Energy and Utilities Law Commons^™

Goldilocks And The Three Frameworks: An Argument For A Hybrid Approach To Regulating Fusion Energy Systems, Mitch Boyer

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Part I will explore the beginnings of nuclear power regulation in the United States by outlining the short lifespan of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the NRC’s [Nuclear Regulatory Commission's] predecessor, and why the Agency’s two competing directives of protecting public safety and encouraging industry development eventually led to its dissolution in 1974. The subsequent separation and assignment of these directives to newly created agencies— safety to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and development to the Energy Research and Development Administration—demonstrates that the NRC’s primary statutory directive is regulating nuclear power safely. Part II will delve into the early days of …

Renewable Energy And Defense Power In Japan, Yuichiro Tsuji

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Japan’s challenge will be how quickly it can shift its energy supply to renewable energy sources. To increase energy self-sufficiency and defense power, Japan should promote policies that encourage renewable energy use. However, under the current legal system, local governments are not involved in the legal review process for establishing nuclear power plants. Through agreements, local consent is required to restart a plant. However, this is merely a contract, and permission is granted even if the agreement is violated, as long as the plant passes a safety review. The central government is trying to facilitate communication between local governments and …

Fueling A Hydrogen Boom: Federal And State Policies For Promoting Green Hydrogen, Kayna Lantz, Luke Sower

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

“Green” hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources could play a valuable role in the energy transition. Among other things, green hydrogen’s potential as a source of carbon-free, long-term energy storage could help the nation address the intermittency-related challenges associated with growing reliance on wind and solar power. Green hydrogen also has promise as an energy-dense fuel for industries that are difficult to electrify, such as long-haul transportation and steel and fertilizer manufacturing. Recent federal actions have provided some initial government support for green hydrogen technologies, but significant policy gaps remain. States and the federal government could do much more to …

Expanding Renewable Energy Tax Credits To Tribal Governments: How Current Legislative Proposals Will Benefit Tribes And Their Members In Their Continued Efforts To Address Climate Change, Ben Reiter

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Part I of this Article will review the history of renewable energy tax credits in this country and how they have played such a prominent role in the United States’ efforts to address climate change. Part II of this Article will describe BBBA’s [Build Back Better Act] proposal to broaden the scope of entities— including Tribes—that can take advantage of renewable energy tax credits. Finally, Part III of this Article will argue that Tribes are uniquely positioned to take advantage of BBBA’s renewable energy tax credit direct pay proposal based on their demonstrated leadership in combating climate change, the significant …

Incidental Take Under The Migratory Bird Treaty Act And How To Share The Skies, Erika Bosack

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Note will focus on one piece of legislation that can protect birds from wind turbines: the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (“MBTA” or “the Act”). The MBTA makes it illegal to hunt, kill, capture, import, export, sell, buy, pursue, possess, transport, or take a bird on the list of protected species, which covers hundreds of types of birds as well as their nests and eggs. The law forbids these acts in any manner, by any means, and at any time. The text itself does not explicitly state whether intentional and unintentional acts should both carry liability, which has …

A Necessary Negative: Analysis Of The Tidewater Virginia Surry-Skiffes Creek Transmission Tower Litigation, Geoffrey Robert Grau

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Ace In The Hole: The Epa's Proposed Affordable Clean Energy Rule; Have Your Coal And Burn It Too, Cy M. Hudson

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

It's Always Sunny In Florida: Reexamining The Role Of Energy Monopolies After Recent Solar Ballot Initiatives, Lauren Gillespie

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Dual Sovereignty Is Out, Time For Concurrent Jurisdiction To Shine, Scott Jacobson

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

T-Rex, Jurassic Park And Nuclear Power: Nuclear Power Plants And The Courts After The Fukushima Nuclear Accident, Shigenori Matsui

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Beneficial Disruption: Vermont's Renewable Energy Standard And The Need For Innovative Utility Regulation In The 21st Century, Darren Springer

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

A “Green” Approach To Hedge Fund Regulation And Reform, Matthew Keehn

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Survey Says . . . ? An Argument For More Frontloaded Ferc Public Use Provider Determinations As A Means Of Streamlining The Commission S Regulatory Role Over Interstate Natural Gas Pipeline Operators, Christopher Earle

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Room To Grow: A Consumer-Focused Proposal For Revitalizing Ohio’S Renewable Energy Sector Through Sustainable Expansion Of The Market, Mairi Mull

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Thorium’S Glow: Lighting The Way For Safe, Cheap Energy Production, Zachary Hawari

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

The Wind Blows In Virginia Too—Deconstructing Legal And Regulatory Barriers To The Development Of Onshore, Utility-Scale Wind Energy In Virginia, Mark L. (Buzz) Belleville

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Electric Vehicles: Rolling Over Barriers And Merging With Regulation, Mark Detsky, Gabriella Stockmayer

