Almost every aspect of energy – sources, financing, scalability and policy – tends to spark spirited debate among stakeholders across the sector. And the United States Association for Energy Economics seeks to bridge the gap between academics, industry professionals, and the government officials and regulators that set the tone for energy investment.
Breaking Energy spoke to USAEE President Lori Smith Schell, head of Colorado-based consultancy Empowered Energy, in advance of USAEE’s annual North American Conference, Industry Meets Government: Impact on Energy Use and Development, to be held in Anchorage, Alaska from July 28 to 31.
The conference is the USAEE’s primary means of disseminating new and relevant information about issues in energy, both those that are pressing and those that have the potential to move into the mainstream.
“Our annual North American Conference is probably our main venue for getting information out, and probably equally importantly, for sharing information among membership and delegates,” Schell said.
She noted that there are about 125 papers to be presented in concurrent sessions over three days, authored by a variety of stakeholders.
“It’s a pretty broad range of academicians, people involved in government, as well as people involved in industry,” Schell said. “Those are the three legs of the organization – we really try to balance those so that we get the academic research, the practical application of that research in industry, and of course the government overlay, which is important primarily for the industry participants.”
“We hope that the research that the academicians are doing is targeted towards the industry and policy makers, and that the industry and policy makers are helping the academicians to understand what the real-world issues are,” Schell said.
The Conference: What to Expect
This year’s conference will cover a range of issues with the potential to provoke robust dialogue, such as the best way to manage resource wealth and the interconnection between industry and government.
USAEE’s goal is to present the issues in a way that accommodates various views. “We do have a really diverse membership,” Schell said. “Energy economics is the unifying theme, and you can have many different viewpoints related to economics of energy and policy and regulation.”
“We’re trying to disseminate information in an unbiased, non-partisan way – just trying to be as educational as possible,” Schell said. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t disagreements among members.”
The conference is also offering technical tours of various Alaskan energy facilities before and after proceedings. One is a day trip to Alaska’s North Slope hosted by ConocoPhillips. “Just getting there is phenomenal,” said Schell. Others include an overnight trip to the Valdez oil terminal and day trips to both a biogas project at a local landfill and a recently-completed natural gas power plant.
An additional feature of this year’s events is a post-conference workshop on methane hydrates. “There’s not a lot you can talk about yet commercially, because we’re just seeing that come into play,” Schell said. “It’s something everyone’s interested in, it has a lot of potential, but it’s technically very difficult.”
Why Anchorage?
Alaska has abundant energy resources that are technically challenging and expensive to exploit. The state’s efforts to lure oil and gas companies to its vast oil and gas fields – and make the necessary investments to explore and develop them – have run into a range of environmental, regulatory, finance and social issues, putting it at the center of a number of ongoing debates.
Anchorage was chosen for two primary reasons, Schell said. The first is the city’s large and active USAEE regional chapter. “The folks on the ground in Anchorage have played an incredible role in the planning for this conference, supported by a team of well-seasoned volunteers at the national level.”
“The second reason is all the energy issues that we’re seeing around Arctic energy development,” she said. Events in Alaska, such as a recent incident involving the Kulluk offshore drilling rig, highlight the challenges of Arctic energy development – both on- and offshore – and the technological and geopolitical hurdles to accessing remote resources safely. “It’s a good venue from the vantage point of energy economics and topical issues.”
“The program has a definite Arctic focus the reflects the Alaskan venue,” Schell said.
Expanded Outreach
USAEE’s outreach and education efforts are not limited to people who are already experts in energy and economics. The organization is seeking to inform an audience beyond its own ranks, and even help to develop a new crop of energy economists.
“In the past six or seven years, we’ve really tried to bring in a lot of younger members,” Schell said. “In energy and geology there was kind of a sag in interest in the 80’s and 90’s, so we have the classic issue of an aging workforce, and then a gap in the middle, and now once again these have become very hot topics.”
The USAEE has established cash prizes for several student competitions as one way to promote participation. The case competition, for example, involves presenting students with a case related to real-world issues faced by industry, and challenging them to come up with solutions.
“We’ve seen a big influx of interest among younger members,” Schell said.
Beyond efforts at the North American conference, the International Association of Energy Economists (IAEE), of which the USAEE is an affiliate, recently launched a new publication, the Economics of Energy and Environmental Policy – known as EEEP, and pronounced like it’s spelled – as a more accessible alternative to the Energy Journal.
“The Energy Journal is more academically-focused, with lots of equations and mathematics,” Schell said. “EEEP is trying to serve all different types of membership by being more policy-oriented, and not loaded with formulas and high-level mathematics. It’s targeted towards more of a lay audience.”
Another avenue for disseminating information about energy is via webinar. USAEE has participated in a series of webinars covering issues such as oil market trends. The organization has also instituted a Distinguished Lecturer Series, which involved dispatching well-known names in energy to USAEE regional chapters to present on a variety of energy topics.
