Course # 36925 Section Number 1 Day(s) W- F Time(s) 9:00am-11:50am Term Spring 2025 Specialization Energy & Environmental Policy Markets & Regulation Syllabus Syllabus 3/24/25 In many other countries, government owns and operates utilities as a public service. The United States largely has chosen a different path, especially with respect to energy utilities: permitting private companies to provide these essential services, subject to extensive regulation. For many decades, exclusive monopolies dominated the space. The last several decades have seen the rise of competition in both the wholesale and retail space. But this shift has taken hold in only parts of the United States, while in other jurisdictions consumers still do not have the right to choose their supplier and the transmission and even the generation of power remains largely monopolized. The result has been a patchwork that evinces little uniform national policy, and still is largely regulated by state governments despite the regional, interstate characteristics of energy. This course explores the forms and institutions of utility regulation in the United States, with a focus on electricity. It provides a critical introduction to the design of electricity markets that were created in the twentieth century and iterated upon ever since. Along the way, students will hear first hand from practitioners and experts as guest lecturers, while learning how a once mundane field has become the cutting edge of emergent technologies and social mandates like decarbonization. Notes This class will meet W/F every other week. Class will meet on the following dates: March 26th and 28th, April 9th and 11th, April 23rd and 25th, May 7th and 9th. Quarter Title Instructor Day(s) Time(s) Syllabus Spring 2025 Utilities and Electricity Markets: Regulation in the United States Kent Chandler Wednesday, Friday 9:00am-11:50am Syllabus Recent News More news Student Profile: Melaku Lakew, MPP Class of 2027 Thu., May 15, 2025 Chicago’s Sit-D Program: Transforming Police Behavior with Science-Based Training Wed., May 14, 2025 New Research Finds Medicare Soft Spending Cap Lowers Costs without Harming Patient Health, But Introduces Inequities Wed., May 14, 2025 Upcoming Events More events Ask Admissions: Credential Programs Mon., May 19, 2025 | 7:30 PM Ask Admissions: Credential Programs Tue., May 20, 2025 | 7:00 AM UChicago Part-Time Programs Information Session - Harris, Crown, Graham, and UCPE Tue., May 20, 2025 | 12:00 PM
January 22, 2025 Q&A: Professor Ryan Kellogg on "The End of Oil" and the Future of the Global Energy Market
October 07, 2024 Q&A: New Harris Economist Hyuk-soo Kwon Discusses EVs, Batteries, and Environmental Policy Trade-Offs