Wonjun Chang

Dr. Chang is a computational economist specializing in decision analysis, with applications in energy systems modeling and macroeconomic impact assessment of environmental and energy regulations. He currently leads the development of Brattle’s power sector capacity expansion model (gridSIM) and economic impact assessment model (BEYOND).

As an expert in electricity market modeling, Dr. Chang develops large-scale computational frameworks to project future market outcomes, particularly in high-renewable futures.
As part of his capacity expansion modeling work, he researches tractable capacity accreditation methods to measure the contribution of renewable and storage resources in meeting systems’ resource adequacy needs.

Dr. Chang also provides model-driven solutions to address uncertainties in energy markets. He has led workshops for utilities and regional transmission organizations in simulating the market uptake of energy storage resources under new market rules. He has also supported numerous US electric utilities with long-term business planning, regarding the uncertain market adoption of customer-owned electricity generation resources.

Additionally, Dr. Chang uses computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling to assess the economic impacts of policies and regulations. He has authored numerous policy reports that provide comprehensive market impact assessments of regulatory shocks, such as the International Maritime Organization’s 2020 sulfur cap on marine fuels, and a potential bipartisan climate legislation to cut emissions in the US using a carbon-dividends plan. He has also led workshops for the EU, focusing on modeling the economic impacts of emissions trading schemes.

Prior to his career in economic consulting, Dr. Chang was an economist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where he conducted macroeconomic modeling for the US Energy Information Administration’s International Energy Outlook. Currently, he is a Lecturer at University of Maryland, College Park, where he teaches microeconomics for the Masters in Applied Economics program.