Read the full feature: https://www.thetop100magazine.com/jonathan-grammer
From the boardroom to the courtroom to the field, Jonathan Grammer leads a one-of-a-kind energy services firm that not only specializes in land acquisition and development, but also employs a legal team with specific expertise in the energy sector. As a trial attorney with more than two decades of experience in the energy industry, Jonathan has litigated matters involving complex energy, corporate cases, commercial contracts, and business disputes. In 2006, he brought his wealth of expertise to found Grammer Land & Exploration Corporation (GL&E) in Amarillo, Texas, a full-service company that handles acquisitions and development projects, legal and consulting services for independent operators in the oil and gas, solar, and alternative energy industries. Over the past 15 years, Jonathan and his team have worked on hundreds of energy projects across the Southwest valued at well over $1 billion, spanning the universe of oil and gas and renewables such as solar, electrical, wind, and pipelines, among others—while consulting on matters involving the Texas Railroad Commission, Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the Texas Legislature, and the Public Utility Commission.
As a rare, all-in-one attorney, landman, oil and gas developer, and renewable energy developer, Jonathan has been featured in Oilman Magazine, Austin Monthly, The Pipeline, The Houston Business Journal, and Solar Power World Magazine. He also serves as a contributing author to Texas CEO Magazine and AAPL’s The Landman. We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Jonathan to learn more about his company and his insight as a thought leader in the field.
How does GL&E differ from other companies in this space?
We’re the only firm like ours that exists. We are not only a land acquisition and development company, but we have a legal team that specializes in energy as well. It comes down to everybody wants to either be an advocate for the oil and gas industry or an advocate for clean energy and renewables, and in a great deal of projects, they’re being developed on the same land, and the companies don’t know how to communicate with each other. At the same time, the development and legal teams of those respective companies are each focused on either one form of energy or another, so they oftentimes have tunnel vision because they do not have the insight or experience across both renewable and oil and gas to see how these companies can coexist successfully on the same parcel of land. We’re trying to help energy companies realize that we’re all interconnected right now, and by focusing on this, I think we can change the industry as whole. That’s what this company is all about.
With this in mind, we’ve completed projects for national oil and gas companies, renewable energy developers, independent regional operators, and many other private interest groups. Our policy is to provide the most accurate and detailed analysis of natural resources possible along with the most affordable rates for their acquisitions. Our legal team is also second to none, with expertise specific to the energy field and a wide geographic reach with licensing to practice law in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado. In addition, my personal licensing is before the U.S. Supreme Court, Oklahoma Supreme Court, U.S. District Courts for Northern District of Texas, Colorado, Nebraska, Western District of Oklahoma, Eastern District of Arkansas, Western District of Arkansas, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, and 10th circuits.
With the increasing proliferation of renewables across Texas and Oklahoma, are more clients seeking your counsel about potential conflicts between renewable energy development and traditional oil and gas projects?
Absolutely. As more renewables, specifically solar, begin to move into Texas and Oklahoma, we are proud to be one of the few companies with a strong knowledge base of traditional oil and gas and how those interests and rights conflict with solar development. It really helps our clients develop their respective energy industries in, and around, each other.
Tell us about your carbon-sequestration projects.
In addition to Grammer Land & Exploration, I manage a newly-formed company called U.S. Carbon Capture Solutions. We have combined our experience and knowledge and our resources in oil and gas and renewable energy to help the environment by reducing carbon emissions. We’re not going to be able to pull all this carbon out of the air, but we can return the CO2 to ground via carbon-capture sequestration. We have assembled a team of some of the most experienced personnel in the country that have dealt with CO2 capture for decades. This has 100% of my attention right, and it should have everyone else’s attention, too. Right now, we’re actively involved in carbon-capture sequestration projects for one coal-fired power plant, one natural gas power plant, and several other facilities, including factories, fertilizer remanufacturers, and cement remanufacturers across the Southwestern U.S. It is the ultimate bi-partisan energy agenda for the United States: finding a way for both electrical generation facilities powered by coal as well as renewable energy sources to thrive for a secure environment is dependent upon good carbon capture management.
How has your work with clients changed as a result of COVID?
As the pandemic thrust the country into the “new normal” of remote interaction, it’s expanded our reach and has allowed us to meet clients and handle projects in other areas. We didn’t panic and tried hard to keep going when everyone else was hiding. I think this is a testament to how we do things. Indeed, like the rest of the world, we were limited to video calls, but we never stopped or limited our work with our current clients or with new clients in new regions, to help them continue their operations uninterrupted.
One final question that I’m sure many are curious about. What do you enjoy most about your work?
When I was a full-time attorney, my mind was constantly reaching for the complex that others struggled to understand. Your destiny is determined by something pulling you, not driving you, and I’m a firm believer in that. There’s something about the business, and the many moving parts, and the challenge of putting those all together to execute a project successfully, regardless of its complexity. That’s what really draws me to what I do, and that’s what drives me every day.