452 - Government Incentives
Core/Elective: Core
Credits: 0.5
Quarter Taught: Spring
Synopsis:
Energy occupies a crucial role in operating and maintaining a modern industrial and services economy. Concerns about energy supply and its cost have led policy makers to provide financial incentives that drive research and new investment to diversify and expand technological innovation in the energy sector. Concerns about the environmental impacts of fossil energy use have further led to a wide variety of incentives specifically targeting the commercialization of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.
This course will review a broad sampling of incentive tools offered by the federal and state governments to encourage private actors to develop infrastructure, produce commodities, advance technologies and tolerate risk inherent in commercial energy and sustainability enterprises, as well as incentivizing individuals to make decisions about personal property and behavior.
Course Objectives:
- Understand various federal and state agency programs offering energy incentives and other forms of financial support
- Compare and contrast a complex patchwork of incentives, many with long-standing historical roots, in driving sometimes-competing policy and economic goals
- Examine the historical efficacy of various incentive programs and their relevance for meeting future carbon and climate goals
- Consider how such programs may evolve in the future to adapt to changing economic and policy conditions