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The Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University SIPA congratulates Paul Dabbar on his confirmation as Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Commerce. During...
• June 27, 2025
Energy Explained
Get the latest as our experts share their insights on global energy policy.
China’s dependence on the energy supplies that move through the Strait of Hormuz makes it especially vulnerable to any possible closure of the waterway by Iran in retaliation for attacks by Israel and the United States.
Just two days after President Trump deployed America’s military to attack Iranian nuclear development sites, a shaky ceasefire between Israel and Iran brokered by President Trump emerged. So...
This year, the Third Annual Energy Opportunity Lab (EOL) Forum will take place July 7th and 8th in Washington, DC, offering a chance for the Washington policymaking community...
Event
About Us
We are the premier hub and policy institution for global energy thought leadership. Energy impacts every element of our lives, and our trusted fact-based research informs the decisions that affect all of us.
This year, the Third Annual Energy Opportunity Lab (EOL) Forum will take place July 7th and 8th in Washington, DC, offering a chance for the Washington policymaking community and international financial stakeholders to engage directly on topics critical to energy affordability and access.Registration is required for each part of the Third Annual EOL Forum below. If attending both events, please register individually for each piece of programming accordingly.
Book Talk | Powerless: The People’s Struggle for Energy
July 7, 2025 6:00 – 8:30 PM
Resources For the Future Convention Center 1400 16th St. NW, 1st Floor Conference Space Washington, DC 20036
Energy is essential to modern life—it powers our homes, protects our health, and enables daily tasks. Yet for millions of Americans, keeping the lights on and homes comfortable is a constant struggle. In Powerless: The People’s Struggle for Energy, Diana Hernández and Jennifer Laird uncover the often-overlooked crisis of energy insecurity—the struggle to afford or access the basic household energy needed to live safely and with dignity.
Drawing from in-depth interviews and national survey data, Powerless brings to light the lived experiences of families forced to choose between heating and eating, enduring unsafe living conditions, and navigating a broken energy safety net. Hernández and Laird show that energy insecurity is not just an economic issue—it is a public health emergency, a social injustice, and a silent epidemic hiding in plain sight.
Join Powerless author and Co-Director of the Energy Opportunity Lab at Columbia University SIPA’s Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) Diana Hernández and CGEP Founding Director Jason Bordoff for a special conversation co-hosted by CGEP and Resources for the Future (RFF) on the book’s major findings, the structural drivers of energy inequity, and the bold, actionable policies needed to make safe, affordable energy a reality for all. The evening event will also feature opening welcome remarks from Carlos Martín, RFF Vice President for Research and Policy Engagement.
A networking reception with light fare and beverages will immediately follow the talk.
Amid shifting policy priorities and growing urgency globally around energy affordability and access, the role of the United States in shaping the future of energy—both at home and abroad—is at a critical inflection point. Domestically, millions continue to struggle with energy insecurity, while internationally, evolving approaches to development assistance and financing are reshaping how the US engages in global energy markets, particularly in the Global South. Additionally, recent changes in US energy and foreign aid policy are impacting how the global community is thinking about and addressing the future of critical issues of energy insecurity and financing the energy transition in the developing world.
The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA’s Energy Opportunity Forum, now in its third year, will bring leaders together to discuss the future of navigating and advancing energy access, affordability, and sustainability both domestically and globally. Through a series of conversations, the Forum will explore innovative policy approaches, new models for public-private and philanthropic collaboration, and practical solutions to ensure energy remains a driver of economic resilience and equitable development in a rapidly changing world.
This forum is hosted by our Energy Opportunity Lab (EOL), which aims to catalyze opportunities for improved life chances through energy via actionable research, strategic convenings, community collaborations and equity-focused practical and policy solutions in order to eradicate energy insecurity in historically disadvantaged communities across the US and enable energy for development globally.
Advanced registration is required. Featured speakers include:
Wally Adeyemo, CGEP Distinguished Visiting Fellow and former Deputy Secretary, United States Department of the Treasury
Jason Bordoff, CGEP Founding Director
Nancy Lee, Senior Policy Fellow, Center for Global Development
Billy Pizer, President and CEO, Resources for the Future
Zainab Usman, Senior Fellow and Inaugural Director of the Africa Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Columbia Global Energy Summit 2024 is an annual event dedicated to thought-provoking discussions around the critical energy and climate challenges facing the global community.
The Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs is pleased to host Tony Reames, Visiting Faculty Member at CGEP and Associate Professor at the...
Event
• CGEP Large Conference
1255 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10027
Power Uptown will have three components: (1) Energy Opportunity Expo, (2) Energy Opportunity Teach-in, and (3) a Panel discussion with elected and appointed officials.
Event
• The Forum at Columbia University, 601 W 125th St, New York.
Even as the U.S. pursues an energy agenda centered on achieving affordability through abundance, utilities and local governments have tools to help families navigate energy insecurities.
The Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) framework[1] was designed to help accelerate the energy transition in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) while embedding socioeconomic[2] considerations into its planning and implementation.
Commentary
by Gautam Jain & Ganis Bustami• March 03, 2025
Almost 34 million American households were considered energy insecure in 2020, with the majority foregoing food or life-saving medicine at least once in order to pay their utility bills.