Jaquelin Cochran serves as the associate laboratory director for strategic energy analysis and decision sciences at NREL, where she oversees research on grid planning, decision science, and systems analysis. This work supports state and national goals, including energy affordability, energy addition, innovation, grid reliability, and streamlined permitting. Modeling tools developed by directorate staff—such as reV, ReEDS™, Sienna, PRECISE™, and dGen™—are widely used by energy stakeholders. Several have garnered prestigious R&D 100 awards.

Cochran has held various leadership roles since joining NREL in 2009, including most recently as director of the Grid Planning and Analysis Center. Her expertise in power systems has enhanced the capacity and reliability of grids—from U.S. cities to multi-country networks. She served as principal investigator for numerous high-impact and first-of-their-kind analyses. These efforts have been scaled to support Tribes, states, and local governments across the United States. Cochran has also led a portfolio of international work focused on increasing energy access and affordability in emerging economies.

Energy analysis

Grid planning 

Advanced energy technologies 

Markets, policy, and systemwide energy planning that enable a cost-effective and reliable grid 

Technical assistance to states, industry, and other stakeholders

Past Member, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee on Laying the Foundation for New and Advanced Nuclear Reactors in the United States

Past Member, Duke Energy Integrated System and Operations Planning Advisory Council

Assistant Professor, KIMEP, Almaty, Kazakhstan (2007–2009)

Graduate Student Instructor and Researcher, University of California, Berkeley (1995–1996)

Peace Corps Volunteer, Polish Foundation for Energy Efficiency, Krakow, Poland (1997–1999)

Energy Analyst, R.J. Rudden Associates, Annapolis, Maryland (1996–1997)