Understanding Energy Justice Challenges Through a Regulatory and Institutional Lens

While energy justice articles abound, few consider the underlying institutional and regulatory foundations of energy justice challenges. In this article, I present and analyze these foundations through a discussion of the core and underlying tenets of energy justice, the historical developments in energy markets that have led to the present focus on justice, and energy justice metrics that decision-makers employ. I then present two case studies—energy insecurity and legacy fossil fuel community transitions—to illustrate the complex institutional foundations, and several potential solutions, of energy justice challenges.