BUEC 463 Energy Industries and Markets Syllabus
Fall Semester, 2020
Instructor: Hailing Zang
Office Hours: By email request and meet through Google Meet Email: [email protected]
Office: BUS 340-C Phone: 780.492.7720
1. Course Overview
The goal of this course is to develop a deeper understanding of energy markets,
regulations, and technologies. We will be looking at the most current trends in renewable developments and their impacts on the power sectors. We will have a deeper look at the upstream and midstream of the oil and gas industry, including things such as the LNG development on the global pricing structure of the natural gas industry. We will also have discussions on the climate change environment issues as well. Where possible, I will supplement lectures with visits from guest speakers from industry who will bring practical experience and real-world material to the classroom.
2. Course Expectations
After finishing this course, students should have a deeper understandings of the problems in the deregulated electricity industry, trends and visions of the energy markets. Students should also have a better understanding of our stands on the environmental policies.
Students should be able to apply fundamental economic theories to the understanding of each market, as well as the environment policies. Students should also be able to follow up with economic insights of the changes and trends in regulations and industry activities.
3. Required textbooks
There are no required textbooks for this class, most materials are available online.
Students are encouraged to read news and researches in the industry to keep updated.
4. Prerequisite
BUEC 311 or ECON 281
5. Evaluations
Exams (60%)
There will be two exams in class. The first exam will cover the electricity industry and the second exam will cover the oil and gas industry. Each exam is worth 30% of your total mark.
First Exam: October 15 in class Second Exam: December 3 in class
Missing exam policy: if 1) you are living a time zone where our lecture time is midnight at your time zone, or 2) you encounter physical difficulties such as illness, you are allowed to submit an individual research paper as a makeup work. Otherwise no makeups for missing exams.
Term Project/Presentation (40%)
You are required to work on one presentation about the energy industry. Anything that interests you in the energy industry could be your presentation topic. The presentation will be in a group project. I will let you know about the maximum number of people allowed and the length of the presentation once the student number settles during the course.
There will be peer valuation for the presentation, where the peer valuation count 25% while the instructor’s valuation counts for the rest 75%. Rubrics of the presentation will be posted on the eClass.
Presentation schedule: see course outline below
6. The Code of Student Behavior
The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behavior (http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/gfcpolicymanual/content.cfm?ID_page=37633) and avoid any behavior which could potentially result in suspicious of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.
Students should not post any recordings online via social media, YouTube or similar services unless expressly permitted by the instructor. Violations of this may be considered a violation of the Code of Student Behaviour.
7. Course Outlines
Week 1: Course overview and introduction Tuesday: Course overview
Thursday: Why deregulation (Synchronous) Marginal Cost Calculation (Synchronous) Week 2: Tuesday: Bidding Practice (Synchronous)
Thursday: Jargons (Asynchronous)
Economic Principles (Asynchronous)
Week 3: Tuesday: 12:30 – 1:00 Q& A, then Electricity market architecture (Asynchronous) Thursday: Two-Step Settlement System (Synchronous)
Week 4: Tuesday: Ancillary service markets resource limits (Asynchronous) Thursday: Locational Price (Synchronous)
Week 5: Tuesday: Hedging tools in the market (Synchronous)
Thursday: Special topics in the electricity markets (Asynchronous)
Week 6: Tuesday: 12:30 – 1:00 Q&A, then Special topics in electricity markets (Asynchronous)
Thursday: Renewables impacts to the electricity market (A Podcast) Articles to read:
James Bushnell and Kevin Novan, “Setting With The Sun: The Impacts Of Renewable Energy On Wholesale Power Markets”, Energy Institute at Hass WP 292, August 2018
Paul L. Joskow, “Challenges for Wholesale Electricity Markets with Intermittent Renewable Generation at Scale: The U.S. Experience”, MIT CEEPR WP 2019- 001, January 2019
Week 7: Tuesday live class wrap up electricity industry and Q&A Exam I: October 15 in class
Week 8: Tuesday: Oil and natural gas industry history (Asynchronous) Thursday: Oil and natural gas basics (Asynchronous)
Week 9: Oil industry structure
Tuesday live lecture on Oil industry structure (Synchronous)
Thursday: continue with oil industry structure and begin natural gas industry structure (Asynchronous)
Week 10: Tuesday: Natural gas industry structure (Synchronous) Thursday: World oil market (Asynchronous) Week 11: Reading Week
Week 12: Tuesday: World natural gas market (Asynchronous) Thursday: Presentation starts
Week 13: Presentation Week
Week 14: Tuesday: continue with presentations;
Q&A for the second half of semester Thursday: Exam II – December 3 in class