Rick Smead is Managing Director, Advisory Services, for RBN Energy LLC. He specializes primarily in the natural gas sector, offering expert policy and regulatory analysis and advice, litigation support, and strategic advice with respect to gas pipelines, potential supplies, and market initiatives. Rick has been an active consultant in the industry for over 20 years, following over three decades in management within the gas industry. For 24 of those years, he was an executive for a dozen major natural gas pipelines under three different holding companies—spanning some of the largest systems in the nation. Among other things, Rick was instrumental in managing and leading the industry restructuring under FERC Order 636. He has been widely recognized as a top expert in pipeline regulation and rate-setting. As a consultant, Rick spent nine years as co-head of the natural gas practice for Navigant Consulting, Inc., a large multinational advisory firm. Both at Navigant and at RBN, his consulting practice has spanned the LNG industry, both for project developers and for a large national oil company, the U.S. shale gas boom and its interaction with LNG, the pipeline industry, power generation, and other gas markets. While at Navigant, he managed and co-authored the first major quantification of the U.S. shale potential in 2008, the pivotal North American Natural Gas Supply Assessment. He then became deeply involved in the opportunities for the use of the nation’s natural gas abundance, including power generation and LNG exports. His work at RBN involves some of the most active and current issues in the industry, including supply disputes, infrastructure development, and pipeline economics. He is active in the Energy Bar Association, the national organization of regulatory attorneys and in 2023 received the Paul E. Nordstrom award, EBA’s highest award for contributions to the organization and the practice of energy law. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland and a law degree from George Washington University.
