Energy Law
Energy law is a set of laws, rules, regulations, and standards that govern the production, distribution, and use of energy, including electricity, coal, oil, natural gas, LNG (liquefied natural gas), nuclear, wind, hydroelectric, and solar energy. For the most part, these laws and regulations are designed to spur competition and drive down prices for consumers while protecting the national interests of the country. The primary regulatory bodies that govern these laws and regulations are the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Department of Energy, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).Federal Energy Regulation
As the primary source of energy changed from individual woodstoves and fireplaces to the use of larger furnaces using coal, and then later oil and natural gas, it became necessary to regulate energy on a national level. However, the federal government let market forces control the energy sector and limited their involvement to “oversight” in order to ensure that the public’s interests were met. This remained federal policy until the oil crisis in the mid-1970s.
Practicing Energy Law
Despite the existence of laws governing the use, production, and distribution of energy for more than one hundred years in the United States, the field of energy law is a relatively recent one. It was not until the Department of Energy was established as a result of the energy crisis in the mid-1970s, and the National Energy Act of 1978 was passed, that energy law was practiced by attorneys. In response to today’s rapidly changing world, each successive presidential administration since the enactment of the National Energy Act of 1978, has signed a new energy-related bill into law.
Lawyers who practice energy law must understand the complexities involved in these laws and regulations at federal, state, and local levels. The field of energy law is a rapidly changing one, and it is important that lawyers keep abreast of new laws and regulations that will affect their clients.
Practicing attorneys in energy law have a variety of clients, including energy producers and suppliers; developers involved in various energy-related projects such as transmission lines; natural gas pipelines; solar or wind-powered facilities or oil-fired power plants, industrial and commercial consumers and customers; and even those investing in the energy market. Other areas in which energy law is practiced include mergers and acquisitions between utilities, licensing and environmental permitting activities and other regulatory approval processes, legislative activities such as the creation of new energy laws.
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