Electricity, it is the most pervasive, the most versatile and possibly the most important form of energy to quality of life in modern society. Electricity is special because it can be generated from multiple resources: from fossil fuels to renewable energy. And it can be generated from far away or on site with local resources. Furthermore, electricity generation can be centralized or distributed and electricity itself is scalable, capable of powering everything from handheld devices to massive industrial motors. Electricity is also fungible, transformable in to light, heat, motion, and other critical forms of ready to use energy. And electricity itself is clean. Its direct use does not produce air pollution or the emission of greenhouse gases. What's more, electricity is now a growing source of energy for automotive transportation. The one economic sector that remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Even as our use of different energy resources and technologies changes our demand for electricity has and will undoubtedly continue to grow. Hi I'm Lincoln Pratson, a professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences in the Nicholas school the environment here at Duke University. And this is electric industry operations and markets, a course about one of the most integrative technologically dynamic and economically important industries in the world today- the electric industry. The scope of the electric industry is vast. It not only includes businesses that generate, transmit, and deliver electricity, but also businesses that service and manage these interactions so that the supply of electricity reliably meets demand on a minute by minute basis at the lowest possible cost. This real time management of electric supply and demand is required because unlike fuels there is as yet no economic way to store large amounts of electric energy for later use. The sophisticated operations by which the electric industry achieves this dynamic balance between supply and demand are unlike the operations of any other industry in the world. And these industry operations are undergoing significant evolution due to changes in market regulations to increase competition within the industry, shifts in the price of fuels used by conventional power plants, the expansion of renewable power generation, and stiffening of environmental regulations over power plant emissions. I hope you'll join me in learning about this industry which in many ways defines modern society. You need to know more about the electric industry if you are seeking a job or have a job in the energy industry, are decision maker whose business costs or policy decisions are affected by the industry or simply want to be an informed citizen. You also need to know more about the electric industry, if you work in national security, in financial markets or in international development and relations. Finally, if you study economics, business, geography, public policy, environmental sciences or one of many more disciplines that pertain to human activities. This course is also of value. The course will explore the two major components of the electric industry: operations and markets. In the operations module, you will learn about the core activities that the industry executes to bring electricity to customers. We will review what electricity is, how it is generated, how it is transmitted, how it comes into buildings, and how consumption of electricity instantly feeds back on the transmission and generation of electricity. In the second module, the course shifts to the markets that drive electric industry operations. You will learn about the various costs of the electric industry's core activities, how electricity is priced, the various ways that electric markets are structured, and how these market structures determine which power plants are dispatched to produce electricity when, as well as how recent changes in generator fuel prices, generation technology, market regulations, and environmental regulations are transforming both electric industry in markets and operations. It's important to acknowledge that the basis for this course is the electric industry here in the United States, but electric industry operations and markets in other countries are very similar. Throughout the course, your knowledge will be tested, of course, but you will also have the opportunity to contribute to one or more research projects focusing on electric industry activities and markets. We have an international audience and experts in many different fields. So please take the opportunity to learn from each other. Let's get started.