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Energy Economics Team

"Valuing energy and environmental benefits and costs of new technologies, markets, and nonmarket services"

The Energy Economics Team is part of the Energy Policy & Economics Group. We help sponsors characterize and measure markets for new technology and provide related economic and energy impact assessments of those markets. The team's economists navigate the frontier between technology market assessment and systems engineering analysis. Our work results in national and regional impact analyses and other forms of strategic studies to quantify the potential impacts new technologies can have on the economy in terms of energy consumption, resource efficiency, and resilience metrics.

Our team helps sponsors understand the effects of new energy efficiency technologies and other market-driven or regulatory-driven behavioral changes. These assessments help our sponsors address the marketplace with informed R&D investments. Having objective, thoughtful, analysis of the potential impacts of new technologies or policies arms sponsors with the ability to articulate the outcomes of their programs for key stakeholders.

To achieve market success for sponsors investing in R&D, the impacts of these investments must be understood and barriers to market success need to be quantified. This provides the knowledge to develop strategies to overcome impediments to market success.

Our team brings a diverse set of capabilities and tools to bear on the questions of market identification, technology characterization, energy impacts of new technology, related environmental, economic, and demographic impacts. A sampling of the general areas the team supports include:

  • Emerging economic and energy implications of grid modernization including equity impacts.
  • Economic, environmental, and energy impacts of energy policy and regulation.
  • Ecosystem services valuation including nonmarket resource valuation.
  • National energy intensity indicators and impact modeling of technology change.
  • Residential, commercial, and industrial sector R&D program metrics and impact analysis.
  • Economics of water and energy resource resiliency.
  • Economics of alternative electricity generation technologies.
  • Socioeconomic, land use, and power system impacts of power plant siting and licensing.
  • New technology business case development.
  • Local economic development impact assessment.

This team stewards the wide-ranging analytical capabilities necessary to deliver products in the above areas. Our staff also manages multidisciplinary projects requiring the integration of engineering and economic analysis capabilities.

Team Members

Sarah Barrows
Natasha Collins*
Alan Cooke
Katherine Cort
Marj Crawford
Douglas Elliott
Sumitrra Ganguli
Mallorie McDowell
Michelle Niemeyer
Adrienne Rackley
Brittany Tarufelli
Mark Weimar
Kyle Wilson

* Intern, Research Associate, Retiree, Hourly

Energy Policy and
Economics Group

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Additional Information

Todd Samuel, photo

Todd Samuel
509/375-6707