Professional LLM in Energy and Infrastructure Law

Credits: 6.0

This course examines multiple energy regulation models. The range of approaches provides the opportunity to use Ontario and other markets as test cases to consider the debates that plague energy restructuring across a number of jurisdictions. The issues that arise include:
(1) The social and economic rationale for a vertically integrated publicly owned monopoly;
(2) from monopoly to market – the transition to a competitive electricity market;
(3) from market to central planning – hybrid systems;
(4) the green economy model of energy regulation.

Credits: 3.0

This course focuses on the current international legal and policy frameworks in place to address the global phenomenon of climate change. These frameworks have been developed over time and include the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as well as the Paris Agreement which highlights the key points for the post-2020 climate change regime including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). In addition, students will learn about the following topics in relation to climate change and law:
(1) Foundational concepts regarding the science of climate change;
(2) Strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strategies to adapt to climate change;
(3) The economics of climate change and the role of economics and climate finance in addressing climate change.

Credits: 3.0

This course looks at the policy and regulation of resource efficiency efforts, primarily through the lens of the recent electricity efficiency experience in Ontario. The course will cover the following topics:
(1) The policy rationale for a focus on energy efficiency: what is energy efficiency, why does the demand side matter, a brief history of energy efficiency in Ontario;
(2) The case for and against energy efficiency from an economic, technological and political perspective;
(3) The role and regulation of utility involvement in energy efficiency: what role have utilities played in energy efficiency; does this role make sense from the perspective of the government, the customer and the desired outcomes

Credits: 3.0

This course focusses on innovation in the fields of energy and infrastructure. The legislative, regulatory and policy frameworks, including standards and incentives, that exist to promote and spur energy and infrastructure innovation will be examined. Students will also examine: innovation theory and history, R&D collaboration agreements, funding and financing options, the fundamentals of the intellectual property dimensions of innovation, the challenges to commercializing new and innovative technologies, and case studies of innovative companies that succeeded as well as those that failed. Innovation law and policy will be examined through various lenses including economic, environmental and international.

Credits: 3.0

This course equips students to examine how current energy regulation can evolve to increase lower carbon energy supply including renewable electricity and low carbon fuels like renewable natural gas, hydrogen and fossil fuels paired with carbon sequestration or utilization. Students are required to identify a barrier to increasing a low carbon energy source and propose a legislative or regulatory solution.

Credits: 6.0

Environmental regulation and control has become of major concern to municipalities and environmentalists as the debate between development and protection is played out in a number of legal arenas. This course examines the interplay between municipalities and the environment, and the increasing importance of legal regulation in this area. The course is divided into three parts. The first two examine current environmental issues relating to the role of municipalities as regulators of the environment and as owners and operators of infrastructure and facilities. The third part of the course considers the issues of concurrency and paramountcy as they affect municipalities and examines the ways of initially defining municipal jurisdiction and the various principles of conflict resolution.

Credits: 3.0

This course explores the intersection between Aboriginal communities and natural resource development. It will focus on the legal and policy responses to issues such as the duty to consult and economic development.

Credits: 6.0

The world is facing an economic energy revolution. One of consequences of climate change is the increase on the use of different energy sources (i.e. solar, hydro, wind, nuclear, fossil fuels, etc), yet there is a small number of players in the Energy industry. Energy projects often require public-private long term partnerships; often surrounded by uncertainty and political instability brought about by nationalisations, particularly in North Africa, the Gulf States and parts of Latin America. In Europe, the are some mixed signals about the present and the future of the energy industry; while there are serious decarbonization targets; foreign investments have been compromised in lieu of increasing the use of greener energy sources. Therefore, during the life of an energy project it is quite likely that an dispute will arise and energy companies are reluctant to bring claims in ‘foreign courts’. International arbitration is the place for disputes to be resolved before an independent and neutral arbitral tribunal. This module provides students the understanding of particular commercial and investment issues of disputes in the energy sector. It also combines theoretical critical thinking about fundamental aspects of the dispute resolution process, with practical insights and hands-on case studies of some of the most important energy arbitration cases.

Credits: 3.0

This course will introduce the legal framework of the international carriage of goods by sea, road, rail, air and multimodal transportation and also focus on the importance of container transportation in global trade. During the course, we will analyze the regimes relevant to unimodal and multimodal carriage and the legal terminology for carrier, shipper, freight forwarder, contractual rights and duties. The course will also explore the cybersecurity of sea transportation, discuss the key international transport conventions, and examine the standardized documents, contracts, and conditions within the multimodal context.

