Global Electricity Markets and Policy

This course will train students to think like policy and financial analysts. Students will apply fundamental concepts from economics, finance and policy to the power sector, while learning the specifics of how the industry operates. The course is wide-ranging and varied and should appeal to any student with an interest in how this industry will decarbonize while continuing to deliver reliable, affordable electricity. Students will work together in teams to make decisions in a simulated power market as they try to make money while decarbonizing the power system. The simulation will allow students to apply the lessons they learn in class in a semi-real-world environment, provide thought-provoking decision points and make the class environment interactive and ¿ hopefully ¿ fun. Reliable, reasonably priced electricity is essential to human development and progress. It heats and cools our living spaces, lights our communal spaces and homes and powers our technology and the industry that sustains our lifestyles. However, in doing this, the industry directly produces one quarter of the world¿s CO2 emissions. The power business is one of the largest and most important on the planet and is the key to our ability to move to a net zero emissions world. It is undergoing a revolution driven by intermittent solar and wind energy, batteries and a rapid transition away from incumbent fossil fuel generation. The grid itself is transforming as new technologies empower consumers to generate electricity closer to home.