Energy Law and Policy

Energy Law and Policy Synopsis

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This book offers an introduction to energy law and policy both for students who seek to practice in the field and for those interested in better understanding this fascinating, critical area of law. It introduces the key federal, state, and local government actors that play differing roles in energy controversies and unpacks the multi-jurisdictional approach to energy regulation pervasive in the United States.

The book explores the laws and policies governing the extraction, use, and disposal of renewable and non-renewable energy resources and provides in-depth coverage of U.S. regulation of the two major energy systems-electricity and transportation. In doing so, this book breaks away from the traditional approach of looking at energy resources one at a time. Instead, it provides a more holistic view of the field, emphasizing the major themes that run through energy law-regulation of market power, federalism tensions, and the global transition toward cleaner energy.

Energy Law and Policy contains cases, sample statutes and regulations, and pertinent excerpts from energy law and policy experts. These policy-oriented, often empirical materials offer the necessary building blocks for a public law course, particularly one that covers a rapidly transitioning field. The book is organized into three parts that introduce students to the fundamental aspects of the energy sector, energy law, and the most pressing energy topics of the 21st century.

The second edition builds on the first edition in a variety of ways:

• Enhanced coverage of legal and policy issues surrounding energy extraction on federal public lands, including coal, oil, natural gas, wind, and solar;
• Updated coverage of state policy changes in the areas of rooftop solar, net metering, and renewable portfolio standards;
• In-depth coverage of new energy-related executive orders, regulations, and policy shifts since the start of the Trump Administration;
• Greater discussion of energy storage technologies, electric vehicles, electric grid modernization, and cyber-security;
• Additional coverage of nuclear energy issues, including state subsidies for existing nuclear plants, financial concerns over investments in new nuclear plants, and facility permitting;
• Excerpts of new Supreme Court and federal lower court decisions on contemporary electricity policy issues, including demand response, capacity procurements, and electric transmission line planning;
• New developments in state regulation of hydraulic fracturing technologies; and
• Coverage of recent disputes over controversial energy transportation projects such as oil pipelines, natural gas pipelines, and liquefied natural gas export facilities.