Credits: 3.0

This course will provide an introduction to mining law in Canada. This course will examine the mining industry and the legal implication of the different stages of the mining cycle. The purpose of the course is to provide students with an understanding of the multi-disciplinary nature of mineral resource and exploration and development.

Credits: 3.0

A power purchase agreement (PPA) is a long-terms contract for the supply of electricity between an electricity generator (gas, hydro, solar, wind, biofuel, nuclear) or other capacity providers (demand response and storage) and an electricity consumer or a central buyer on behalf of a group of electricity consumers. Students will gain an understanding of why PPAs exist, how PPAs are used by governments to implement policy objectives, how private parties use PPAs to supplement electricity markets, the allocation of risk between generators and consumers, key PPA terms and conditions, and how such terms vary by technology. This course is structured as an examination of the life-cycle of a PPA beginning with identifying the need for a power project, the assessment and procurement of generation resources, obtaining approvals and permitting, obtaining financing, constructing the facility, operating the project, and ending with the expiry or termination of the PPA. This course focuses primarily on how PPAs are used in the Ontario electricity market, but we also refer to markets in other jurisdictions for comparison purposes.

Credits: 6.0

This course addresses the role of public utility regulators with an emphasis on the role of the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) in regulating electricity and gas utilities. The course will also focus on the development of North American and international models. More specifically, the course will address the regulation of rates charged by “natural monopoly” utilities including: the concept of just and reasonable rates; the principles of cost of service rate making; the components of a utility’s revenue requirement; regulating quality of service; regulating publicly owned utilities; and alternatives to traditional cost of service rate making. Additionally, the course will address the role of regulators in awarding franchise rights to serve particular communities, and the role of regulators in regulating competitive aspects of the electricity and gas sectors from the perspective of consumer protection and the perspective of encouraging competition. The regulatory process will also be discussed with an emphasis on a real world example of an OEB case.

Credits: 6.0

This course addresses two basic questions: What is regulation; and why do we do it? Both of these questions will be critically analysed from three perspectives: legal, economic and political. From the legal lens, we will examine regulators as a creature of statute, exercising executive (not judicial) authority; the process of regulatory decision making; adjudication and policy making (rules and codes); and judicial oversight of and deference towards regulatory bodies. From the economic perspective, we will focus on market failure as the need for and extent of regulation; regulation as a form of public finance; and Regulatory agencies and the “capture” theory. From the political perspective, we will hone in on the challenge of defining regulation and its forms; the creation of the “regulatory state”; and the creation and oversight of quasi-independent agencies and their policy instruments.

Credits: 3.0

This course will examine the law and economics of electricity markets and the institutions that oversee these markets, with particular focus on the deregulated markets in Ontario and Alberta. The design and regulation of electricity markets have continued to evolve since initial electricity restructuring in 1998. The course will examine the regulatory, policy and technological factors that shaped the initial design of deregulated electricity markets and how they worked; some of the challenges that emerged with the initial designs and the changes made to address those challenges; and how the markets have continued to develop and evolve with the introduction of new environmental policies and technologies. The course will also explore pending market redesigns and the possibilities for the energy market of the future.

Credits: 3.0

This course addresses the challenges and opportunities associated with the development of transportation systems in a Canadian context.  The course will consider three areas – first, the role of transportation infrastructure in Canada’s social, economic and environmental fabric, second, the various models for the governance and regulation of transportation infrastructure – nationally, provincially, regionally and locally, and third, the key challenges in delivering transportation infrastructure in the contemporary Canadian context, including the planning, delivery and management of transportation infrastructure in a financially and environmentally sustainable fashion.  The course will conclude with a discussion on new paradigms for the delivery of transportation infrastructure, including taking a multi-disciplinary approach, transportation in a regional and multi-regional setting, climate change and adaptation, and connections between land use and transportation.  Alternative delivery models for transportation infrastructure will also be considered.

Credits: 6.0

The focus of this course will be to examine the growing interest in integrated infrastructure planning and solutions. This interest is being driven by various factors including concerns about environmental sustainability, infrastructure cost containment, and agricultural land protection. In order to understand and properly assess this trend, a firm understanding of current practices in infrastructure planning and regulation is necessary. The course will cover the following topics:
(1) Land use planning and regulation: what is the scope of land use planning in Ontario?
(2) Water planning and regulation: how are our drinking water systems planned and by whom?
(3) Urban transportation planning and regulation: how is the urban transportation system planned and by whom?
(4) The new paradigm of integration: what do we mean by integration of infrastructure? What are we trying to achieve through integration; what has already been achieved in terms of integration in Ontario?
(5) Is regulatory integration feasible? What are the respective roles of OEB, OMB, EAs?
(6) Case studies.