Public Utility Regulation Seminar

The laws regulating public utilities and common carriers govern many of our basic infrastructure systems in the United States: our electricity grid, our natural gas pipelines, our water systems, our railroad network, our airplanes, and our telecommunications systems. These laws date back hundreds of years, and provided the basis for our early administrative state. Today, these infrastructure systems are coming under increasing strain due to climate change, new technologies, and decades of neglect. The model of public utility regulation, too, is under significant pressure to adapt to these changes; to ensure that we have resilient infrastructure long into the future; and to make infrastructure management and governance accountable and open to the American public, particularly to those who have historically borne the greatest burdens of infrastructure development. This course will introduce students to the uniquely American concept of “public utility regulation.” The course will combine classes on the doctrines of public utility regulation—including just and reasonable ratemaking, safe and adequate service provision, universal service, and nondiscrimination requirements—with discussions of how they play out in the real world. There will be a particular focus on the present-day challenges of providing energy and water services to all Americans in the face of environmental and climate change.