Economics of Energy and the Environment
Virtual Executive Education Course
June 16, 17, 18, and 20, 2025
10:00am-12:00pm PDT
Note: There will be no class on June 19th in observance of the Juneteenth holiday.
REGISTER HERE
Early Bird Rates End May 28th!
Join us for our upcoming Economics of Energy and the Environment Executive Education course, taking place on June 16, 17, 18, and 20. If you have not already registered, we encourage you to secure your spots soon, as spaces fill quickly. This virtual course provides an engaging learning experience through a combination of pre-recorded screencast videos and live, interactive Zoom sessions.
Course Description:
Electricity markets have been restructured in fundamental ways for nearly 30 years often resulting in markets that are subject to both competition and regulation. This course covers the fundamental concepts of electric utility regulation and competitive electricity markets, the incentives that each market structure creates, and the potential drawbacks of each. We will also examine retail rate design and the economics of environmental regulation.
The following topics will be covered in the course:
- Fundamentals of Electricity Regulation
- Retail Rate Design
- Competitive Wholesale Electricity Markets
- Market Power in Energy Markets
- Economics of Renewable Energy
- Reliability, Resource Adequacy, and Capacity Markets
- Energy Externalities
- Environmental Caps and Intensity Standards
Course Format:
- Two weeks before the course begins, participants will receive eight pre-recorded screencast videos (each 60-75 minutes long), one for each module, to review at their own pace. We strongly recommend viewing the videos in advance of the interactive Zoom sessions. Each Zoom session will cover two modules.
- The interactive Zoom sessions will take place on June 16, 17, 18, and 20, 2025 from 10:00am-12:00pm PDT each day, followed by an optional “Ask Me Anything” session from 12:00-12:30pm. During the interactive portions of the course, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and participate in policy discussions.
This virtual course is designed to impart at least the same amount of information as an in-person course, but in a more interactive format. The format has been developed from the courses that Professors Borenstein and Bushnell teach at UC Berkeley and UC Davis.
Lecturers:
Severin Borenstein is Professor of the Graduate School, Economic Analysis and Policy Group, Haas School of Business, and Faculty Director of the Energy Institute at Haas, UC Berkeley. He received his A.B. from U.C. Berkeley and Ph.D. in Economics from M.I.T. He served on the Board of Governors of the California Power Exchange from 1997 to 2003. In 2012-2013, Borenstein served on the Emissions Market Assessment Committee that advised the California Air Resources Board on the operation of California’s Cap and Trade market for greenhouse gases. In 2014, he was appointed to the California Energy Commission’s Petroleum Market Advisory Committee, which he chaired from 2015 until the Committee was dissolved in 2017. From 2015 to 2020, he served on the Advisory Council of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. In 2019, he was appointed to the Governing Board of the California Independent System Operator.
James Bushnell is Professor of Economics at UC Davis and Faculty Affiliate at the Energy Institute at Haas, UC Berkeley. He received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin in 1989 and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from UC Berkeley in 1993. He has served on the California Independent System Operator’s Market Surveillance Committee since 2002. In addition, Bushnell served on the California Power Exchange’s Market Monitoring Committee and on the California Air Resources Board’s Economic Assessment and Allocation Committee for its cap-and-trade program. In 2012-13, he served on the Emissions Market Assessment Committee to the California Air Resources Board (ARB) and is currently advising the ARB on the modeling and economic analysis of climate policy.
Costs:
Government/Non-Profit rate
$800 (early registration on or before May 28, 2025)
$850 (registration on or after May 29, 2025)
Private-Sector rate
$1,800 (early registration on or before May 28, 2025)
$1,850 (registration on or after May 29, 2025)
Please review the cancellation policy and FAQ’s below. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at: [email protected]. We hope you’ll join us!
Cancellation Policy:
If you are unable to attend, please email us at [email protected]. Cancellations are subject to the following fees.
Before May 28, 2025: Full refund minus a $100 processing fee (even if payment has not been submitted, you are responsible for this fee). Refunds are issued in the format payment is received. Please allow 48-72 hours for refunds to be issued.
On or after May 29, 2025: No refunds provided.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Management and senior level regulatory staff with minimal training in economics or electricity regulation
- Professional staff interested in post-restructuring electricity economics
- Electricity industry professionals interested in understanding the economics of electricity regulation and markets
- Graduate students can take this course at the non-profit rate listed above.
- However, the material in the course is a subset of the material in the EEM graduate course that Professor Lucas Davis teaches each Spring at Haas.
- Our course is open to a global audience, and wire transfers are the preferred method of payment for international attendees.
- Please review UC Berkeley’s wire transfer instructions on this page to ensure this process works on your end.
- Register for the course, then contact us at [email protected] to alert us of the payment set-up.
- On the wire transfer, include our contact information as reference: Cristina Bentley, [email protected], 510-642-9590, Energy Institute at Haas.
- The routing number for wire transfers is: 0260-0959-3.
- We welcome group registrations and would be happy to guide you through the process.
- Once you register the first person in the group, it will ask if you would like to add any additional people to that registration. Select credit card if paying on the spot, or check if submitting a check or wire transfer. An invoice will be provided at the end.
- Contact us at [email protected] if you would like a more customized group invoice, and/or to notify us of check/wire transfer payments that are on the way.
- For group attendees using check/wire transfer payments: Once attendees are registered in our portal, please also email us a copy of the purchase order for our records.
- Subscribe to our email list to be notified about upcoming courses.
- Once our course has launched, click on the “register” button in the email received or return to the main Executive Education page to register (should take less than 5 minutes to complete).
- Registration ends two business days before the course start date. We often sell out by our early bird deadline (about two-three weeks before the course start date), therefore enrollment for the course may close early.
- Payment should be received a few weeks before the course start date.
- Below are the most recent rates for the course which are subject to change:
-
- Non-Profit rate
$800 (early registration on or before May 28, 2025)
$850 (registration on or after May 29, 2025)
-
- Private-Sector rate
$1,800 (early registration on or before May 28, 2025)
$1,850 (registration on or after May 29, 2025)
- Our course is limited in size to enhance the participant-instructor experience. As we often sell out fast, it is important to register early to guarantee your seat in the course.
- If the course is full, our registration portal will automatically route you to the waitlist sign-up. If a seat becomes available, wait-listed individuals will be contacted on a first come, first serve basis.
- We also contact those on the waitlist in case they are interested in signing up prior to announcing the next course widely.
- If you are unable to attend, please email [email protected] to cancel.
- You can cancel up to 2-3 weeks prior to the start of the course and receive a full refund less a $100 processing fee. Please visit the latest course page for most recent cancellation policy deadlines. No refunds are provided for cancellations after this.
One-two weeks before the course begins, you will receive an email from our team with logistics, course materials (including agenda and module slides), required pre-work (if applicable), and your point of contact(s) throughout the course.
- Unfortunately as this is not an actual class that goes through the UC Berkeley Office of the Registrar, we are not set-up to accept tuition assistance, award payments, or other educational funded accounts directly.
- Our course set-up is similar to a registration event payment where attendees can pay via credit card, check, or electronic bank transfer. We are however able to accept third party payments just as long as we can invoice the payor.
- After the course has ended, we provide electronic certificates of completion to confirmed attendees upon request.
- Please email us at [email protected] to request a certificate.
The Course materials are typically available on the password protected link for one or two weeks after the course ends.
Email us at [email protected] or call at 510-642-9590 for additional information.