This course examines the policies and technologies affecting the production and use of energy, focusing on secure, affordable, and sustainable energy, equity and innovation. It provides a fundamental understanding of energy systems, including trends and forecasts of supply and demand, and resources and technologies at local, state and national scales.
Students will be introduced to a practical and immediately applicable set of tools to analyze the decisions – technical, economic, political, and social – that arise every time an energy technology or energy system decision needs to be made. The class will demonstrate how careful framing and data wrangling turns a collection of tools into a distinctly powerful field.
Students will acquire a theoretical basis from which to assess energy policy options
Students will obtain an understanding of how energy markets work, as well as an overview of domestic and international energy policy.
Students will develop their group project skills by having student teams produce an analysis of energy policy options for a State in the U.S.
Required reading materials are 25 on-line chapters of a forthcoming (February 2026) textbook: Energy Technology and Policy Innovation (Springer-Nature), written by Drs. Marilyn A. Brown and Valerie M. Thomas.
There will be three in-class assessments spaced approximately 3 weeks apart. Each assessment will cover the readings, lectures, and in-class activities completed up to that point and will include short-answers, some quantitative, and applied questions. Together, the three assessments account for 60% of the course grade (20% each).
10% of the grade will be based on participation and attendance. Participation refers to being engaged in discussions in class, based on having read the relevant chapters. More than 2 unexcused absences will result in a reduced grade.
30% of the grade will be based on a team research project that will use the Energy Policy Simulator (EPS) to examine the energy policies of a state in the U.S.
10% of the grade will be based on participation and attendance. Participation refers to being engaged in discussions in class, based on having read the relevant chapters. More than 2 unexcused absences will result in a reduced grade.
Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. All work submitted must be original and properly cited. Plagiarism, cheating, or any form of academic dishonesty will result in immediate consequences as outlined in the university's academic integrity policy.