Energy and Utilities Law Commons^™

Murray Energy Corporation V. Mccarthy, Sarah M. Danno

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Holding that the widespread effects of environmental regulation on the coal industry constituted sufficient importance, the Northern District of West Virginia ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct analysis on employment loss and plant reduction resulting from regulatory effects. In admonishing the EPA’s inaction, the court ruled that the Agency had a non-discretionary duty to evaluate employment and plant reduction. Furthermore, the court held that the EPA’s attempt to put forth general reports in place of required evaluations was an invalid attempt to circumvent its statutory duty.

Recent Case Decisions

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Use Of The Special Warranty In Oklahoma And Texas Oil And Gas Transactions, James R. Strawn

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Minimizing Antitrust Risks In Joint Ventures, Joint Bidding, And Amis: A Review Of Recent Enforcement Activities, William M. Katz, Jr., Catherine Clemons, Alexander T. Dimock

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Current And Emerging Issues In Oil And Gas Title Examination, Timothy C. Dowd

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Energy Litigation Update 2016, Mark D. Christiansen

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

2016 Eugene Kuntz Award For Leadership In Natural Resources Law And Policy: Larry Nichols, R. Clark Musser

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor's Introduction, Micah L. Adkison

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Siting Technology, Land-Use Energized, Steven Ferrey

Catholic University Law Review

Jurisdiction for the siting of electric power plants is vested in the fifty states, four territories, and thousands of local governments. Further complicating this scheme is federal government’s exclusive authority over certain transactions originating from these facilities. Against this backdrop of often divergent and conflicting laws, this article compiles a multijurisdictional review of the jurisdictional issues surrounding the regulation of electric power. Employing multiple state by state surveys, this paper compares electric power siting laws, the interactions between federal, state, and municipal authorities, and the mechanics of regulatory structures across the United States.

The Road Less Travelled: The Maine Energy Cost Reduction Act, Economic Federalism, And A Modern Approach To Preemption Analysis Under The Natural Gas Act Of 1938, Benjamin T. Mccall

Maine Law Review

The saying “you can’t get there from here” is as authentically Maine as blueberries or lobster. Made famous in the mid-20th century by the storytelling troupe Bert and I, the colloquial phrase typifies the quirkiness and with that one often encounters north and east of the New Hampshire border. Despite the attempt at humor, the saying is apropos when one considers Maine’s position in both New England and the country. Being at the end of the line certainly has its advantages, among them being hundreds of square miles of untamed forest, and a bevy of natural resources that provide both …

A Us Clean Energy Transition And The Trump Administration, Joseph P. Tomain

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

The Obama administration undertook several steps giving the US federal government a leadership role in a clean energy transition. Among other actions, the administration develop a Climate Action Plan, successfully negotiated higher fuel vehicle standards with car manufacturers, passed the Clean Power Plan, and signed the Paris Climate Agreement. Although the United States had been party to other international climate agreements and was a signatory to the Rio Declaration, other federal efforts were lax at best.

During his election campaign, Donald Trump promised his supporters to eliminate the Clean Power Plan, withdraw from the Paris Agreement, curtail the Environmental Protection …

Naïve Energy Markets, David B. Spence

Notre Dame Law Review

Two interrelated trends—the growing popularity within the GOP of the conservative intellectual challenge to the New Deal consensus, and the rise to dominance of economic theory within regulatory and energy policy debates—have obscured the importance of regulation to well-functioning energy markets. This Article uses contemporary energy policy disputes to illustrate how and why energy markets can never resemble the idealized markets of economic theory that have become so popular in conservative policy discourse.

Shooting Stars And Dancing Fish: A Walk To The World We Want, Tony Oposa

Environmental Law Program Publications @ Haub Law

From the foreword by Durwood Zaelke, President, Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, Washington, DC.

“Since the beginning of time, human knowledge and culture have been passed down through stories. Short stories, songs, prayers, poems, even paintings can stick in your mind forever. These have always been the most powerful ways we learn and remember.

Tony is not only one of the world’s greatest lawyers, he is also one of the world’s greatest storytellers.

This book, in which he generously shares his experiences, his scars, and most importantly his humanity, is Tony’s gift to generations to come.

But he does …

A Study On The United States Renewable Energy Policy Design And Outcomes, Dmitry Zelik

SJD Dissertations

Energy is essential for the existence of modem civilization, and the amount of energy consumed by society is constantly growing. In 2015, the United States alone generated about 4 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity. About 67% of the electricity generated was from fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and petroleum). The United States' high dependence on fossil fuels leads to numerous problems, such as increased greenhouse gas emissions, urban air pollution, as well as geopolitical and military tensions. There are two primary ways that scholars and politicians are trying to address the problem of fossil-fuel consumption--either by reducing the population's dependence on …

Blood Biofuels, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Trust Or Bust: Complications With Tribal Trust Obligations And Environmental Sovereignty, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Contractors’ State License Board, Mayra Castro, J. D. Fellmeth

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Zoning’S Centennial: A Complete Account Of The Evolution Of Zoning Into A Robust System Of Land Use Law—1916-2016 (Part Iv), John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Fracking is happening and local governments are subjected to many of its associated risks. They either need to act, or know—clearly and convincingly—why they should not. The federal government has stopped far short of comprehensive regulation of fracking; the states’ regulations range from fair to poor, sometimes preempting local regulation but most often sharing regulatory authority over land use impacts.

