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The Quiet Undoing: How Regional Electricity Market Reforms Threaten Clean Energy Goals, Shelley Welton, Danny Cullenward Nov 2019

The Quiet Undoing: How Regional Electricity Market Reforms Threaten Clean Energy Goals, Shelley Welton, Danny Cullenward

Faculty Publications

In a series of largely unnoticed but extremely consequential moves, two regional electricity market operators are pursuing reforms to make it more difficult for states to achieve their clean energy goals. The federal energy regulator, FERC, has already approved one such reform and ordered a second market operator to go farther in punishing state-supported clean energy resources than it had initially proposed. In this Essay, we bring to light the ways in which the intricate, technical reforms underway in regional electricity markets threaten state climate change objectives and the durability of FERC’s regional market constructs. If FERC allows private market …


Renewable Energy As An Alternative To Fossil Fuel Use: A Legal Framework For Advancing Low Carbon Energy Transition In Nigeria, Ogechi Judith Njokuji Oct 2019

Renewable Energy As An Alternative To Fossil Fuel Use: A Legal Framework For Advancing Low Carbon Energy Transition In Nigeria, Ogechi Judith Njokuji

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis posits that small-scale renewable electricity is no longer merely an option for Nigeria, but a necessity in order to achieve the desired energy transition. The research also shows how the Nigerian electricity sector can be reformed through three mechanisms namely: decentralization, deregulation and a low carbon foot print. It proposes legal and institutional reforms to cure the intermittent availability problems inherent in renewable energy sources. This is achieved by drawing a comparative lesson from the Ontarian and South Australian electricity models. This thesis adopts a historical, analytical and interdisciplinary approach to conclude that there is need for a …


Microgrids: Legal And Regulatory Hurdles For A More Resilient Energy Infrastructure, Raquel Parks Feb 2019

Microgrids: Legal And Regulatory Hurdles For A More Resilient Energy Infrastructure, Raquel Parks

Pace Environmental Law Review

Natural disasters and climate change have made it apparent that energy infrastructure needs to be modernized and microgrids are one type of technology that can help the electricity grid become more resilient, reliable, and efficient. Different states have begun developing microgrid pilot projects including California, New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. The City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is the first city to propose implementing “energy districts” of microgrids that will serve as critical infrastructure, in the first phase, and then expand to commercial and community settings. This large project involves many shareholders including public utilities, government agencies, and private entities. Utilizing microgrids …


Microgrids For Micro-Communities: Reducing The Energy Burden In Rural Areas, Julie C. Michalski Jan 2019

Microgrids For Micro-Communities: Reducing The Energy Burden In Rural Areas, Julie C. Michalski

Michigan Technology Law Review

Rural communities currently face some of the highest energy costs and lowest reliability in the country, due in part to long transmission distances and low population densities. The North American Supergrid (“NAS”) has been proposed as a solution for increased grid stability, resiliency, and renewable generation with decreased carbon emissions and energy cost across the lower 48 states. Although the NAS could help with these energy goals, it is likely that benefits of the NAS would bypass many rural or isolated communities outside of the transmission step-down points. As the NAS will not help rural communities, states can take regulatory …


Electricity Competition And The Public Good: Rethinking Markets And Monopolies, Jonas J. Monast Jan 2019

Electricity Competition And The Public Good: Rethinking Markets And Monopolies, Jonas J. Monast

University of Colorado Law Review

The United States electricity sector is engaged in a long-term experiment regarding the proper role of market competition. Many states that transitioned to competitive electricity markets in the early 2000s are again reconsidering the relationship between market competition and public policy goals. Low natural gas prices, falling costs of renewable energy and energy storage, and improvements in efficiency are causing early retirements of coal and nuclear power plants and thus affecting environmental policy goals and economic interests. States that continue to rely on monopoly utilities for electricity are also reconsidering the role of competition, but from a different angle. Rather …