Sustainable Energy Speaker Series

“Brokers of Power: The Financialization of the US Electricity System” Author Presentation

Thursday, November 5 @ 3:30 pm

Location: Plemmons Student Union 137BC (Grandfather Mountain Ballroom)

Host: Appalachian Energy Center and the Department of Geography and Planning

The twenty-first century has seen major transformations in the US electricity sector—but while the use of coal power wanes and the need for renewable energy becomes more urgent, financial actors maintain a complicating influence on the trajectory of energy transition. Brokers of Power identifies changing patterns of investment intertwined with the shift from state-regulated electricity monopolies to a market-driven price model and the embrace of wind and solar hookups to the grid.

 Drawing from case studies such as catastrophic Winter Storm Uri that hit Texas in 2021 and in-depth interviews with people working in the electricity and financial sectors, Conor Harrison reveals how the various entanglements of private equity, investment banking, and financial modeling are shaping the future and raising the costs of this vital infrastructure. Today’s financial firms, he shows, are engaged in the electricity industry beyond matters of investment: they own electricity generation infrastructure, trade electricity on markets, capture federal renewable energy tax credits, and advise on electricity firm operating strategy.

Looking beyond technology and policy, Harrison interrogates what it means to have powerful financial institutions as the primary agents of change in the fraught and ongoing energy transition. A timely and invaluable contribution to the fields of geography, environmental studies, and the energy social sciences, Brokers of Power is a cautionary account delving into the complexities surrounding the push for decarbonization.

 Dr. Conor Harrison is an associate professor in the Department of Geography at the University of South Carolina. His latest book, “Brokers of Power: The Financialization of the US Electricity System”, is just released. Dr. Harrison will present highlights and key arguments from the book at App State.

Who should attend:  Students, staff, faculty, and community members are invited to attend and join the conversation.

This is a free event.