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10/09/2025

USAEE/IAEE Conference | Spotlight: Bistline, Comello & Taylor on Nuclear & the Evolving Energy Economy

 

USAEE/IAEE Conference:
Register by October 16 and Save!

Spotlight: Nuclear’s Role in the Evolving Energy Economy

John Bistline 720 Steve Comello Headshot Laura Taylor1 2300 Headshot Broughel 418
John Bistline Stephen Comello Laura O. Taylor Anna Broughel

 

Register for the 2025 USAEE/IAEE North American Conference by next Thursday, October 16 to save as much as $150. Book your place NOW to avoid late registration fees and then join us November 16—19 in Fort Worth! 

The conference program features a strong cross-industry, macroeconomic orientation and a top-tier lineup of keynote and plenary speakers across an array of sessions, including a featured panel on "Nuclear’s Role in the Evolving Energy Economy," which comprises a quartet of key voices in energy economics:

  • John Bistline,the Senior Program Manager in the Energy Systems and Climate Analysis Group at EPRI
  • Stephen Comello, the  Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at the EFI Foundation and Managing Director of its Energy Futures Finance Forum
  • Laura O. Taylor, the Director of the Energy Policy and Innovation Center (EPIcenter) at Georgia Tech and a Professor in Georgia Tech's School of Economics
  • Moderator Anna Broughel, a Lecturer in Sustainable Energy Transition Policy at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University

Don’t miss out on this must-attend event for anyone serious about staying ahead in their field!

42nd USAEE/IAEE North American Conference
Sunday, November 16 through Wednesday, November 19
Fort Worth, Texas
The Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel

REGISTER


Once you've registered for the conference, book your room at The Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel by October 24 to secure the USAEE discounted rate!


Additional conference highlights include:

  • High-impact networking and career development opportunities
  • Special events — including a reception at the world-famous Joe T. Garcia’s
  • Concurrent sessions featuring well over 100 research papers from academia and industry
  • USAEE’s traditional robust student offerings

Nuclear’s Role in the Evolving Energy Economy
As electricity demand continues to grow, this session takes a close look at the potential role of nuclear energy in meeting our future power needs. We will compare nuclear power to natural gas and renewables combined with storage, especially in terms of cost, reliability, technology duration, innovation, and community impact. Leveraging recent multi-model intercomparisons and regional techno-economic assessments, the discussion will highlight how nuclear deployment trajectories respond to varying policy frameworks, capital cost assumptions, and natural gas price dynamics. The session will also examine the role of industrial policy and national security, including the integrated cradle-to-grave models advanced by China and Russia. With a focus on system-level outcomes such as reliability, long-run marginal costs, and carbon abatement efficiency, the plenary will provide a rigorous evaluation of nuclear energy’s economic competitiveness and its implications for long-term planning and investment in North American power markets.

John Bistline is a Senior Program Manager in the Energy Systems and Climate Analysis Group at EPRI. His research analyzes the economic and environmental effects of policy and technological change to inform energy systems planning and company strategy. Dr. Bistline’s current research examines impacts of federal and state energy and environmental policies, power systems optimization, renewables integration, and energy systems decarbonization. He has been an author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and U.S. National Climate Assessment. Dr. Bistline is an Associate Editor for The Electricity Journal. MORE

Stephen D. Comello is the Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at the EFI Foundation and Managing Director of its Energy Futures Finance Forum. In early 2025, he was appointed Executive Director of the Nuclear Scaling Initiative, a collaboration between EFI Foundation, the Clean Air Task Force and the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Previously, he served as a faculty member at the Stanford Graduate School of Business for over a decade, co-leading the Rapid Decarbonization Initiative. With a 23-year career dedicated to scaling emerging energy and environmental technologies, Comello specializes in policy and business model innovations. His expertise spans technoeconomic analysis, policy and project finance, corporate strategy in the energy transition, and open innovation. MORE

Laura O. Taylor is Director of the Energy Policy and Innovation Center (EPIcenter) at Georgia Tech. Prior to being named Director of EPIcenter, she chaired the School of Economics at Georgia Tech from 2018-2024 and was Director of the Center for Environmental and Resource Economic Policy at North Carolina State University from 2007-2018. She is a Fellow of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, Vice President of the Southern Economic Association, a member of the Board of Directors for Resources for the Future, and a member of the Technical Review Panel for NREL’s Strategic Energy Analysis and Decision Sciences Directorate. MORE

Anna Broughel is a Lecturer in Sustainable Energy Transition Policy at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. As a member of the executive council of the United States Association for Energy Economics (USAEE), Anna holds the position of Vice President of Communications at the USAEE and is in charge of the USAEE/IAEE annual conference plenaries. Her extensive engagement with alumni of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute showcases her dedication to fostering collaboration and advancing clean energy solutions. MORE


Now is also the perfect time to join us as a conference or association sponsor! Provide vital support for USAEE's mission and enjoy a range of benefits that enhance visibility and impact both at the conference and year-round!


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