Research that Informs Business and Public Policy
Smart load limits could help to keep the lights on through California’s wildfire season. Today’s post was co-authored with Duncan Callaway. California’s 2020 wildfire season is off to a blazing … Continue Reading Smart Meters, Dumb Blackouts?
Customers can help avoid blackouts if they are given better information and prices. Even if you don’t live in California, you probably heard about the rotating power outages we had … Continue Reading Why Don’t We Do It With Demand?
Electrification mandates for new homes take a long time to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. New housing construction has fallen sharply around the world due to COVID-19. Housing starts are down … Continue Reading Electrification Mandates and Slow Housing Growth
On the economics of building back greener. With a high-stakes election on the horizon, the Democrats are working hard to shore up a winning policy platform. The Biden-Sanders Unity Task … Continue Reading Biden’s New Climate Plan
Ghanaians were promised heavily subsidized electricity for the first three months of the pandemic. What happened? Today’s post is co-authored with Susanna Berkouwer, Pierre Biscaye, Miranda Lambert and Steve Puller.) … Continue Reading Subsidizing Electricity During a Pandemic: Lessons from Ghana
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
Lessons learned from our last go-round with energy efficiency stimulus spending. Last week it was reported that 1 in 4 American workers have filed for unemployment benefits during this pandemic. … Continue Reading The Search for Good Green Stimulus
How do we foster innovation to solve COVID-19 and climate change? Ten days ago the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency approval for remdesivir. It’s too soon to know … Continue Reading Remdesivir, Low-Carbon Energy, and the Origins of Innovation
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
A new paper shows that people drive less and slow down when gasoline prices rise. I drive an electric vehicle. So I am, of course, better than you and now … Continue Reading Taking The Pedal Off The Metal
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
In 1960 only 2% of U.S. homes were heated with electricity. Today it’s 38%. U.S. households burn vast amounts of fossil fuels on-site for home heating: 2.7 trillion cubic feet … Continue Reading Electrification? We Are Already On The Way
A randomized controlled trial demonstrates the importance of providing financing for energy-efficient appliances in Kenya. On one of my first trips to Nairobi, Kenya, our local research assistant took me … Continue Reading Closing the Energy Efficiency Gap for Low-Income Households
