Spring 2019 - 60090 - PA 388K - Advanced Topics in Public Policy

This course examines in detail the regulatory regimes governing the sale and delivery of energy in American energy markets. The focus will be on the economic regulation of electricity and natural gas markets, but we will also devote some attention to oil markets as well. Students will develop a working understanding of electricity and gas markets, how federal and state regulatory commissions regulate price and competition in interstate markets under the Federal Power Act and the Natural Gas Act, respectively, and in intrastate markets under analogous state laws. We will also address topical issues associated with the rapid technological and economic changes underway in the electricity and gas markets, including the effects of the rapid growth in renewable generation, the move toward increasing competition and market pricing, legal rules governing the siting of natural gas and electric transmission lines, the pricing of transmission services, rules governing the development of LNG terminals, disputes over the pricing and regulation of distributed energy resources (such as rooftop solar or demand response), and more. This class will be based in the Law School, but also open to students from the McCombs School, the Jackson School, and the LBJ School, and will mix traditional lecture and discussion with small group work in multidisciplinary teams. This is a companion course to (but not a prerequisite for) Energy Law: Regulating Energy Production. There are no prerequisites: the course will address the constitutional law, administrative law, technical, economic and political foundations of energy regulation as well as the content of the regulatory regimes covered.