Bio

Since joining NC State University, Jordan Kern’s group has been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Bezos Earth Fund, and the State of North Carolina. In 2022, he was awarded the NSF CAREER award for his research on navigating the dual challenges of extreme weather and decarbonization for the electric power grid. Kern has served as an expert witness for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security, and as an expert on a White House Office of Science and Technology Policy panel concerning the potential role of artificial intelligence in managing energy systems. He currently serves on a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine expert committee advising DOE on the design of a regional energy-water demonstration program. His group’s research has been featured in national media outlets including NPR, the LA Times, TIME, Vox, The Hill, Wired, and The Guardian.

Area(s) of Expertise

Kern’s research tries to advance optimal design and management of energy systems, with a special focus on: 1) building high-fidelity models of bulk electric power systems; 2) simulating system dynamics under uncertainty and stress (e.g., extreme weather and/or physical attack); and 3) informing optimal decision making around capital investment and short-term operations to meet cost and reliability objectives. Much of Kern’s work is aimed at supporting real-world decision-making, and his group frequently interacts and collaborates with stakeholders (e.g., electric power utilities).

Publications

• Capturing Dynamic Hydropower Performance in Long-Term Energy Planning , (2026)
• Electricity Demand Prediction for the DUK Balancing Authority , Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (2026)
• Electricity Demand Prediction for the DUK Balancing Authority , Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (2026)
• How Hydropower Operations Mitigate Flow Forecast Uncertainties to Maintain Grid Services in the Western U.S. , Water Resources Research (2026)
• The relative influences of hydrologic information and dams’ hydropower scheduling decisions on electricity price forecasts , Energy Reports (2026)
• A composite index-based insurance instrument for managing the financial risk of variable hydrometeorology for electric utilities , Environmental Research Energy (2025)
• Comparing Alternatives for Managing Hydrometeorological Financial Risk for Hydropower Suppliers , Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management (2025)
• Evaluating grid stress and reliability in future electricity grids across a range of demand, generation mix, and weather trends , Advances in Applied Energy (2025)
• IM3 Projected U.S. Western Interconnection Grid Stress Dataset , OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (2025)
• Multi-objective optimization of sustainable aviation fuel production pathways in the U.S. Corn Belt , Biomass and Bioenergy (2025)

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