Marc Edwards, Charles Lunsford Professor of Civil Engineering at Virginia Tech, will present "Truth Seeking in an Age of Tribalism: Lessons from the Flint Water Crisis," on Monday, April 9, at Duke University. A light reception will precede the lecture at 5:15 p.m. A short Q&A will follow.

M. Granger Morgan, Hamerschlag University Professor of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, will present "Large Power Outages of Long Duration: Assessing and Reducing the Risks" at Duke University's LaBarre Auditorium, Social Science 139 March 30.

Yoram Bauman, a PhD environmental economist who founded Carbon Washington, will present "Carbon Taxes in Theory and in Practice: Lessons from the I-732 Ballot Measure in Washington State," on Tuesday, March 6, in Duke University's Gross Hall.

Daniel Raimi, a 2012 graduate of Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy and former research associate with the Duke University Energy Initiative, will speak about his new book The Fracking Debate: The Risks, Benefits, and Uncertainties of the Shale Revolution from 4-5 p.m. ET on January 25. 

Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and Georgetown University will host a lunchtime talk on Understanding the Chinese Carbon Market Proposal 12:30-2 p.m. Monday, January 8, in Washington, D.C.

Michael Grubb, professor of energy and climate change at University College London, will present the lecture "Revolution and Regulation in the U.K. Electricity System: Model or Warning?" at noon on Friday, December 1, in Duke's Environment Hall room 2102.

The U.K. was widely seen as one of the world’s leaders on electricity deregulation in the early 1990s. Though the model of liberalisation went through significant changes, many international observers were surprised when in 2010 the new U.K. government embarked on a fundamental reform, giving the state a far more prominent role. To many, it has seemed like abandoning the principles of market competition that had defined the U.K. approach.

Grubb will discuss the UK’s Electricity Market Reform legislation and how, some three years on, the U.K. has seen a collapse in coal generation and dramatic reductions in the cost of renewable energy. 

This talk is part of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and the University Program in Environmental Policy seminar series featuring leading experts discussing a variety of pressing environmentally focused topics. 

Last month, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry issued a proposal to establish reliability and resilience pricing for certain power plants in RTO markets for consideration by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
 
The webinar "DOE's Directive to FERC on Baseload Resources: Understanding the Legal and Market Implications" will unpack this Department of Energy proposal and discuss the legal and market implications for FERC and PJM. Designed for state regulators and hosted by the Great Plains Institute and Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, the webinar took place 1-2:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 19.

The electricity sector is in a period of rapid change. It is being transformed by the growth of domestic natural gas and its increased use for electric generation, the rapid progress of renewable technologies, and the response to environmental requirements and goals, especially related to climate change. In addition, smart grid technology is allowing customers to interact with the grid in unprecedented ways, paving the way for more demand response and distributed technologies.

Register to join us from 12:30-1:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 13, for a webinar discussion of key electricity sector issues that will face the next president. 

The electricity sector is in a period of rapid change. The shale gas revolution and a suite of new environmental regulations have contributed to a dramatic decline in the percent of electricity generation from coal since 2009 and shifted the region to increased gas generation. At the same time, steep declines in the cost of distributed solar generation, the proliferation of smart meters, thermostats and appliances, and dynamic retail pricing are revolutionizing the way consumers interact with the grid. 

Join experts, state officials and stakeholders from across the Eastern Interconnect for a one-day workshop exploring recent modeling analyses that provide new insights into trends in the electricity sector. The event will explore what these trends mean for state energy and environmental policy choices. Experts will present their findings and stakeholders will have an opportunity to reflect on those findings. Janet McCabe, Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Howard Gruenspecht, Deputy Administrator, U.S. Energy Information Administration, will serve as keynotes.

The Nicholas Institute will host a day-long forum—convened in honor of its tenth anniversary—to assess how we can harness big data, cutting-edge technologies, and adaptation research to create science-based, interdisciplinary approaches attuned to the accelerating and dynamic change in the world.

Distinguished experts from the electric utility, information technology, and smart grid sector will discuss the future of the electric grid in a panel session from 5-6 p.m. April 7 in Gross Hall 270 on the Duke University campus. The panel will explore upcoming changes to the electric grid and the policy questions that surround these upgrades. Discussion will also focus on grid security, outages, and consumer-side demand as upgrades take hold.

Nicholas Institute researchers Jonas Monast and Sarah Adair will present a talk titled "Completing the Energy Innovation Cycle: Federalism and the Challenge of Deploying New Electricity Generation Technologies" on Oct. 18.