Research that Informs Business and Public Policy
Lowering subway fares would save energy and make cities greener. Subway ridership has fallen sharply around the world due to COVID-19. For most of the 170+ subway systems worldwide it … Continue Reading Five Arguments for Making Subways Free
Black households’ energy expenditures are significantly higher than white households’. I immigrated to the United States from one of the whitest places on earth – Northern Bavaria, Germany. I have … Continue Reading Consuming Energy While Black
Industry and utility customers should chip in to support the carbon price floor. The Covid-19 crisis has led to all sorts of dramatic changes in lifestyles and economies. The energy … Continue Reading The High Cost of Low Carbon Prices
Preliminary survey results from California suggest that long outages are leading people to buy backup generators, possibly instead of rooftop solar. The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a very bright light … Continue Reading Electricity Outages Lead to Substantial Backup Generator Purchases
Last week’s EPA decision adds insult to injury for our already vulnerable communities. Perhaps you missed it. There’s a lot going on right now. But amidst all the COVID-19 headlines … Continue Reading What Just Happened to the Mercury Rule?
A utility bill moratorium could put extra money into the pockets of business owners and households during the pandemic. Utility services – like electricity, water and natural gas – are … Continue Reading Can We Stop Paying Utility Bills for a Bit?
Backers see job creation, but I see high costs for ratepayers. “The project workforce has reached an all-time high with approximately 9,000 workers now on site. With more than 800 … Continue Reading The High Cost of Nuclear Jobs
Does an electricity connection help the very poorest households? To many people, connecting rural households to the electricity grid in places like Kenya seems like a great way to help … Continue Reading Electrification and the Poverty Trap
High retail electricity prices, not economic value, are driving U.S. investments in rooftop solar. If you were starting from scratch and could install the United States’ 22,500 MW of rooftop … Continue Reading Putting Solar in All the Wrong Places
A new paper reveals the financial and environmental costs of Germany’s nuclear power phaseout. I spent the first fifteen years of my life in Northern Bavaria, right next to the … Continue Reading No Nukes, Mo Problems.
With new carbon capture and sequestration technologies, can fossil fuels be part of the zero-carbon solution? The start of a new year – and decade – is a good time … Continue Reading Fossil Fuels are Dead, Long Live Fossil Fuels
Millennials, carbon pricing, falling solar prices and Greta Thunberg topped our most-read list. I’m often asked, “Who actually writes the Energy Institute’s blog posts?” These questioners expect to hear that … Continue Reading Top 10 Blog Posts for 2019
The best customer response depends on how much utilities can reduce their frequency. The rains have arrived in California and wildfire season has ended, temporarily. But fire risks will be … Continue Reading Preparing for Next Year’s Power Shutoffs
New paper ranks 219 countries and 1,692 cities based on air conditioning potential. Air conditioner sales are booming worldwide, especially in warm countries with growing economies. But how big is … Continue Reading Heat Exposure and Global Air Conditioning
A book by Russell Gold on the US wind industry, and a bumper crop of other energy books. Happily, for my annual book review, a number of energy books have … Continue Reading 2019 Energy Books: A Superpower-ed Selection
What happens when Californians take reliability investments into their own hands? (Today’s post is co-authored with Duncan Callaway) It’s easy to take your power supply for granted … until it’s … Continue Reading The Changing Economics of Electricity Supply Reliability
