Courses

    Energy markets are dynamic and growing rapidly, creating new business opportunities and presenting new legal challenges not only for traditional energy companies but also for newer market entrants, including commodity exchanges, investment banks, hedge funds and large industrials. The course will focus on the economic regulation of wholesale energy markets, primarily the regulation of price and competition in the electric and natural gas markets, by examining five main areas: (i) restructuring and deregulation; (ii) the current model of energy market regulation derived, in part, from securities market regulation; (iii) the legal, regulatory and market responses to ongoing challenges, including preventing market manipulation of the sort perpetrated by Enron in 2000-2001; (iv) foundational laws and policies governing markets and transportation of the electricity and natural gas commodities; and (v) the constant interplay between Congress and energy regulatory agencies.

Students will gain an appreciation for the legal challenges confronted by market participants. Some sessions will feature guest lecturers. There will be no examination. Instead, students’ grades will be based on three components: (1) class participation; (2) a final paper requiring legal analysis of actual issues confronting energy attorneys; and (3) an oral presentation of the final paper.