Piscataway, N.J., – July 15, 2025 – As the global community faces the urgent need to decarbonize and build climate resilience, the demand for credible, technically grounded, and widely accessible guidance has never been greater. In response, the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES), the leading provider of scientific and engineering information on electric power & energy, has announced the launch of a new publication: IEEE Energy Sustainability Magazine.

Scheduled to publish its inaugural issue in June 2025, the magazine is designed to illuminate best practices in environmental sustainability and climate change through the lens of electric power systems. From carbon-reduction strategies and energy-efficient technologies to grid modernization and electrification, the publication aims to provide a practical roadmap for professionals across industry, academia, and policy.

Two of the leaders shaping this launch – Professor Mohammad Shahidehpour, inaugural Editor-in-Chief, and Professor Jovica Milanović, Vice President of Publications for IEEE PES – shared their perspectives on the magazine’s purpose, audience, and vision for global impact.

Expanding the Conversation: Bringing Energy Sustainability to a Broader Audience

IEEE has long produced some of the most cited and respected peer-reviewed engineering journals in the world. But those journals are written by specialists, for specialists, often dense with equations and narrowly scoped to specific research questions.

“There’s a big difference between journals and magazines,” Professor Shahidehpour explained in an interview. Journals are intended for a specialized audience and focus on algorithms, mathematical derivations, and narrowly defined technical topics. They present in-depth, peer-reviewed research that often requires subject-matter expertise to understand. Magazines, on the other hand, are aimed at a general audience. They cover broader issues, which are also peer-reviewed, but explain technical developments in a way that is accessible to non-specialists.

This is precisely the gap IEEE Energy Sustainability Magazine seeks to fill: offering rigorously vetted content that is still readable, relevant, and actionable for a wider audience. As Shahidehpour put it, “People talk about sustainability, but when it comes to explaining what it really means, they often struggle. That’s what we’re trying to fix.”

The goal is to educate — and not just college faculty, research students, and practicing engineers. Policymakers, corporate sustainability leaders, regulators, and even concerned citizens all need clearer, technically sound insights into how energy systems are changing and what it will take to meet global climate goals.

Grounded in Global Reality

The magazine will have a global focus from the start. While much of the early content originates in North America and Europe, the editorial team has explicitly sought stories and case studies from Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and beyond.

Shahidehpour highlighted the role of energy innovation in underserved regions: “In places like Africa, where people don’t have access to a reliable supply of electricity in remote areas, they’re not waiting for billion-dollar transmission and distribution grids. They’re installing small-scale and mostly islanded renewables such as microgrids, solar, and batteries. That’s sustainability in action, where we utilize local resources to help people have access to some of the most essential needs of the local society. And it’s happening faster there than in the U.S. in some cases.”

Drawing from Shahidehpour’s own experience converting the Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) campus into a fully operational microgrid beginning in 2008, the magazine will feature real-world testbeds, proven case studies, and policy-relevant outcomes.  As Director of the Robert W. Galvin Center for Electricity Innovation, Shahidehpour’s team has attracted international visitors for over a decade, demonstrating how distributed energy, battery storage, and smart controls can reduce emissions, lower costs, and increase reliability. By introducing demand response and modifying the daily load profile, such distributed power systems can also help local power utilities enhance their grid flexibility, resilience, security, and economic operations.

“It’s not just a theory,” he said. “We’ve shown that the technology works.”

From Technology to Policy: Building Bridges

For Professor Milanović, who heads the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Manchester and oversees IEEE PES’s publishing portfolio, the magazine represents a strategic expansion into more agile, policy-relevant communication.

“Too often, engineering innovations are held back not by technical limitations, but by regulation or lack of understanding at the policymaker level,” he said in conversation. “We have the tools. What’s missing is alignment.”

The magazine aims to accelerate that alignment. In addition to feature articles and case studies, future issues will include short opinion pieces from industry executives and regulatory thought leaders—voices that can help frame decisions in practical terms. Milanović sees this as a foundational step toward more dynamic and timely communications: “If we want to influence real-world decisions, we need to move faster. This is the first step.”

A Strategic Addition to IEEE’s Publishing Landscape

IEEE Energy Sustainability Magazine is not just another outlet.  It is also a strategic move to better connect IEEE’s highly technical research publications with real-world applications and public understanding.

According to Milanović, IEEE Power & Energy Magazine has long excelled at translating foundational engineering research in areas such as power generation, transmission, and distribution. However, with the growing emphasis on topics like smart grids, renewable integration, sustainability, and energy policy and regulation, the field has expanded beyond the scope of any single publication. The new IEEE Energy Sustainability Magazine is designed to fill this gap, offering a broader perspective on the evolving energy landscape.

“This new magazine sits at the intersection of energy systems, environmental priorities, climate change mitigation, social concerns, and global equity,” said Shahidehpour. “That’s where the real transformation is happening.”

From corporate decarbonization strategies to community-driven electrification efforts, the magazine will provide insights that connect the dots between technical capacity and social impact.

Curated for Impact, Designed for Engagement

The first five issues are already in development, with over 50 articles queued up from respected contributors across academia, government agencies and national laboratories, industry, and NGOs. Each quarterly issue will be available in both print and digital formats, and IEEE PES members will receive free access as part of their membership benefits.

Shahidehpour emphasized that success won’t just be measured by how many articles are published. “We’ll know we’re making an impact when people are citing our stories in industry reports, research articles, and policy meetings, discussing them at conferences, or using them in university courses.”

The team is also considering new content formats, such as online spotlights, briefings, or podcast segments, to increase visibility and reach. “IEEE has 450,000 members,” said Milanović. “But if we want to shift the global conversation, we need to reach beyond the engineering community.”

What to Expect: Topics and Themes

In alignment with its stated goals, the magazine will address the following core themes:

• Strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in power system operation and planning
• Deployment of renewable energy technologies (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal)
• Advances in microgrids, smart grids, and flexible demand
• Policies and regulatory frameworks supporting low-carbon emissions
• Energy access and equity in underserved regions

The intent is not to offer abstract theories, but usable knowledge grounded in practical application. Articles will explore both technological innovations and the socio-economic, environmental, and policy contexts that shape them.

As Shahidehpour stated plainly, “Sustainability is not a buzzword. It’s a way of thinking—technical, economic, and social—all at once.”

Looking Ahead

Ultimately, IEEE Energy Sustainability Magazine represents a deliberate move to break down silos between engineers and the broader audiences who depend on their work. And it comes at a moment when reliable, science-based information on climate and energy has never been more important.

“We’re not just responding to the energy transition,” Shahidehpour said. “We’re helping to lead it.”

To learn more, submit content, or access the latest issue, visit: https://ieee-pes.org/publication-item/ieee-energy-sustainability-magazine/

About IEEE Power & Energy Society The IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) is the leading provider of scientific and engineering information on electric power & energy for the betterment of society and a trusted resource dedicated to its members’ technical, informational, networking, and professional development needs. With over 40,000 members around the globe representing every facet of the electric power and energy industry, PES is at the forefront of the rapidly changing technological advancements that impact everyone’s future. Additional information on IEEE PES can be found on our website.

About IEEE IEEE is the largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice in areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers, and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power, and consumer electronics. Learn more here.