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NOTE: REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL EVENT BELOW - IF ATTENDING BOTH EVENTS PLEASE REGISTER INDIVIDUALLY FOR EACH PIECE OF PROGRAMMING ACCORDINGLY. Book Talk | Powerless: The...
July 7, 2025 - July 8, 2025
6:00 pm edt
NOTE: REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL EVENT BELOW – IF ATTENDING BOTH EVENTS PLEASE REGISTER INDIVIDUALLY FOR EACH PIECE OF PROGRAMMING ACCORDINGLY.
Resources For the Future Convention Center
1400 16th St. NW, 1st Floor Conference Space
Washington, DC 20036
Energy is essential to modern life—it powers our homes, protects our health, and enables daily tasks. Yet for millions of Americans, keeping the lights on and homes comfortable is a constant struggle. In Powerless: The People’s Struggle for Energy, Diana Hernández and Jennifer Laird uncover the often-overlooked crisis of energy insecurity—the struggle to afford or access the basic household energy needed to live safely and with dignity.
Drawing from in-depth interviews and national survey data, Powerless brings to light the lived experiences of families forced to choose between heating and eating, enduring unsafe living conditions, and navigating a broken energy safety net. Hernández and Laird show that energy insecurity is not just an economic issue—it is a public health emergency, a social injustice, and a silent epidemic hiding in plain sight.
Join Powerless author and Co-Director of the Energy Opportunity Lab at Columbia University SIPA’s Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) Diana Hernández and CGEP Founding Director Jason Bordoff for a special conversation co-hosted by CGEP and Resources for the Future (RFF) on the book’s major findings, the structural drivers of energy inequity, and the bold, actionable policies needed to make safe, affordable energy a reality for all. The evening event will also feature opening welcome remarks from Carlos Martín, RFF Vice President for Research and Policy Engagement.
A networking reception with light fare and beverages will immediately follow the talk.
University Club in Washington, DC
1135 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
Amid shifting policy priorities and growing urgency globally around energy affordability and access, the role of the United States in shaping the future of energy—both at home and abroad—is at a critical inflection point. Domestically, millions continue to struggle with energy insecurity, while internationally, evolving approaches to development assistance and financing are reshaping how the US engages in global energy markets, particularly in the Global South. Additionally, recent changes in US energy and foreign aid policy are impacting how the global community is thinking about and addressing the future of critical issues of energy insecurity and financing the energy transition in the developing world.
The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA’s Energy Opportunity Forum, now in its third year, will bring leaders together to discuss the future of navigating and advancing energy access, affordability, and sustainability both domestically and globally. Through a series of conversations, the Forum will explore innovative policy approaches, new models for public-private and philanthropic collaboration, and practical solutions to ensure energy remains a driver of economic resilience and equitable development in a rapidly changing world.
This year’s forum will take place July 7th and 8th in Washington, DC, offering a chance for the Washington policymaking community and international financial stakeholders to engage directly on topics critical to energy affordability and access.
Advanced registration is required.
Featured speakers include:
Wally Adeyemo, CGEP Distinguished Visiting Fellow and former Deputy Secretary, United States Department of the Treasury
Jason Bordoff, CGEP Founding Director
Nancy Lee, Senior Policy Fellow, Center for Global Development
Billy Pizer, President and CEO, Resources for the Future
Zainab Usman, Senior Fellow and Inaugural Director of the Africa Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Other speakers to be announced
The Columbia Global Energy Summit 2024 is an annual event dedicated to thought-provoking discussions around the critical energy and climate challenges facing the global community.
Gender disparities in entrepreneurship are stark. Only one in every three businesses is owned by a woman.
The Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs is pleased to host Tony Reames, Visiting Faculty Member at CGEP and Associate Professor at the...
Power Uptown will have three components: (1) Energy Opportunity Expo, (2) Energy Opportunity Teach-in, and (3) a Panel discussion with elected and appointed officials.
