LLM Energy Regulation

This course will begin with an overview of the global energy situation in terms of supply and demand as well as balanced projections for the coming decades both here and abroad. It then will proceed to examine the main primary sources of energy along with the multi-faceted role of electricity as the central source of secondary energy in our economy. This portion of the course will cover in some detail how these energy sources are used and regulated from economic, reliability, and environmental perspectives. There will therefore be a review of legal and regulatory principles governing fossil fuel extraction and use, the coal industry, nuclear power, a range of renewable energy sources, and finally the regulation of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. The course will conclude with a brief review of the growing role of conservation and climate change in energy markets here and to some extent abroad. There will be an essay-based final examination and class participation will certainly be encouraged.