Energy Tradeoffs

This week’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast features Sharon Jacobs and Shelley Welton interviewing the University of Texas’s David Spence about his research on “‘Naïve Energy Markets’ and the boundary between markets and regulation.”

David argues that both consumers and investors make decisions based on factors that often aren’t considered in simple economic models of energy markets. He discusses electricity pricing, under-investment in energy transport, and government efforts to influence the outcome of energy markets. The interview focuses on his recent Notre Dame Law Review article, which is titled “Naïve Energy Markets.” 

The Energy Tradeoffs Podcast can be found at the following links: Apple | Google

Our next EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast features David Spence interviewing the University of Minnesota’s Alexandra Klass about her research on “Network Infrastructure: Permitting & Eminent Domain.”

They discuss permits for interstate power-lines, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and oil pipelines, focusing on two recent articles from Professor Klass: “Future Proofing Energy Transport Law” and  “Reconstituting the Federalism Battle in Energy Transportation.” Near the end of the podcast, they discuss energy & eminent domain, the subject of my forthcoming Minnesota Law Review article with Professor Klass.

The Energy Tradeoffs Podcast can be found at the following links.

• Google Podcasts: https://play.google.com/music/m/Iqkwkn6f2tl65srzxrr3sc5tawe?t=Energy_Tradeoffs
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/energy-tradeoffs/id1470891782

Earlier this month, David Spence posted an introduction to our new project with Sharon Jacobs and Shelley Welton, EnergyTradeoffs.com. Our website will feature the work of researchers grappling with energy policy tradeoffs between reliability, affordability, and environmental performance as well as the other trade-offs associated with energy transitions.

The site includes interviews in which these researchers discuss their recent articles. We have already posted 27 of these conversations and will post more in the coming weeks. But if you prefer to digest interviews in podcast format, I will periodically post them.

To start, below is my discussion with David on my just published article: James W. Coleman, Pipelines & Power-lines: Building the Energy Transport Future, 80 Oh. St. L.J. 263 (2019). The interview is titled “The Difficulty of Siting Pipelines and Transmission Lines” and you can find it here. You can find the published article here: http://bit.ly/Pipelines-Power-Lines

David and I discuss why it’s become cheaper to produce oil, gas, & renewable power, and how that has shifted energy companies’ focus to energy transport: how to get these new energy sources to consumers at an affordable price. I explain that, at the same time, changing laws are making it harder to build pipelines & power-lines and offer my suggestions for legal reform.

The Energy Tradeoffs Podcast can be found at the following links: Apple | Google