Energy and Utilities Law

This is FindLaw’s collection of Energy and Public Utilities Law articles, part of the Corporate Counsel Center Law Library. A public utility is a business or service, which may be publicly or privately owned, engaged in supplying the public generally with some commodity or service, such as electricity, gas, water, transportation, or telephone or telegraph service. The individual states’ various public utilities commissions oversee electric companies, while electric utility boards are delegated power by the state legislature. Law articles in this archive are predominantly written by lawyers for a professional audience seeking business solutions to legal issues. Start your free research with FindLaw.

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Energy and Utilities Law Articles

What Prompted Airline Deregulation 20 Years Ago? What Were the Objectives of That Deregulation and How Were They Achieved?

Overview of the factors that led to airline deregulation as described by former General Counsel for the Department of Transportation, John Barnum.

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The Hazards of Overhead Electrical Catenary Railroad Systems: A Detailed Case Report Of A $8.5 million Recovery

On Friday, May 29, 1981, the nation's press reported an $8.5 million settlement paid by Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) for a sixteen year old San Jose boy, Steven Throop. Thirteen year old Steven suffered severe electrical burns on July 4 ...
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Recent Oil and Gas Regulatory Developments in Alberta

What follows is a brief overview of significant oil and gas regulatory developments occurring between April and November, 2005. The scope is limited to consideration of Alberta Energy and Utilities Board ("EUB") decisions and policy changes, and ...
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Resolving Measurement Disputes

Over the last several years, legal disputes involving energy companies have been on the rise, increasingly resulting in litigation before courts or arbitration panels. Both upstream and downstream businesses have experienced significant legal attack ...
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Restructuring Canadian Electricity Markets

The approach toward restructuring electricity markets has differed across Canada as a result of the unique industry and regulatory structures, regional circumstances and issues that face each of the provinces. For example, factors such as ...
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Restructuring Ontario’s Electricity Industry: A Legal Cornucopia Awaits

For the last hundred years or so, it has all been so simple. You need electricity, you call your local hydro commission-Toronto Hydro, for example. There are no other options, no other choices. Retail electricity service in Toronto is provided ...
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Securitization: in Depth: State Legislation and Legislative Process

Often as part of a comprehensive electric industry restructuring framework, state enabling statutes authorize the imposition on electric customers of a charge to permit the recovery over time of certain "stranded" costs incurred by the electric ...
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South Dakota’s Eminent Domain Experiment to Curb Private Condemnation by Railroads

The government's eminent domain power is an extreme one, grounded in the nature of sovereignty but constrained in our Constitution to protect individuals from excessive and unnecessary takings of private property. Justifying eminent domain power ...
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The Double Edged Sword of Equating Supply and Demand

After California's recent experience, the many investment opportunities created by the utility industry deregulation are in jeopardy. Electric system reliability is a political necessity. The reverberations from California's rolling black-outs have ...
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The Economic and Environmental Impact of Fuel Prices on Driving Habits

Article provided by the Sawaya Law Firm. Please visit our Web site at www.sawayalaw.com. With the ever-present news of the United States' faltering economy, Americans have been looking for ways to save money. Additionally, the recent spike in gas ...
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