Bio

Dr. Harrison is an economic geographer that received his Ph.D. in geography from the University of North Carolina in 2014. He also has a master’s degree in geography from East Carolina University, a B.A. in Political Science from Colgate University, and has work experience in supply chain management and consumer product distribution. He has been at the University of South Carolina since 2014 and is jointly appointed between the Department of Geography and the School of Earth, Ocean and Environment.

Research

Conor Harrison is an associate professor of geography at the University of South Carolina whose research examines the political economy of energy, with a particular focus on finance, infrastructure, markets, and inequality. His work asks how institutions and financial interests shape energy systems, investment, and the distribution of the costs and benefits of energy transitions.

His recent research focuses on the transformation of the U.S. electricity system and the growing influence of financial actors in the energy transition. His new book, Brokers of Power: The Financialization of the US Electricity System (University of Minnesota Press, 2026), examines how financial institutions and practices have become increasingly central to the U.S. electricity sector. Drawing on case studies and industry interviews, the book traces the role of finance from utility deregulation and coal-plant closures to the rapid expansion of solar energy, showing how financial interests and accumulation strategies shape the energy transition.

His recent work also examines the politics of energy transition and the limits of market-based approaches to decarbonization. Harrison's new research focuses on rapidly growing electricity demand from artificial intelligence and data centers and its implications for the development and governance of the grid.

Harrison's past research has explored the historical development of electricity systems, regulatory regimes, and energy markets in the American South and the Caribbean, including relationships among infrastructure, finance, race, regulation, and uneven development.

His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the University of South Carolina, and other funding agencies. His work has appeared in the Annals of the American Association of Geographers, The Geographical Journal, Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, Energy Research & Social Science, Geoforum, and the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.

Teaching

Harrison teaches courses in economic geography, energy, environmental policy, and sustainability. His teaching and research are connected by a shared interest in how economic and environmental systems are produced through institutions, infrastructure, markets, and relations of power.

Selected courses

• GEOG 313: Economic Geography
• ENVR 352: Energy, Society and Sustainability
• GEOG 321: Sustainable Cities
• GEOG 310/ENVR 490: Applied Research in Energy and Water Equity
• ENVR 202: Environmental Science and Policy II

Recent Publications

Books

Harrison, C. 2026. Brokers of Power: The Financialization of the US Electricity System. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Welton, S. and C. Harrison. 2025. "Lessons in Climate Derisking: The United States' Failed Nuclear Renaissance." University of Pennsylvania Law Review 173(3): 705–788.

Harrison, C. and S. Welton. 2023. "'Why Change?' Monopoly and Competition in the Southeastern US Electricity System." Annals of the American Association of Geographers 113(6): 1402–1418.

Harrison, C. 2022. "Electricity Capital and Accumulation Strategies in the US Electricity System." Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space 5(4): 1716–1737.

Harrison, C. and S. Welton. 2021. "The States that Opted Out: Politics, Power, and Exceptionalism in the Quest for Electricity Deregulation in the United States South." Energy Research & Social Science 79: 102147.