The evolution of principles of energy law (a review of the content of the Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law, 1982–2022)

The development experienced by energy law in recent decades is reflected in the 40-year existence of the Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law (JERL). It shows that the inclusion within the legal order of three main established principles of energy law (those of security of supply, economic efficiency and environmental sustainability) is the result of the influence of the dominant energy policies. However, principles of energy law are something different from energy policies incorporated into the legal order, since they are prescriptive principles, which the legal system identifies when dialoguing with the energy system. A core component of energy law is energy regulation applied over those elements of the energy system (mainly networks) when competition does not or cannot exist and, consequently, energy consumers must be particularly protected. In recent years, as the contents of JERL also reflect, there has been a clear ethical turn of lawyers towards energy justice and the need to evaluate the law in the context of its exigencies.