Masters students at the LBJ School of Public Affairs recently completed a year-long policy research project (PRP) in which they examined new business models for electric utilities. The course, co-taught by Energy Institute Assistant Director for Policy Studies Dr. Fred Beach and Research Fellow Roger Duncan, explored current and future incentives and subsidies for electrical generation and the impact of distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar on utilities’ bottom line. In their final report, part of the Energy Institute’s Full Cost of Electricity study, PRP students found that decentralized forms of electricity generation could lead investor-owned utilities to opt for a nonprofit business model employed by electric co-ops and municipally owned systems.