Back to School: Utility-Scale Electricity Systems Syllabus by Chester Energy and Policy
The past year has been a whirlwind of work, research, new clients, and more. Unfortunately, as a result, I’ve let posting here fall on my priority list. Looking to get back to periodically sharing insights into energy, sustainability, and more, as well as giving insight into what I’ve been working on, I’m going to start sharing some posts highlighting insights gained and successes achieved while working away from the blog. The first example is found here, interviews to combat climate change. Here’s another–enjoy!
I recently had a client ask me to build a syllabus for them to help them learn everything they could in as quick fashion as possible about the energy industry. He was preparing to have some high-profile investor meetings about products that would be of high value to utilities and anyone involved or interested in the energy industry, but the problem was: he’s a finance guy. He wanted the crash course to make sure he could sound fluent in the ‘language’ of the energy industry before he presented to and was peppered with questions by people who live and breathe this stuff.
We discussed how to best go about this—should I just brain dump what I know? Share with him specific resources for keeping up with the updates in the industry today? Recommend some deep-dive books he could study? Put a Bluetooth into his ear while I hide in the bushes so I could tell him the answer to all the questions he was getting (not really, but this plan usually works out in sitcoms so if anyone out there needs this service, I’m not opposed to it for the right price)?
In the end, we settled on the idea that I could develop a syllabus for him that covered the spectrum: books, articles, online platforms, podcasts, and more. By building up this syllabus, he could review my recommendations and the various topics covered to prioritize filling in his knowledge gaps. The perfect solution! I gathered some common resources well known in the industry, supplemented with some items I had a deep preference for myself, and even took to the #EnergyTwitter community to ask for recommendations.
In the end, I think I developed a handy little resource, so I figured why let it end there? I know some people who end up on this site do so because they’re looking for more information on the energy industry. Others may just be interested in brushing up. Either way, please feel free to use, reference, or even make suggestions for additions to the following Utility-Scale Electricity Systems Syllabus by Chester Energy and Policy*:
*Note: I gathered several dozen resources in the end, ranking them on a scale of 1-5 both in terms of their overall value and whether they were narrow in focus or covered a broad range of topics. You can see the full list of resources in a handy Google Spreadsheet here, and below I’ve highlighted just the resources rank at 4/5 in value or higher. If you want to see the ones that I gathered but didn’t put into the ‘top tier,’ check out the Google spreadsheet since those might end up filling your niche needs better and they can still be quite useful!
The Syllabus:
Source: PhD Comics
Books
Electric Utility Basics by John Miner, American Public Power Association
On overall value, this ranked 4 out of 5.
On the broad/specific scale, this is 5 for quite broad.
The topic of focus is the fundamentals of the utility industry, from power generation to purchase to transmission and distribution.
The Oxford Handbook of Energy Politics, Technical Overview Chapters
On overall value, this ranked 4 out of 5.
On the broad/specific scale, this is 5 for quite broad.
The topic of focus is providing a base background on the various science, engineering, and logistical aspects of the energy generation and transmission/distribution systems.
The Grid by Gretchen Bakke
On overall value, this ranked 4 out of 5.
On the broad/specific scale, this is 3 for moderately specific but still broadly applicable.
The topic of focus is the history of the grid through to today (or, rather, 2017 when it was written) and why it operates in the manner it does today.
Electric Power Systems: A Conceptual Introduction by Alexandra Meier
On overall value, this ranked 4 out of 5.
On the broad/specific scale, this is 3 for moderately specific but still broadly applicable.
The topic of focus is the technology needed and used in the process of producing and delivering electricity, giving the scientific and engineering background of everything going into these systems.
Energy for Sustainability: Foundations for Technology, Planning, and Policy by John Randolph and Gilbert Masters
On overall value, this ranked 4 out of 5.
On the broad/specific scale, this is 2 for being more specifically about sustainable energy and thus not covering the portion of the power industry that’s less sustainable but still currently important and relevant.
The topic of focus is specific to the sustainable/clean/green energy industry, but it starts with all the energy/utility fundamentals that are important and then describes how/where sustainable solutions tie into it all.
Online Resources
Electricity Regulation in the US: A Guide by Regulatory Assistance Project
On overall value, this ranked 5 out of 5.
On the broad/specific scale, this is 2 for being quite specific to regulation and thus not the overall technology or operations of energy
The topic of focus is the regulatory aspects of the utility industry and how those involved in the sector operate within the markets– so it’s less focused on generation and more on the setup of utilities and their parameters.
