The E2e network is a consortium of scholars evaluating the impact of energy efficiency programs using randomized controlled trials and high-quality quasi-experimental research. Under the leadership of Catherine Wolfram (University of California, Berkeley), Michael Greenstone (University of Chicago), and Christopher Knittel (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the network has grown since its 2012 launch to include nearly 30 affiliated faculty and has produced close to 40 papers on the cost-benefit impacts of energy efficiency programs. Practitioners in state governments have started to take notice and there is a growing desire to infuse government evaluations of energy efficiency programs with the rigor that E2e researchers bring to their academic studies. This grant provides funds to place at least two “E2e Evidence-Based Policy Fellows” within select state energy agencies to serve as a resource to agency staff, to improve plans for evaluating energy efficiency programs, and to advise agency policymakers on the initial design and implementation of such programs. Fellows will be supervised on a daily level by an agency supervisor and will hold regular check-ins with the E2e faculty leads.

This grant provides support for a series of intensive, week-long summer training programs for early-career economists and social scientists to introduce these scholars to the technological and engineering dimensions of electricity distribution systems. This Colorado Technology Primer for Economists and Social Scientists has been well received and well attended by doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and assistant professors across several fields, including economics, public policy, and environmental sustainability. Topics covered include an introduction to power system planning and operation, distribution system principles, grid interface with bulk power supply, determinants of electricity demand, and opportunities and challenges presented by multidisciplinary research. Grant funds provide two years of operational support for the effort.

The Energy Journalism Initiative at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy brings together nearly 20 journalists annually for a week-long seminar that introduces reporters to the latest research findings related to a wide range of energy issues. Topics covered at the seminar address issues such as energy economics, new technology development, energy policy, and energy security.  Funds from this grant provide support for the operation of the Energy Journalism Initiative for two years, along with funds for expanded outreach and ongoing engagement with the energy journalism community.