CES study guide
CES · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Energy Specialist (CES) is listed by the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) among its professional credentials, but as of 2026-11-07 the dedicated CES page on the AEE site returned a 404 error, so no exam blueprint, item count, time limit, passing score, fee, or renewal terms could be confirmed from the official source. What can be verified is the structure AEE uses to organize its certification catalog: Energy Management, Energy Service & Commissioning, Sustainable Development, and Utility Services. Those four headings are the only domain-level information available, and the even weighting shown on this page is an editorial assumption, not an official figure. Candidates should treat CES study as broad rather than deep until an official blueprint appears: expect coverage spanning energy management practice, auditing and commissioning workflows, sustainability and decarbonization concepts, and utility-side topics such as demand-side management, distributed generation, and energy procurement. The CES study guide has 4 sections and about 1,200 words.
01Energy Management
This domain tests how you turn energy data into decisions: setting baselines, normalizing for drivers, screening measures, and reporting savings. Expect questions on power versus energy, load factor, energy intensity, audit levels, and the ISO 50001 cycle.
303 words, about 2 min02Energy Service & Commissioning
This domain tests performance-based energy services and the commissioning process that verifies systems work as intended. Expect commissioning authority roles, functional performance testing, retrocommissioning, measurement and verification (M&V), and savings guarantees.
301 words, about 2 min03Sustainable Development
This domain tests how energy decisions affect environmental performance and long-term viability. Expect greenhouse-gas accounting, scopes, carbon intensity, renewable energy, lifecycle carbon, and net-zero hierarchy.
284 words, about 1 min04Utility Services
This domain tests how utility rates and service characteristics shape energy cost and project economics. Expect demand charges, time-of-use energy, power factor, ratchets, load profiles, standby and net metering.
312 words, about 2 min