Clean Electrification, Shelley Welton

Faculty Publications

To combat climate change, many leading states have adopted the aim of creating a “participatory” grid. In this new model, electricity is priced based on time of consumption and carbon content, and consumers are encouraged to adjust their behavior and adopt new technologies to maintain affordable electricity. Although a more participatory grid is an important component of lowering greenhouse gas emissions, it also raises a new problem of clean energy justice: utilities and consumer advocates claim that such policies unjustly benefit the rich at the expense of the poor, given the type of consumer best able to participate in the …

States Will Be Big Fans: A State Driven Regulatory Process For Offshore Wind Development Off U.S. Coastlines, Erin K. Benson

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

It's Not Just An Offshore Wind Farm: Combining Multiple Uses And Multiple Values On The Outer Continental Shelf, Robin Kundis Craig

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Marine aquaculture and marine-based alternative energy, especially offshore wind, are increasingly competing for space on the Outer Continental Shelf and the water column above it with each other and with more traditional ocean uses. The laws governing this increasingly crowded space need to become better aware of changing uses of and values for the ocean and to promote rational planning of how this space is used in the future.

In one approach, various regions of the U.S. coast are actively engaged in comprehensive marine spatial planning. Marine spatial planning is a process designed to prioritize, balance, and rationally allocate the …

Improving Green Building: Comparing Leed Certification To The Fda And Its Private, Third Party Rating Approach, Patrick Kain

American University Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Nuclear Energy: Kentucky's New Coal?, Katie Haagen

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Public Utilities Commission, Jessica Kirshner, Faye Winkler, R. C. Fellmeth, Bridget Fogarty Gramme

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Breaking Energy Path Dependencies, Amy L. Stein

UF Law Faculty Publications

f the many barriers to clean energy development discussed in the literature, the power of the status quo is not normally one of them. Yet beyond the need for more transmission lines, the need to decouple electricity sales from revenue, or the need to amend our environmental laws to more fully capture the externalities of energy, efforts to develop clean energy are faced with over a century of institutional “stickiness” associated with the legal and regulatory framework governing energy. This article explores how path dependency theories can inform the practical legal efforts to overcome such stickiness, identifying the troublesome approaches …

Constitutional Challenges And Regulatory Opportunities For State Climate Policy Innovation, Felix Mormann

Articles

This Article explores constitutional limits and regulatory openings for innovative state policies to mitigate climate change by promoting climate-friendly, renewable energy. In the absence of a comprehensive federal policy approach to climate change and clean energy, more and more states are stepping in to fill the policy void. Already, nearly thirty states have adopted renewable portfolio standards that create markets for solar, wind, and other clean electricity. To help populate these markets, a few pioneering states have recently started using feed-in tariffs that offer eligible generators above-market rates for their clean, renewable power.

But renewable portfolio standards, feed-in tariffs, and …

Keeping The Fox From Managing The Henhouse: Why Incumbent Utilities Should Not Be Allowed To Operate The Distribution System Platform, James M. Van Nostrand

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Dual Electricity Federalism Is Dead, But How Dead And What Replaces It?, Joel B. Eisen

Law Faculty Publications

The Supreme Court decided three cases in the past year involving the split of jurisdiction between the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the states in the energy sector: FERC v. Electric Power Supply Association, Hughes v. Talen Energy Marketing and ONEOK v. Learjet. This Article concludes that these watershed decisions herald a new approach to governing the rapid evolution of the modern electric grid. Discussing the decisions, the analysis demonstrates that they mark the end of “dual federalism” in electricity law that treated federal and state regulators as operating within separate and distinct spheres of authority, and proposes that …

Ferc's Small Hydropower Exemption: A Missed Opportunity, Alex B. Clay

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Agency Innovation In Vermont Yankee's White Space, Emily S. Bremer, Sharon B. Jacobs

Publications

The literature on “agency discretion” has, with a few notable exceptions, largely focused on substantive policy discretion, not procedural discretion. In this essay, we seek to refocus debate on the latter, which we argue is no less worthy of attention. We do so by defining the parameters of what we call Vermont Yankee’s “white space” — the scope of agency discretion to experiment with procedures within the boundaries established by law (and thus beyond the reach of the courts). Our goal is to begin a conversation about the dimensions of this procedural negative space, in which agencies are free …