Energy Regulation

Energy Regulation

Third Annual Conference on Energy Regulation: Legal and Regulatory Issues, Obstacles, and Opportunities in Electricity Markets

Thursday, November 13 - Friday, November 14, 2014

The Third Annual Searle Center Conference on Energy Regulation: Legal and Regulatory Issues, Obstacles, and Opportunities in Electricity Markets is organized by David A. Dana, Kirkland & Ellis Chair, Northwestern University School of Law.

The conference will feature panels on the following topics:

  • Transmission Siting and Implementation of FERC Order 1000
  • Smart Grid Regulatory Barriers
  • Distributed Energy, On and Off Grid Legal/Economic/Political/Technical Issues
  • Legal Challenges to State Renewable Portfolio Statutes and Incorporating Renewables
  • California Market Issues with Cap-And-Trade

The conference will also feature a Keynote Address by James J. Hoecker, Senior Counsel & Energy Strategist at Husch Blackwell  and FERC Chairman from 1997 to 2001.

Agenda (pdf)

Registration

There is no registration fee for this conference, but attendance is by invitation only. To request an invitation, please send an email message with your name, affiliation, and full contact information to: searlecenter@law.northwestern.edut

CLE Credit

This conference has been approved for 7.5 credit hours of State of Illinois CLE credit.

Background Papers and Presentations

Session One-Transmission Siting and Implementation of FERC Order 1000

The Electric Grid at a Crossroads: A Regional Approach to Siting Transmission Lines (presentation)
The Electric Grid at a Crossroads: A Regional Approach to Siting Transmission Lines (background paper)
Alexandra Klass, University of Minnesota Law School

(Mis)Understanding “Undue Discrimination”: FERC’S Misguided Effort to Extend the Boundaries of the Federal Power Act (background paper)
Matthew R. McGuire, Jones Day

Transmission Siting and Implementation of FERC Order 1000 (presentation)
Ashley Brown, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government

Session Two-Smart Grid Regulatory Barriers

Electric Power Supply Ass’n v. Federal Energy Regulatory Comm’n, No. 11-1486 (D.C. Cir. May 23, 2014) (background document)

FERC, Wholesale Markets, and the Smart Grid: Market Referee or Market Shaper? (presentation)
Joel B. Eisen, University of Richmond School of Law

Smart Grid Regulatory Barriers (presentation)
Suedeen Kelly, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Smart Grid: Barriers to Dynamic Pricing (presentation)
David Spence
, McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin

Session Three-Distributed Energy, On and Off Grid Legal/Economic/Political/Technical Issues

Illinois Commerce Com’n v. Federal Energy Regulatory Com’n, 756 F.3d 556 (2014) (background document)

Can the Law Embrace Disruptive Technologies? (presentation)
Reconsidering Regulatory Uncertainty: Making a Case for Energy Storage
(background paper)
Amy L. Stein, Tulane University School of Law

Cliffs and Ducks, Inverted Blocks and Spirals: Where Does Distributed Solar Go From Here? (presentation)
Steve Weissman, UC Berkeley School of Law

Session Four-Legal Challenges to State Renewable Portfolio Statutes and Incorporating Renewables

Incorporating Renewables (presentation)
The Political Barriers to a National RPS (background paper)
Regulation, Climate Change, and the Electric Grid (background paper)
Old Statutes, New Problems (background paper)
David B. Spence, McCombs School of Business and School of Law, University of Texas

Session Five-California Market Issues with Cap-And-Trade

Cross-National Linkages In Cap-And-Trade Systems (presentation)
David Dana, Northwestern University School of Law

Feed-in Tariffs in Turmoil (presentation)
Feed-in Tariffs in Turmoil (background paper)
Lincoln L. Davies, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law

Resource Shuffling and Wholesale Power Markets (presentation)
Jim Rossi, Vanderbilt Law School


View Past Energy Regulation Conferences