Sandia Energy > Programs > Energy Storage > Staff > Andrew Benson Andrew Benson, Ph.D. Economist Contact Information Andrew Benson, Ph.D. / (505) 284-9395 Biography Andrew Benson is a Postdoctoral Appointee in the Energy Storage Technology and Systems Department at Sandia National Laboratories. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Irvine, where he wrote his dissertation on the political economy and industrial organization of nuclear power. Prior to graduate studies, he was a cost-benefit analyst in the Energy Research & Development Division of the California Energy Commission. Research Interests Techno-economic analysis of the cost of energy technologies Simulation and optimization of electricity grids Electricity market design Energy policy and program evaluation Education Ph.D. Economics, University of California, Irvine, 2021 M.A., Economics, University of California, Irvine, 2017 B.A., Political Science and Economics, University of California, Davis, 2013 Google Scholar Andrew Benson, Ph.D. Key Publications A. Benson “Global Divergence in Nuclear Power Plant Construction: The Role of Political Decentralization” Nuclear Technology (2022). https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1991762.