The power and utilities M&A business saw a couple of big lateral moves at the end of February. Former J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. vice chairman Eric Fornell joined Wells Fargo Securities LLC's energy and M&A investment banking team with the same title, and former Kirkland & Ellis LLP partner Elaine Walsh jumped to Houston law firm Baker Botts LLP.

The moves come at an interesting time in the power and utilities business. Mergers have picked up as companies have been able to come to terms with regulators, smaller retail providers have become fodder for larger players, and power plant sales have been brisk. But these two practitioners plan to play in other parts of the energy business as well, including shale oil-and-gas deals and master limited partnerships, or MLPs, which have seen most of the action.

Wells Fargo's Fornell, 55, is based in New York and reports to Wells investment banking and capital markets co-heads Rob Engel and Jonathan Weiss but works closely with James Kipp, head of energy and power investment banking in Houston, and Brian Tate, head of power and utilities in Charlotte, N.C. Fornell's marquee deals include advising Energy East Corp. on its $7.8 billion sale to Iberdrola SA, and EnergySouth Inc. on its $500 million sale to Sempra Energy, both in 2008, and UIL Holdings Corp. on its acquisition financing for Iberdrola's U.S. gas distribution businesses in 2010, including an equity offering equal to 60% of UIL's market capitalization.

While he specializes in utility work, he also knows the renewable sector -- he advised ArcLight Capital Partners' Terra-Gen Power LLC on its acquisition of a 3,100-megawatt wind development project in California from Allco Finance Group in 2008 for $325 million -- and MLPs, a business he created at J.P. Morgan Chase in 2008.

Some of his deals didn't pan out, including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP's $3 billion purchase in 2003 of Tucson, Ariz., utility UniSource Energy Corp., which was thwarted by state regulators. He worked on that with Weiss and former J.P. Morgan Chase colleagues Jimmy Elliott and Paul Dabbar.

Wells Fargo had been looking to hire more people after bringing on a 25-member team from Citadel Securities LLC in August, and energy seemed a likely spot, as it already had customers such as Kinder Morgan Inc., Plains All American Pipeline LP, Spectra Energy Partners LP, Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP, Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Apache Corp. and private equity-backed companies like Legend Natural Gas LP (Riverstone Holdings LLC). "As we looked out at the competitive landscape and where we were on the league tables, we're doing a pretty good job on the energy side, but there's an opportunity to do more on the power and utility side," Kipp says.

Fornell will focus on M&A and capital formation for a select group of clients but also work with bankers on the coverage and product side. Wells' purchase of the North American energy lending business of BNP Paribas SA -- which includes $9.5 billion in loan commitments and $3.9 billion in outstanding loans -- will also expand the bank's presence in the sector. "There are terrific relationships in place, a good amount of capital committed to the energy sector and a real chance to grow this business," Fornell says.

He sees consolidation continuing in the utilities sector. "There's continuing pressure for companies to combine to drive down costs," he says, along with rationalization around assets "as companies focus on the core story."

Walsh, 41, meanwhile, will be based in Baker Botts' Washington office, working alongside antitrust chief Sean Boland, but will spend a lot of time in Houston. "It's an opportunity to practice with the experts in energy and also play in the big leagues," she says.

She's dabbled there herself: She worked on Constellation Energy Group Inc.'s $7.9 billion sale to Exelon Corp. and NRG Energy Inc.'s deals to acquire Green Mountain Energy Co. for $350 million and Energy Plus Holdings LLC for $190 million. National Grid USA Service Co. is her other big client, having worked on the sale of its membership interests in Seneca-Upshur Petroleum LLC in November to PDC Mountaineer LLC, a joint venture between Petroleum Development Corp. and Lime Rock Partners, for $152.5 million -- her first shale deal.

Like Fornell, Walsh sees utility consolidation continuing, along with renewable deals and plays for retail energy providers. "You just have to find the right combination, as competition is still an issue," she says.