Peter Fox Penner Is Back with a Vision of Our Energy Future -- Clean Capital Efficiency

Back in January 2023, Peter Fox Penner appeared on Economics Matters -- the Podcast to discuss his fabulous book, Power After Carbon, Building a Clean Resilient Grid.

Peter, who studied engineering in college and economics at the University of Chicago, where he earned a PhD, is surely among the most knowledge people in the country on America's energy system. He's back in this fascinating podcast to discuss a new study be co-authored with The Brattle Group. Its title is Affordability, Rates, and Clean Capital Efficiency: A Path for the Power Industry's Turbulent Next Decade.

Power is a huge issue for all of us. Will AI data centers drive up electricity demand, prices, and carbon emissions? Peter's joint study looks at what's coming on both the demand and supply sides. But it also also shows how we can meet our exploding power needs largely by improving energy-capital efficiency.

Please enjoy this timely presentation that's as relevant to climate deniers as it is to climate advocates. We are, for better and worse, all in the same boat. Peter explains in crystal clear terms both the rapids ahead and how to avoid them.

Peter received a B.S. in engineering from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. During the Clinton Administration, Peter worked closely with Vice President Al Gore's team, serving first as a senior official at the U.S. Department of Energy and then in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Before and after working for the federal government, Peter was engaged in economic and energy consulting. This included serving for over two decades as Principal and Chair of The Brattle Group, one of our nation's premier consulting firms. Peter left the Brattle Group to found and direct Boston University's Institute for Sustainable Energy and served as a Professor of Practice at BU's Questrom School of Business.

Peter is currently a Partner and Chief Impact Officer of Energy Impact Partners, one of the world's largest dedicated clean energy private equity fund groups. He also serves as Senior Advisor to The Brattle Group, as a member of the Global Leadership Council of the World Resources Institute, and as an Advisory Board member of Mobility Impact Partners. Peter's is a frequent speaker on energy topics and the author of numerous published articles and books. Peter's research has been widely cited, including in one Supreme Court decision. It spans electric power strategy, regulation, and governance, energy and climate policy, sustainable finance, and the relationships between public and private economic activity.