in the Law Award in Environmental Law, The Daily Record, 2009

Named "Legal Elite," SmartCEO, November 2009

Listed to "Top Lawyers in Maryland," Baltimore Magazine

News

Professional and Civic Involvement

Co-Chair, Maryland Chamber of Commerce Energy & Environment Policy Committee, 2025

Member, Maryland Commission on Climate Change, 2015 – present

Co-Chair, Mitigation Working Group of the Commission on Climate Change, 2015 – present

Member, Board of Directors, Maryland Therapeutic Riding, 2020-present

Member, Board of Directors, Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, Inc., 2016-2019

Member, Maryland Strategic Energy Investment Fund Advisory Board, 2009-2016

Invited Speaker, Governor Martin J. O’Malley’s Energy Summit, July 2007

Director, Government Relations, Maryland Industrial and Technology Alliance

Counsel, Maryland Energy Group

Past Member, Energy Steering Committee, Greater Baltimore Committee

Past Member, Legislative Committee, Maryland Chamber of Commerce

Past Vice Chair and current Member, Environmental Committee, Maryland Chamber of Commerce

Member, all legislative Brownfields Task Forces, 1993-present

Member, Wetlands Legislative Task Force, 2004 interim

Member, American Bar Association

Member, Maryland State Bar Association, Founding Member and First Chair of the Environmental Law Section

Publications and Lectures

Guest on Gonzales Mitchell YouTube channel, discussing an electrical capacity issue with will raise pricing of electricity, October 2024

Presenter, Maryland Commission on Climate change, Report on Climate Legislation during the 2024 General Assembly Session, April 2024

Presenter, National Facilities Management & Technology Conference and expo, Building Energy Performance Standards, March 2024

Presenter, MAPDA's Legislative Luncheon, co-hosted by WMDA, March 2024

Co-presenter, "Maryland BEPS Coming Regulations - What Building Owners Should Know," IFMA Chesapeake Chapter, September 21, 2023

Presenter, MSBA Legal Summit, "What the Future Will Bring, The 2023 Session, Climate Change Legislation and Regulation," June 2023

Co-presenter, "The Climate Solutions Now Act," Maryland Commission on Climate Change webinar, June 23, 2022

Moderator, climate change panel, Mid-Atlantic Petroleum Dealers Association, December 2021

Contributor, "LexisNexis Practice Guide: Maryland Environmental Law," 2020 Edition

Videos and Podcasts

Education

J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, 1979
B.A., with distinction, University of Virginia, 1976

Bar Admissions

Maryland, 1979
Virginia, 1979

Michael C. Powell, Member

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