Law Commons^™

Regional Cooperative Federalism And The Us Electric Grid, Hannah Jacobs Wiseman

Journal Articles

The U.S. Constitution makes no direct mention of regional governing entities, yet they are an entrenched part of our federalist system. In the area of electric grid governance, the federal government enlists independent, private entities called regional transmission organizations (RTOs) to implement federal policy and achieve state energy goals. RTOs are the most prominent form of regional cooperative federalism, yet other policy spheres, such as opioid control, encompass a similar approach. This is a twist on the classic form of cooperative federalism, in which the federal government relies upon individual states to achieve federal mandates.

The regionally governed electric grid …

Grid Reliability Through Clean Energy, Hannah Jacobs Wiseman, Alexandra Klass, Joshua Macey, Shelley Welton

Journal Articles

In the wake of recent high-profile power failures, policymakers and politicians have asserted that there is an inherent tension between the aims of clean energy and grid reliability. But continuing to rely on fossil fuels to avoid system outages will only exacerbate reliability challenges by contributing to increasingly extreme climate-related weather events. These extremes will disrupt the power supply, with impacts rippling far beyond the electricity sector.

This Article shows that much of the perceived tension between clean energy and reliability is a failure of law and governance resulting from the United States’ siloed approach to regulating the electric grid. …