Energy Institute Announcements
Inside the Energy Institute: Faculty Affiliate Spotlight - Maximilian Auffhammer
October 1, 2025
Professor Maximilian Auffhammer, Avice M. Saint Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics & Political Economy at UC Berkeley, recently sat down with Executive Director Andrew Campbell and discussed his professional path and what motivates him as a researcher.
Inside the Energy Institute: Energy Markets Education for Professionals and Executives
October 1, 2025
Severin Borenstein and James Bushnell created the first Energy Institute executive education course in 2003, with support from the California Energy Commission. The intensive 2-day course on policies and strategies in energy markets was developed for energy policymakers and professionals. The course was so popular that it quickly sold out and was subsequently offered twice a year.
Inside the Energy Institute: Welcoming the Energy Institute’s Newest Graduate Student Affiliate, Garrison Schlauch
October 1, 2025
We’re excited to welcome Garrison Schlauch to the Energy Institute. Garrison is a fourth-year PhD student in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, specializing in energy and environmental economics, agricultural economics, and public finance.
Inside the Energy Institute: Faculty Affiliate Spotlight - Kelsey Jack
April 24, 2025
The most recent faculty member to join the Energy Institute is Kelsey Jack. Kelsey joined the faculty of the Haas School of Business in 2024 as an Associate Professor in the Business and Public Policy group. She came to Berkeley from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Before that Kelsey was a faculty member at Tufts University.
Inside the Energy Institute: POWER 2025 Recap
April 24, 2025
Professionals from government, industry and academia came together in March for the 30th annual Energy Institute POWER Conference on Energy Research and Policy. The forum, which took place at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, featured timely papers on topics including building electrification, transmission, siting of wind generation and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Severin Borenstein Named Chair of CAISO Board of Governors
January 6, 2025
Energy Institute Faculty Director, Severin Borenstein has been elected by the California Independent System Operator Board of Governors as its Chair for the 2025 calendar year.
Meet Kaixin Wang: The Energy Institute’s Newest Graduate Student Affiliate
December 18, 2024
We’re excited to welcome Kaixin Wang as the most recent Graduate Student Affiliate at the Energy Institute who joined us earlier this year.
Faculty Engagement in Public Service
December 18, 2024
In addition to producing policy-relevant research and analysis, Energy Institute Faculty Affiliates serve in formal policy roles and provide informal advice directly to decision makers. We asked some of our faculty to speak about some of the important topics they are engaging on.
Faculty Affiliate Spotlight: Aaron Smith
December 18, 2024
In this newsletter, we are pleased to introduce Professor Aaron Smith. Aaron joined the Energy Institute at Haas as a faculty affiliate in 2023 and came to the University of California, Berkeley as a Professor and Gordon Rausser Distinguished Chair in Agricultural and Resource Economics in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics in 2024. Aaron enjoyed 23 years as a professor at the University of California, Davis. Originally from New Zealand, he earned his PhD in Economics from the University of California, San Diego. Aaron shared how he became interested in energy and environmental economics and what research questions he is focusing on:
What led you to become an energy and environmental economist?
Faculty Affiliate Spotlight: James Bushnell
August 6, 2024
In this edition, we shine the spotlight on Professor James Bushnell. Jim is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of California, Davis, a Faculty Affiliate at the Energy Institute at Haas, and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Prior to joining UC Davis, he spent 15 years as the Research Director of the University of California Energy Institute in Berkeley, and two years as the Cargill Chair in Energy Economics at Iowa State University.
Q: What led you to become an energy and environmental economist?
Energy Economists Gather at Berkeley for 2024 Energy Camp
August 6, 2024
The Energy Institute’s annual Energy Camp provides a dynamic and collegial environment for sharing new energy and environmental economics research ideas among senior scholars, young faculty, and advanced graduate students. Each day of this week-long event includes six to nine presentations of research-in-progress and early research ideas.
After Postdoc at NYU School of Law, Leila Safavi Joins Pomona College in 2025
August 6, 2024
Energy Institute graduate student Leila Safavi completed her PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics in May, and will be taking a year-long postdoc at the Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU School of Law(opens in a new tab) before joining Pomona College(opens in a new tab) as an Assistant Professor in fall 2025. Leila has been a graduate student affiliate with the Energy Institute since 2019.
Max Auffhammer Receives Prestigious Career Award
June 18, 2024
Energy Institute Faculty Affiliate Max Auffhammer was named a 2024 Association of Environmental and Resource Economist (AERE) Fellow in late May. The AERE Fellows Program recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of environmental and resource economics, including research, mentorship, service in the AERE community, and policy advising.
Faculty Spotlight: Paige Weber
April 1, 2024
This edition’s faculty spotlight is on Professor Paige Weber. She came to the University of California, Berkeley in 2023 as an Assistant Professor in the Energy and Resources Group. Before coming to Berkeley, Paige was an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Postdoctoral Researcher at UC Santa Barbara. She earned her PhD and two master’s degrees at Yale University and received her bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley. Paige shared why she became a researcher and where she is focusing her work.
Q: What led you to become an energy and environmental economist?
Reducing Wildfire Risk in the Power Sector
April 1, 2024
Electricity infrastructure has ignited some of the most destructive wildfires in recent years. Contact between power lines and vegetation has caused costly and deadly fires in California, Australia, Hawaii, Oregon and Texas. Utilities are deploying a variety of strategies to reduce the likelihood that their infrastructure ignites wildfires in the future. New Energy Institute research, which investigates these investments in detail, could help guide the future of utility wildfire mitigation.
POWER 2024 – In Case You Missed It
April 1, 2024
Our recent 29th annual POWER conference in Berkeley covered a broad range of topics including retail electricity market competition, home electrification, factors driving generation efficiency, the impact of transmission lines, and investments to mitigate wildfire ignition risk in the power sector. Over two hundred researchers, policymakers, and business professionals attended.
Financial Times Selects Energy Institute Research for Responsible Business Education Award
January 20, 2024
This month the Financial Times announced its Responsible Business Education Awards and selected “Paying for Electricity in California: How Residential Rate Design Impacts Equity and Electrification” for an Academic Research Award, designating the research “Highly Commended”. The study was co-authored by Severin Borenstein, Meredith Fowlie, and James Sallee at the Energy Institute at Haas and funded by Next 10, a nonpartisan research nonprofit organization. The FT’s awards celebrate academics who are “focusing their research on solutions that address some of the biggest challenges facing our society and planet”.