David Wagoner

Electric Industry, Insurance, and Construction Experience

During my association with Perkins Coie (1957-1996), I handled complex commercial litigation and for a period was head of the firm's litigation department. The firm was counsel for Puget Sound Power & Light Co. and I represented Puget in several major suits as lead counsel.

1. Representing Puget in a claim against its insurers resulting from a landslide that destroyed a power house at the Baker facility. The jury awarded $5 million, the full amount of the claim.
2. Representing Puget in extended litigation resulting from the WPPS debacle in which bondholders of one failed project sought to relocate common project costs to a twin project in which Puget had a substantial interest. The bondholders sought to reallocate at least $500 million in project costs. This case finally settled after extensive discovery and trial preparation.

I served as lead counsel representing Jersey Central Power & Light Co. in litigation in Federal Court in the State of Washington against Exxon Nuclear, Exxon Enterprises and the Exxon Company arising out of an Exxon contract to supply reload fuel for Jersey Central's Oyster Creek Nuclear plant. The contract called for Exxon to supply fuel at fixed prices and Exxon reneged when prices rose substantially. After extensive discovery, there were several court hearings and ultimately the court held against Exxon finding that the Exxon Companies had acted in bad faith in connection with their contractual obligations.

I represented Washington Irrigation & Development Company (WIDCO) as lead counsel in several disputes related to its coal fired generating plant in Centralia, Washington.

1. Litigation by WIDCO against the Architect Engineers that designed a coal silo that collapsed when filled with coal. After extensive discovery we settled for the full amount of our claim.
2. Litigation with the owner of underlying coal properties over the terms of a lease to WIDCO and royalties payable under the contract.

Recently, I acted as the sole arbitrator in an Arbitration involving a multi-million dollar dispute over the interpretation of a contract to supply electric capacity and energy to an United States utility. Involved in that arbitration was a full presentation of the utility's operating and generating facilities, its energy requirements and projections, its sources and contracts for energy the history of the negotiation of the contract at issue, and the applicable FERC regulations, including complex expert testimony on several issues. The hearing lasted 11 days and I wrote a reasoned award (as required by the parties) of some 76 pages.

I have been appointed by the owner of a large power plant in Southeast Asia as one of three arbitrators in major ad  hoc arbitration involving fuel supply. Hearings were in Singapore.

I was appointed by the ICDR-AAA in arbitration involving a foreign investment agreement with a South American government and United States parties to rehabilitate and sell power from a plant in South America, being privatized.