U.S. Energy Law: An Introduction

"Energy law concerns the management of energy resources.  This is a simple definition, and disguises that it is arguably one of the more complex areas of law.  It demands that a scholar in the area engage with other disciplines to some degree, such as politics, economics, geography, environmental sciences and engineering."

          Source: Raphael J. Heffron, Energy Law: An Introduction 1 (2015)

"The research and practice of energy law is booming. Its growth has been driven by the multitude of legal issues arising from the rapidly changing energy sector. Over recent decades, energy markets have been liberalized and privatized, and new technologies have emerged in the pursuit of energy security.  More recently, there has been a growing domestic and international need for rapid transitions to lower-carbon energy systems to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

These shifts have given rise to a surfeit of energy law scholarship, leading some legal scholars to claim energy jurisprudence has now "come of age" as a field. The precise contours and definition of what might constitute an energy law field remains debated, given its intersection with other prominent areas like environmental law and climate law. Even so, scholars have identified a range of emerging characteristics that may over time give identity to energy law, including a focus on justice, security and reliability, sustainability, multijurisdictional laws, and...interdisciplinarity and the prevalence of balancing conflicting interests."

Source: Cameron Holley et al., Power, Conflict and Energy Law: Learning from Unconventional Natural Gas, Non-State Actors, Industry and Government, 18 Tex. J. Oil Gas & Energy L. 3 (2023).