Assistant Professor of Economics Research Cited In Popular Science On Solar Power

Eller College of Management Assistant Professor of Economics Ashley Langer was referenced in a January 29 Popular Science article, discussing the effectiveness and cost of solar power.

The article discusses the question: if solar power has progressively gotten cheaper and more efficient, why aren’t businesses and industries using it more often? Langer helps answer this question.

“While it is cheaper to build renewables when considering a new plant, that metric doesn’t necessarily apply to running a fossil fuel plant that already exists,” explains Langer. “Sometimes the regulatory structure of utilities actually makes it more profitable to keep a coal or natural gas plant running.”

Ashley Langer joined the Eller College of Management in 2013. Previously, she taught at the University of Michigan, which she joined after earning her PhD in Economics from the University of California-Berkeley. Her current research focuses on how consumers make decisions that affect the environment. She is also working on the effect of consumer demographics and demographic group preferences on vehicle pricing and has previously worked on the effect of congestion tolling on urban land use.