Course Details

Description:

This course provides an introduction to U.S. energy law. Part I of the course provides the overall context for energy regulation. It begins by providing an overview of the interplay between the physical grid, energy markets, and regulation. It considers the historical and economic context in which energy law and regulation takes place, with an emphasis on the way in which the physical characteristics of energy resources and markets led to their treatment as natural monopolies and the regulatory consequences of that treatment in public utility law. It also introduces the multi-level, cross-cutting legal framework that regulates energy and its separation from environmental law. Part II of the course turns to the primary sources of energy in the United States. Because legal fragmentation has led to divergent approaches to different sources of energy, the course examines of the legal regime for each of the major sources of energy: coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, hydropower, and renewables (wind, solar, biofuels, and geothermal). Part III of the course considers how these sources are used in electricity production. It considers the federal, state, and local law relevant to generation, transmission, and distribution and the increasingly important role that regional transmission organizations play in this regulatory framework. The discussion will include hot topics such as transmission siting and cost-sharing, integrating renewables onto the grid, energy efficiency and conservation, and smart grid. Part IV of the course focuses on the use of these sources in transportation. This part discusses vehicle and fuel regulation, including ways in which the Obama Administration's implementation of Massachusetts v. EPA is impacting fuel efficiency and tailpipe emissions standards. The course concludes in Part V with an analysis of the future of energy regulation that draws from the previous parts, reflecting upon we might bridge the energy/environment divide and approach multi-level energy governance in a more functional fashion. Grades will be based on a final examination (90%), oral presentations (5%), and class participation (5%).