United States Electric Industry Primer by U.S. Department of Energy
On overall value, this ranked 4 out of 5.
On the broad/specific scale, this is 5 for being intentionally broad and serving as a whole industry primer
The topic of focus is all the background information on electricity and energy systems and is created to be a public resource in that regard
Video / Webinar Recording
Electric Utility Industry 101 Webinar Series by the American Public Power Association
On overall value, this ranked 4 out of 5.
On the broad/specific scale, this is 4 for covering the important non-technical aspects in a digestible way, but omitting the more technical aspects and discussion of non-public power companies meant this resource left something to be desired for that important information.
The topic of focus is a non-technical overview of public power system in its larger operating and business management context, covering utility infrastructure from the energy source through to the meter, while also covering issues of regulatory structure and future of utilities
Module 1: Overview of the Electric Utility Industry by Clarkson University for Online Teaching and Learning
On overall value, this ranked 4 out of 5.
On the broad/specific scale, this is 3 for being more narrow in its coverage of utility structure and regulation without diving as much as you might hope into generation and science.
The topic of focus is on utilities as companies and the market/regulations under which they operate
Online Courses
Electric Power Systems, Online Course by the University of Buffalo and available via Coursera
On overall value, this ranked 5 out of 5.
On the broad/specific scale, this is 4 for being largely broad and giving a good, wide background
The topic of focus is providing basics on the overview of the utility sector (electricity, generation/T&D, and system design) for specifically non-energy people.
Electricity Courses by Enerdynamics
On overall value, this ranked 4 out of 5.
On the broad/specific scale, this is 5 for being intentionally broad and serving as a whole industry primer
The topic of focus is composed of basics of the utility systems from generation to transmission & distribution and the future of renewables and distributed energy resources (DERs)
EBA Primer Series by the Energy Bar Association
On overall value, this ranked 4 out of 5.
On the broad/specific scale, this is 5 for covering all the background topics well for energy outsiders.
The topic of focus is really what you make it out to be. This course path lets you pick and choose which topics you want among most topics of importance you can think of related to the utility industry.
Resources for Keeping Up with Industry News & Developments
While getting the basics down is the primary goal of this syllabus, teaching you to be ‘fluent’ in energy like my client needed to be, the reality is that the utility of today is a fast-moving industry. After many decades of being called stagnant (with good reason), markets, technologies, and policies have all finally prompted the utility sector t catch up and start innovating and evolving.
In this new landscape of energy, knowing what happened yesterday is and what’s expected to happen tomorrow are more important than ever. With that in mind, I’ve also outlined some of the key resources to use to make sure you stay abreast of news breaks and active debates. Note that there are countless other resources towards this goal out there, more than I could list, so I opted to just list some of my favorites and the ones that came up multiple times when I asked my network for suggestions:
Energy Central: “With more than 200,000 registered members, the Energy Central Platform (the Power Industry Network) connects you with the knowledge and people to help you be world-class professionals. Our mission is to unlock the knowledge and expertise of the industry – helping move our industry forward through this time of massive change. We hope that you join us on this journey!”
Energy News Network: “The Energy News Network is a nonprofit news site dedicated to keeping influencers, policymakers and citizens informed of the important changes taking place in the transition to a clean energy system.”
The Freeing Energy Podcast and Blog: Hear from energy pioneers from across the globe who are accelerating the shift to clean energy by making their own electric power for their homes, offices, and communities.
Grid Geeks Podcast: A great podcast by, you guessed it, grid geeks!
The Energy Gang: “Looking to understand the fast-changing world of energy? This isn’t your ordinary energy business show. Every week, we debate and discuss the latest trends in energy, cleantech, renewables, and the environment. Join us as we explore the forces transforming energy markets in America and around the world.”
The Interchange Show: “The energy system is changing fast. Come explore the future with journalist Stephen Lacey and venture capitalist Shayle Kann. Each week, they’ll take you on a tour of the global energy transformation, providing provide insight into technology trends, markets, and companies — making for wonky and entertaining listening.”
The Energy Transition Show with Chris Nelder: Straight talk about the world’s transition from fossil fuels to renewables with energy expert Chris Nelder
What resources did I miss, whether for background or keeping up with the news, that you think are must-adds to any list like this? Are there other energy- or sustainability-related topics you’d want a syllabus to cover? Let me know in the comments below or email me. I’d love to hear from you!