Electricity
At its core, energy is about flipping on the light switch in your home. We examine the always changing markets, regulations, and policies that direct the power lines that come into our communities.
Recent Work
Coping Under Strain: How Climate, Utility Disconnections, and LIHEAP Shaped Household Energy Strategies During the Pandemic
As extreme heat and economic shock collided during COVID-19, many U.S. households made risky energy trade-offs. This digest shows how utility disconnections and LIHEAP access shaped coping behaviors under climate stress.
Should ‘Energy Hogs’ Shoulder More of the Utility Cost Burden?
Electricity rates often target high-usage households, "energy hogs", with higher prices. This study shows that benign factors—number of occupants, climate in household location, and ability to install rooftop solar—drive most of the differences.
Grids
Energy System Planning: New Models for Accelerating Decarbonization
System planning is crucial for a successful clean energy transition that balances infrastructure transformation, reliability, and affordability. The U.K. recently overhauled its grid planning and operations through creation of a National Energy System Operator (NESO). This digest explores NESO’s pioneering model and lessons it offers for improving the U.S.’s fragmented and inefficient energy planning.
The Key to Electric Grid Reliability: Modernizing Governance
The U.S. electric grid is under strain, with extreme weather and blackouts on the rise. Some say the cause is overreliance on renewables like wind and solar. This white paper argues that the primary threat to grid reliability is not the changing energy mix but rather failures in grid governance.
Featured Researcher
John Quigley
Senior FellowJohn Quigley is a senior fellow at the Kleinman Center and previously served on the Center's Advisory Board. He served as Secretary of the PA Department of Environmental Protection and of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Featured Researcher
Oscar Serpell
Deputy DirectorOscar Serpell oversees all student programming, alumni engagement, faculty and student grants, and visiting scholars. He is also a researcher, writer, and policy analyst working on research initiatives with students and Center partners.
Featured Researcher
Andy Stone
Energy Policy Now Host and ProducerAndy Stone is producer and host of Energy Policy Now, the Kleinman Center’s podcast series. He previously worked in business planning with PJM Interconnection and was a senior energy reporter at Forbes Magazine.
Featured Researcher
Arthur van Benthem
Professor of Business Economics and Public PolicyArthur van Benthem is an expert in environmental and energy economics, exploring the economic efficiency of energy policy. He is a faculty fellow at the Kleinman Center and an professor of business economics and public policy at Wharton.
Featured Researcher
Sanya Carley
Mark Alan Hughes Faculty DirectorSanya Carley is the Faculty Director of the Kleinman Center. She is also Vice Provost for Climate Science, Policy, and Action at Penn and Presidential Distinguished Professor of Energy Policy and City Planning at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design.