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The UCLA Emmett Institute's 2026 Spring symposium will focus on the interplay between affordability and environmental regulation, paying particular attention to recent developments in three areas: electricity generation and pricing, the transition away from fossil fuel extraction, and affordable housing. It will draw on state-level and national examples, including legislative actions in California on oil drilling and refining and a statewide freeze of building code updates, and on efforts across the country to manage growing electricity demand from data centers. Panelists will assess a range of reforms aimed at reducing costs and assess their compatibility with advancing environmental and environmental justice protections.

Schedule

9:00–9:30        Breakfast and Check-In 

9:30–9:35        Welcome Remarks 

9:35–10:15      Keynote Speaker: John Reynolds  

10:15–10:30    Morning Break 

10:30–11:45    Panel 1: Growing the Grid Without Breaking the Bank 

11:45–12:45    Lunch 

12:45–2:00      Panel 2: Affordability and the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels 

2:00–2:15        Afternoon Break  

2:15–3:30        Panel 3: Housing Affordability and Environmental Protection 

3:30–3:45        Closing Remarks 

3:45–4:45        Reception 

Keynote Speaker:

John Reynolds, President of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). As the new president of the California Public Utilities Commission, Reynolds leads the state agency charged with holding utilities and companies accountable for delivering safe, reliable, affordable service to Californians. Reynolds will engage in a conversation with Professor William Boyd about the CPUC’s role in implementing California’s clean energy agenda.  

The day kicks off with the keynote followed by the three panel discussions:

Panel One: Growing the Grid Without Breaking the Bank

Meeting climate goals depends on electrification and on a transition to renewable sources of electricity.  This panel will address how electricity affordability concerns interact with climate and clean energy goals, paying particular attention to the drivers of (and responses to) growing electricity demand, the need for more transmission build-out, and recent state and federal efforts to streamline the siting and building of electricity infrastructure.  

Robinson Meyer, Executive Editor of Heatmap News

Abre' Conner, Director of the Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at NAACP

Tina Andolina, Chief of Staff to California Senator Ben Allen

William Boyd, Michael J. Klein Chair and Professor of Law at UCLA Law

MCLE Materials: 

• “Affordability 101: Can We Cut American Energy Bills in Half?”: A December 2025 policy analysis by RMI, by Jacob Corvidae, et al. 

• “When Do Consumers Lose from Variable Electricity Pricing?”: A September 2025 article led by a team of researchers including M.I.T. Civil Engineering Professor Saurabh Amin

• A Shift Key podcast hosted by our moderator Robinson Meyer dissecting the new electricity price agenda. (Listen here. Transcript here)

Panel Two: Affordability and the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels

What do affordability concerns mean for a commitment to transition away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible? The federal government’s support for the fossil fuel industry and disdain for sources of clean energy—wind energy in particular—have complicated the plans of states and localities planning to shift toward renewable energy sources and away from oil, gas, and coal. Panelists will discuss the growing strain of argument that plans to transition away from fossil fuel are in tension with energy affordability and broader economic prosperity—and what that means for national and state-level efforts to promote renewable energy sources.

Allan Marks, Lecturer at UCLA Law

Katie Valenzuela, Policy Consultant at Everyday Impact Consulting and Katherine Valenzuela Consulting

Ryan Cummings, Chief of Staff of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policymaking

David Spence, Rex G. Baker Centennial Chair in Natural Resources Law and Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law

MCLE Materials: 

• California’s Major Wins and Losses for Climate, Clean Air, Toxics and Health: A December 2025 blog post by NRDC.

• “Effects of Uncoordinated Electrification on Energy Burdens for Natural Gas Customers,”: A March 2025 Nature article by researchers in the Climate Action Lab at University of Wisconsin-Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs.

• “Equity Implications of Net-Zero Emissions: A Multi-Model Analysis of Energy Expenditures Across Income Classes Under Economy-Wide Deep Decarbonization Policies”: A May 2024 article by a team of researchers from the Electric Power Research Institute, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. EPA, Stanford, and MIT, among others.

Panel Three: Housing Affordability and Environmental Protection

Policymakers and advocates are wrestling with the question of whether cornerstone environmental laws and regulations, including CEQA and NEPA, can be robustly enforced while still recognizing and addressing cost-of-living pressures. This panel will address the growing, perceived conflicts between housing affordability and environmental protection, asking whether these interests are as misaligned as they have often been portrayed to be.

Cara Horowitz, Executive Director, the UCLA Emmett Institute

Jen Ganata, Legal Department Co-Director at Communities for a Better Environment

Shane Phillips, Housing Initiative Manager at the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies

Liam Dillon, California Housing Reporter at Politico

MCLE Materials: 

• What Does the ‘Building an Affordable California Act’ do? A recent series of Legal Planet blog posts by Prof. Eric Biber from Berkeley Law.

• “California Halts Building Code Updates in a Blow to Electrification”: An August 2025 Canary Media article by Alison Takemura.

• “California’s Building Code Appeals Process: A Quiet but Crucial Lever for Housing”: Report by Ben Metcalf, Managing Director of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley.

• Building affordable housing in California is pricey and slow. Newsom wants to fix it by consolidating power: January 20, 2026 article by panelist Liam Dillon at POLITICO.

This event is co-sponsored by the Environmental Law Section of the California Lawyers Association and UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. UCLA School of Law is State Bar of California approved MCLE provider. Each of these three sessions is approved for 1.25 hours of MCLE credit. Please find the readings for our MCLE accredited events above. Materials will remain on this site for 30 days after the event date.