Increasing energy costs for American consumers are elevating the issue of energy affordability to the forefront of economic and policy debates. According to analyses from Electric Power Research Institute and American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, an average U.S. household spent $5,530 on energy (including electricity, natural gas and other heating fuels, and gasoline for vehicles) in 2024, with a quarter of low-income households spending over 15% of their income on energy. Recent increases in electricity prices have elevated the topic of energy affordability with the public, but the topic has more dimensions than just electricity.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Forum on Energy Systems Transformation and Decarbonization will host a workshop to identify key factors contributing to rising energy costs, and discuss potential policy and technology solutions to energy affordability challenges. The workshop will foster cross-disciplinary discussions and interaction amongst state and federal policymakers, utilities, researchers, consumer advocates, and the interested public. A poster session featuring early-career researchers will highlight cutting-edge scholarship on energy affordability challenges and solutions.
More information about the Forum is available on our website:
Forum on Energy Systems Transformation and DecarbonizationCall for Abstracts: We invite graduate students and early-career researchers to submit abstracts for posters that focus on, but are not limited to, the following topics and questions:
- Why are utility energy bills rising? Explore factors such as higher equipment costs, general supply/demand imbalance leading to high capacity prices that flow into retail rates, higher natural gas prices, market failures, and others;
- Component elements of residential, commercial, and industrial utility energy bills in different regions of the United States, with drivers of change affecting these different elements and the implications and trade-offs emerging from such an examination, to identify regions where energy prices have increased most in absolute and percentage terms relative to inflation; and
- Energy burden analysis of consumer energy bills (beyond just rates). Analyses often focus on the price per kWh, but understanding energy burden entails examining bills and their impacts in a holistic manner.
Selection Process: Abstracts will be reviewed by forum members. Authors will be notified of acceptance by email. Selected posters will have the opportunity to participate in the full workshop in person in Washington, DC on February 25, 2026. Authors will be acknowledged within the workshop proceedings—a publication from the National Academies Press that describes the presentations and discussions from the workshop, and the poster may be included as an appendix.
Draft responses will not be saved. Once your application is complete, click the "Submit" button located at the bottom of the page. All applications and materials must be received by the application deadline of January 16th.
Questions? Contact jholmes@nas.edu