Alumnus Jason Simon of the California PUC Gives Guest Lecture

MSEM Alumnus Jason Simon gave a guest lecture in MSEM’s Resource Economics class in February titled: Practical Use of LCOE in Renewable Energy Project Bidding and System Planning. LCOE, or the levelized cost of energy, allow projects of different scales and time frames to be compared on a dollars per kWh basis. Jason explained how this is used by the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to make recommendations for purchases of new renewable energy contracts. Jason Simon is a senior policy analyst in the Renewable Energy Market Development division at the California Public Utilities Commission. He is involved in conducting analysis and developing policy to direct the procurement of renewable resources in the State of California. In this role he studies the long-term need for different types of renewable technologies and the value that these technologies can provide to the electricity grid. Previous to working at the CPUC, Jason spent 15 years in the investment banking industry as a director and senior research analyst in the clean technology, communications networking, and oil & gas markets. In this role he was responsible for vetting and recommending technology companies for investment purposes. He graduated from MSEM is 2009.