In this contribution to a Yale Journal on Regulation tribute issue honoring Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Cudahy's distinguished career, we explore his energy law opinions. His opinions addressing energy issues elaborate on two recurring themes in U.S. energy law: judicial humility and deference...

Recent legislative reforms enacted in several states grant incumbent utilities a right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) over new electric power transmission lines. Regional grid planners, who typically defer to state law, often avoid running competitive solicitations for regional transmission projects...

Empirical research to date on state-level administrative procedure acts (SLAPAs) is inconclusive regarding when states will adopt and amend SLAPAs. However, there is reason for optimism that more comprehensive empirical study could shed light on the McNollgast hypothesis and its variations -...

In this Essay, I address the question of which branch of state government ought to have the authority to negotiate interstate compacts - a question of state separation of powers. Recent case law interpreting state constitutions in the context of Indian gambling compacts provides a particularly...

This article addresses the implications of retail competition in public utility industries, particularly electricity, for utility service obligations. After tracing the history of the common law duty to serve applicable to public utilities, the efficiency of utility service obligations in the...

This Article presents a case study of agency waiver procedures, based on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) regulations for qualifying power generation facilities under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA). After presenting a survey of the literature...

This Article examines a principal barrier to reducing U.S. carbon emissions — electricity distributors' financial incentives to sell more of their product — and introduces the concept of net demand reduction (“NDR”) as a primary goal for the modern energy regulatory system. Net...