Clients turn to Merrick Parrott to navigate the full scope of their legal needs with renewable energy and water/wastewater projects. She has advised on projects and portfolios ranging in value from $10 million to over $500 million. A North Carolina State Bar board-certified specialist in utilities law, her practice includes helping clients achieve their goals before the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC).
Merrick has a deep understanding of the entire renewable energy development cycle, from lease negotiations and land use to local and state permitting to financing and selling project portfolios. She has advised on projects across the Southeast, including solar, wind, battery energy storage systems (BESS), biomass, combined heat and power, and hybrid solar/BESS developments.
Her work before the NCUC includes securing certificates of public convenience and necessity (CPCNs) for Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) qualifying facilities (QFs) and merchant plants. She also represents water/wastewater clients before the NCUC on facility certification, franchise approvals, and related regulatory issues. Beyond the NCUC, she handles regulatory filings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
She also helps renewable energy developers and independent power producers navigate local land use regulations, appearing before dozens of local governmental bodies to obtain quasi-judicial permits and rezoning approvals. She supports local incentive and tax abatement agreements as well.
Merrick co-chairs Parker Poe's Recruiting Committee. She received her law degree from Vanderbilt University where she was the symposium editor for the Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review. She was also the president of the Vanderbilt Bar Association and the executive editor of content for the Obiter Dictum. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Before attending law school, Merrick worked for the Contemporary Art Foundation, a nonprofit that supports CAM Raleigh and the development of the Triangle arts community.