Moscow, ID, December 29, 2025
New Energy Institute Making Strides – University of Idaho launched the region’s first broad-reaching energy institute early in 2025. It’s been a busy year.

“Nearly every day, there’s a new story that highlights the importance of energy to today’s society,” institute Executive Director John Kumm said. “Will we have enough? Will it be available when we need it? At what cost to users and the environment? These issues are critical and increasingly so.”

Image provided by University of Idaho

Urgency is reflected in the progress the institute is making in each mission area. With support and input from the institute, UI professors have created a new, undergraduate energy course, Energy in the Modern World, that will be offered for the first time in the spring of 2026. The course will broadly cover all aspects of the modern energy system, including electric power, primary energy for industry and transportation, and the social, economic and environmental impacts of our energy system. The course is available for all students but is a required element of a new undergraduate energy literacy certificate which is under review for inclusion in the 2026/2027 university catalog.

Research is advancing as well. In addition to several large research efforts under development with regional partners, an interdisciplinary undergraduate team started work on a new electric utility simulation game over the summer. Testing on the program starts soon so it can be used as a teaching tool in the new energy course.

Computer science professor Terry Soule said, “Experiential learning and undergraduate research are fundamental to the educational process here at U of I. This team is refining and demonstrating skills valuable in the modern workforce. They’ve learned a lot about the electric power environment and the constraints on decision-making required for success. More than that, they are learning to apply their creative and technical skills to solve problems beyond their own primary expertise.”

This spring, the U of I Energy Institute will host the first annual Energy Symposium. “The event will gather industry professionals from across the state, region, and country to share their knowledge with each other and with our students,” Kumm said. The symposium will tackle a different and critical energy issue each year; this year examines permitting for construction projects in the energy space. High interest is expected from industry as well as our natural resources and engineering students, along with students having business, international, science and policy emphases that intersect energy and the environment.

A special symposium segment will highlight the nuclear energy space. The inland northwest is home to both the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory near Richland, WA, both of which are partners with the Energy Institute. The U of I performs research and grants degrees in nuclear, electrical, and mechanical engineering, cybersecurity, and robotics. All these are critical to the nuclear energy industry where interest in a new class of nuclear reactors known as small modular reactors (SMRs) has blossomed. Fuel sources and permitting for these and other nuclear resources will be considered at the symposium.

The Energy Symposium will be held in Moscow, ID at the Pitman Center on the University of Idaho campus. On the evening of March 4, 2026, the event will kick off with an evening keynote address by noted energy journalist, documentarian and author, Robert Bryce. On March 5, a full day of panel sessions and presentations will explore energy projects from several angles. For more information or to register to attend the event, please go to: go.uidaho.edu/energy-institute