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Electric vehicles are merging into the mainstream of transportation. Although the technology still comprises a small fraction of the current market, it ismorewidely available due to competitivepricing, technological improvements, and available state and federal incentives. The benefits of electric vehicles include reduced fossil fuel emissions and associated climate change mitigation, new independence from oil-driven policies in foreignmarkets and international relations, and potential opportunities for increasing and complementing renewable energy electric resources. The risks of widespread electric vehicle deployment are largely thought to involve potential impacts on existingutility generation,distribution, and transmission systems and how the costs of any needed changes to …

“The Energy Capital Of The East Coast?”: Lessons Virginia Can Learn From Cape Wind Failure And European Success In Offshore Wind Energy, Lamya Moosa

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Lessons From China’S Carbon Markets For U.S. Climate Change Policy, Susan Vermillion

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Enforcement Activism Of The Eu’S Renewable Energy Directive During The Global Financial Crisis, Jon Truby

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Offshore Petroleum Facility Incidents Post Varanus Island, Montara, And Macondo: Have We Really Addressed The Root Cause?, Tina Hunter

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Article analyzes the role of offshore petroleum legislation in contributing to offshore facility integrity incidents in Australia’s offshore petroleum jurisdiction. It examines the regulatory framework that existed at the time of the Varanus Island, Montara, and Macondo facility incidents, determining that the regulatory regime contributed to each of these incidents. Assessing the response of the Commonwealth government to the regulatory framework existing at the time of the events, particularly the integration of well regulation as part of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority’s (“NOPSA”) functions and the establishment of a national offshore regulator, this Article determines that while the …

Crushing Europe's Pipeline Dreams: Russia's Mineral Monopoly, Weakness In The European Energy Market, And Realism In The Future, Daniel Doty

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Double Dipping: Utilizing Oil Wells For Geothermal Energy, Alexander Conser

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Beyond Solyndra: Examining The Department Of Energy's Loan Guarantee Program, Hilary Kao

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

In the year following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, the renewable and clean energy industries faced significant turmoil— from natural disasters, to political maelstroms, from the Great Recession, to U.S. debt ceiling debates. The Department of Energy’s Loan Guarantee Program (“DOE LGP”), often a target since before it ever received a dollar of appropriations, has been both blamed and defended in the wake of the bankruptcy filing of Solyndra, a California-based solar panel manufacturer, in September 2011, because of the $535 million loan guarantee made to it by the Department of Energy (“DOE”) in 2009. Critics have suggested …

An Integrated Green Urban Electrical Grid, Deborah Behles

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Relying on only renewable resources for generating electricity once seemed like a dream. Yet, an island in Denmark is now achieving that dream by generating all the electricity it needs with renewable resources. Other communities throughout the world now want to achieve this same milestone. To critics, these goals are not attainable due to the intermittent nature of the primary renewable resources, wind and solar power, which many of these communities plan to rely on. But, several studies have confirmed that it can be done, and plans are already underway to switch communities to one hundred percent renewable energy in …

The Andean Electricity Market: A Competition Law Analysis, Mateo Ferrero

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

The countries of the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru) have great potential to produce clean and reliable energy. However, this potential has only been exploited to a limited extent. Network industries, such as the electricity sector, have special features that create unique challenges for both developed and developing countries seeking to adequately manage this important part of the economy. Although the member countries of the Andean Community have substantially reformed their energy industries in the past decades, this sector still requires further competition. So far, most of the efforts undertaken by these countries have neglected the possibility of …

Have We All Gone Batty? The Need For A Better Balance Between The Conservation Of Protected Species And The Development Of Clean Renewable Energy, Laura Householder

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Legal And Regulatory Impediments To Vehicle-To-Grid Aggregation, Matthew Hutton, Thomas Hutton

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This article begins by defining the “vehicle-to-grid” concept for a legal readership, and places it in context by discussing some major problems facing the United States electrical grid. There are several ways in which the vehicle-to-grid concept may potentially mitigate the grid’s problems as are described. Then, the article discusses the major legal and regulatory impediments to implementing a vehicle-to-grid program. Several of the hurdles are simply manifestations of uncertainties in the business environment. Others are more properly legal and regulatory impediments, but are expected to be surmountable. Therefore, the Article concludes that legal and regulatory impediments will not likely …

Here Comes The Sun: Solar Power Parity With Fossil Fuels, Nathan Mee, Marc Miller

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

There is wide agreement across the political spectrum that the United States should develop domestic, renewable sources of energy. There are many ways to describe the challenges of a transition from a fossil fuel economy to one fueled by atoms, the sun, or the wind, but in a nutshell, the problem is said to be cost: the basic reason the United States continues overwhelmingly to rely on fossil fuels is that they are comparatively cheap, and alternative energy is relatively expensive.

Or so it seems. This Article is intended to encourage more open discussion about real energy costs. To keep …

India's Nuclear Civil Liability Bill And Supplier's Liability: One Step Towards Modernizing The Outdated International Nuclear Liability Regime, Arya Hariharan

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.