Aaron Levine serves as a senior legal and regulatory analyst in the Markets and Policy group in the Strategic Energy Analysis Center. Generally, Aaron focuses on legal, regulatory, and policy issues related to geothermal, hydropower, solar power, wind energy, transmission, alternative fuels, and other energy-related matters. Aaron has specialized expertise in environmental and energy law and project siting considerations.

Research Interests

Environmental laws and regulations

Energy facility siting and transmission laws and regulations

Natural resource leasing and acquisition

Legal impacts on renewable energy development

Legal and policy research

Renewable energy and transmission project development

Education

L.L.M, Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy (specialization in energy law and policy), University of Denver College of Law, 2012

J.D., Environmental and Natural Resources Law Certificate, University of Kansas School of Law, 2010

B.A., Political Science and Philosophy, University of Kansas, 2006

Professional Experience

Regulatory Analysis RPP, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado

Law Clerk, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Topeka, Kansas

Featured Work

Influence of project characteristics, regulatory pathways, and environmental complexity on hydropower licensing timelines in the U.S. Energy Policy (2022)

New Report Can Help Reduce Time and Cost to Advance Hydropower NREL Fact Sheet (2021)

An Examination of the Hydropower Licensing and Federal Authorization Process NREL Technical Report (2021)

RAPID: Regulatory and Permitting Information Desktop Toolkit, U.S. Department of Energy Fact Sheet (2020)

FERC Hydropower Licensing: A Review of Utilization of the ILP, TLP, and ALP, NREL Technical Report (2019)

Negotiating Terms and Conditions: An Overview of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Hydropower Settlement Agreement Process NREL Technical Report (2018)

Regulatory Approaches for Adding Capacity to Existing Hydropower Facilities NREL Technical Report (2017)

Future of Baseload Renewable Energy: Efforts to Streamline Geothermal and Hydropower Permitting and Regulation American Bar Association – Section of Environment, Energy and Resources (2016)

Transportation of Large Wind Components: A Permitting and Regulatory Review NREL Technical Report (2016)

Geothermal Permitting and NEPA Timelines Geothermal Resources Council Transactions (2014)