Electricity in Transition
Channel: Center for Strategic & International Studies
Date: 2014-05-09

A convergence of factors is putting unprecedented stress on traditional actors in the electricity sector. These include accelerated technological change, shifting consumer preferences, business model disruption, new security challenges, a rapidly evolving fuel market, and a changing public policy landscape; this stress is especially acute within the context of slow to flattening demand growth over the long-term. More than ever, the electricity sector has become the focus of a set of public policy debates about the relationship between climate change, energy security, and economic growth.

The CSIS Energy and National Security Program is pleased to host a new series on the changes underway on the U.S. electricity sector. The series will explore the challenges facing actors in the sector—from merchant generators to vertically-integrated utilities to public utilities to state and federal regulators—and what the options are for public policymakers at the state and federal level.

At the inaugural event, Melanie Kenderdine, Director of the Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis and Energy Counselor to the Secretary at the Department of Energy, will present on the Administration's Quadrennial Energy Review (QER) and how it will tackle these challenges. A panel discussion will follow, providing an overview of the sector's challenges and competing priorities, from decarbonization to reliability to affordability.