Photo of aviation fuel truck connected to Singapore Airlines plane.

Aaron Smith responds to Sustainable Aviation Advisory Council arguments. A proposed sustainable aviation fuels tax credit in California will reduce funds for roads, increase gasoline and diesel prices and fail to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/04/20/c...

The Climate Policy Paradox: Why Voters Reject the Tools that Economists Advocate Most

A new Energy Institute Blog post and working paper by Joseph Shapiro, Maximiliano Lauletta, Ro’ee Levy and Dmitry Taubinsky.
energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/04/13/t...

DOE Second Guesses Coal Plant Owners The US Department of Energy Is Pursuing a Costly Policy to Preserve Coal Capacity Coal is the most rapidly declining source of electricity in the United States. The black rock generated half of US …

My new Energy Institute Blog post on the US Department of Energy's orders to prevent coal-fired power plants from retiring. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/03/30/d...

Sharing is Caring, Especially With the Electric Grid A new working paper highlights the challenges of working together. This Friday is one of the most exciting days of the year. I am talking, of course, about the leadEnergy Institute’s annual POWER c…

"[T]he current system [in the EU] is arbitrary and inefficient. It also intrinsically punishes smaller countries, which was not the intention of the policy." Lucas Davis's new blog post on research by Charlotte De Cannière. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/03/16/s...

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In a new blog post Meredith Fowlie explores how proposals to carve out publicly-owned utilities from larger, investor-owned utility territories raise questions about how costs are spread among customers.
energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/03/09/t...

Come to UC Berkeley for the POWER Conference on Energy Research and Policy on 3/20/26. Early bird registration rates available through 3/6/26. See new research on energy markets and regulation and exchange ideas with energy policy and business professionals.
haas.berkeley.edu/energy-insti...

Photo of Professor Lucas Davis presenting at the 2025 POWER Conference

Registration is open for the POWER Conference on Energy Research and Policy. 3/20/26, Berkeley, CA. See new research on energy markets and regulation and exchange ideas with energy policy and business professionals. Early Bird rates now available. haas.berkeley.edu/energy-insti...

A Solution for the Fast Data Center Connection Challenge Lean in on America’s fastest growing source of electricity supply. This week’s blog is co-authored with Emilia Chojkiewicz and Amol Phadke. Taking projections of all utilities in the U.S. tog…

A new Energy Institute at Haas working paper models how solar and batteries can use the existing grid to meet the needs of data centers. Research by Duncan Callaway, Emilia Chojkiewicz and Amol Phadke.

energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/02/02/a...

Map of the United States. For each state the map shows the percentage increase or decrease in real residential electricity rates between 2019 and 2025.

New analysis showing how recent changes in electricity rates have varied considerably across states. By @severinborenstein.bsky.social. @ucenergyinstitute.bsky.social
energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/01/26/l...

The Case for Trading Fuel Economy Compliance Credits Proposed new fuel economy standards would eliminate the part I like the most. Proposed new U.S. fuel economy standards would dramatically weaken requirements for the average miles-per-gallon of new…

"Under the current standards nobody is forcing any automaker to buy credits. Automakers have freedom of choice. They are buying credits because this is cheaper for them than developing their own fuel-efficient models." Lucas Davis on proposed CAFE changes.
energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/01/05/t...

@auffhammer.bsky.social is longing for understandable utility bills.

The shrinkage of government funding for clean energy leaves state legislatures facing difficult choices. My new blog post...

Spreading the Cap-and-Trade Wealth Last month, when Gov. Newsom signed a bill extending California’s cap and trade program to 2045, one section of the bill mandated changes in the “Climate Credit” that residential customers have bee…

In my EI blog post today, I discuss the CA debate over how to return some of the cap and trade revenue to households and explain why I think a fixed rebate for every household the utility serves should be replace by a discount per-kilowatt-hour.
energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/11/10/s... 🔌💡

Carbon Pricing on the High Seas? The international maritime organization gets close to a carbon tax. — If an environmental economist stumbled upon a magic lamp and got one wish from the genie, most of us would know what to a…

Earlier this year countries and industry came together to develop and adopt a groundbreaking carbon policy, applied to 85% of global shipping. Earlier this month the policy ran aground due to US opposition. James Sallee looks at the policy. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/c...

Whether data centers bring higher or lower electric bills for other consumers could depend on the actions of regulators. @severinborenstein.bsky.social discusses in his new @ucenergyinstitute.bsky.social Blog post.

Meredith Fowlie on newly passed California legislation aimed at getting electricity bills under control "The promising bill restructuring and cost reallocation initiatives will fall short if that third lever — cost containment — is not working well."

"So, overall, I want to give credit to EPA/DOT. This is about the best you can do with a national label. That said, it would be even better if the labels could be customized by state." Lucas Davis takes a look at the labels you'll see when shopping for a new electric vehicle.

Range anxiety was on my mind this summer. I wrote this blog post about recent research by on the topic by Asensio, Buckberg, Cole, Heeney, @knittelmit.bsky.social and Stock.

California’s Refinery Closure Drama The state must plan today for the import capacity that can smooth the transition. When two major California refineries recently announced they would be closing – Phillips 66’s Wilmington facility w…

My Energy Institute blog post today reviews California's options for dealing with impending refinery closures. There's really only one sustainable approach: the state must plan today for the import capacity that can smooth the transition off of gasoline.
energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/08/18/c...
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From Belts and Suspenders to Pants Around the Ankles? The rapidly evolving rollback of policy support for electric vehicles. Source: Where are EVs headed? Back in April, I wrote a piece surveying various threats to the EV transition in the US. I argue…

US policy has been supporting electric vehicles through a number of separate policies. James Sallee describes how the President and Congress are killing these policies and holds out for the possibility that some policies survive. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/07/28/f...

"Policies like the IRA’s electricity production subsidies can significantly reduce the uncertainty of future outcomes. The elimination of the subsidies means a much wider range of outcomes."

Now That the IRA Is Nearly Gone, Do We Know How Much We Will Miss It? Forecasting is hard. Especially the future. In the wake of the passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” (OBBBA) there has been a rush to assess the impact of this legislation on the energy sect…

"The coverage I’ve seen of the removal of the IRA subsidies shares the same weakness of much of the coverage of the IRA’s passage. There is too much focus on overly specific numbers..." James Bushnell's new Energy Institute Blog post. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/07/21/n...

@severinborenstein.bsky.social differentiates between demand reductions that save society's resources and demand reductions that are wasteful.

Meredith Fowlie describes how the EPA case for regulatory repeal hinges on private sector cost reductions and ignores health and environmental impacts.

My new blog post addressing the DOE's take down of minimum energy efficiency standards for products.

Build It and Hope They Mandate It? U.S. renewable diesel production capacity has increased sixfold since 2020, but future production will be far below capacity unless the federal government significantly expands policy support.&nbsp…

Aaron Smith explores the US renewable diesel market and puzzles through why US producers are developing so much more capacity than required by federal requirements. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/06/02/b...

James Bushnell addresses the politics that are holding back geoengineering.

Can Data Centers Flex Their Power Demand? First they need to have the right incentives to do so. Electricity world these days is filled with concern about supersized (“hyperscale”) data centers, those computing facilities that use more ele…

"Recent research suggests that a bit of flexibility at peak times –ratcheting down demand during less than 1% of annual hours – could drastically reduce the grid constraints that are causing planners to slow interconnections" @severinborenstein.bsky.social energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/04/14/c...

New Energy Institute Blog Post: Winners and Losers from Interregional Transmission - by Lucas Davis

energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/04/07/w...