Christopher Knittel

I am excited that my energy economics and policy class is part of a really cool MicroMasters program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy (DEDP). Learn more here: www.povertyactionlab.org/page/dedp-mi...

Enroll now!

I was worried @kclausing.bsky.social and @cwolfram.bsky.social found another coauthor! Don’t scare me like that.

CPC is looking to partner with policymakers, researchers, and funders who want to use MIT tools to evaluate climate and energy policy. We’re also building support for more researcher capacity. Let’s collaborate.

CPC’s model lets in-house researchers work with MIT faculty to answer real policy questions. This is where Juan shines—his modeling work began with a Senate collaboration and ultimately shaped this Nature Energy paper.

The MIT Climate Policy Center was built on a simple idea: the tools MIT develops should help policymakers make better decisions. Many high-value analyses don’t happen because academia lacks incentives. CPC changes that.

This work began as a collaboration with Senator Hickenlooper’s office on the Big Wires Act and was the first major project of the new @mitclimatepolicy.bsky.social . It’s a great example of how policy questions can guide research that is rigorous, timely, and directly useful for decision-makers.

Policymakers, analysts, researchers: This work clarifies how federal/state transmission policy can cut costs and emissions—or create unintended reliability issues. Happy to connect with those working on these questions.
#EnergyTransition #ClimatePolicy

Huge shout-out to my postdoc, #JuanSenga. This paper would not exist without his rigor and creativity. The future of energy research is bright.

For academics/modelers: We assess minimum transfer rules, interregional coordination, and policy-driven siting across the U.S. grid using GenX. Full scenarios + regional sensitivity results included.

With huge clean-energy growth coming, especially if we adopt carbon policies, transmission is the bottleneck. Strategic builds can lower system costs, reduce emissions, and improve reliability in extreme events. Smart policy gets all three.
#Decarbonization #Infrastructure

We find minimum transfer requirements can cut costs, emissions, and reliability risks—but only if designed well. Poorly structured mandates risk higher costs with little benefit. Details matter for policymakers.
#GridReliability #EnergyModeling

Implications of policy-driven transmission expansion for costs, emissions and reliability in the USA Nature Energy - Interregional transmission is key to a cost-efficient, reliable and cleaner US grid. Senga et al. find that current legislative proposals can increase reliability while capturing...

New paper out today in Nature Energy!
We evaluate how Congressional proposals for policy-driven transmission expansion would shape U.S. electricity costs, emissions, and reliability. Big implications for climate and grid planning.

rdcu.be/eS7lj

#EnergyPolicy #Transmission #CleanEnergy

Bottom line:
-Renewable Portfolio Standards are not driving electricity price increases.
-Utility-scale solar/wind tend to lower prices.
-Rooftop solar + tariff design matter far more.
-Climate resilience & data centers are big, growing drivers.

Empirically we show that rooftop PV raises distribution O&M costs, while utility-scale renewables reduce them.

Why does rooftop solar raise average rates?
Because customers with PV pay much less toward the fixed cost of running the grid—even though they still rely on it. The gap is recovered through riders and surcharges.

Just look at my bill...

Utility-scale solar and wind?
Associated with lower retail prices, not higher.

Rooftop solar is different and not surprising: the structure of net-metering and cost recovery pushes fixed grid costs onto non-solar customers.

Those raw correlations vanish once we add state & year fixed effects.

RPS strength looks correlated with higher prices only because high-price states tend to adopt stronger renewable policies.

Electricity affordability is a major concern. A new paper with grad student Fischer Espiritu Argosino shows renewable policies aren’t driving price increases once you control for confounders.

ceepr.mit.edu/workingpaper...

#EnergyAffordability #ElectricityPrices #Renewables #PolicyResearch

New blog post today on work with @knittelmit.bsky.social and @cwolfram.bsky.social.

Climate inaction is *already* a big expense affecting US households costs; the most important mechanism is the impact of climate-related natural disasters on housing costs.

legal-planet.org/2025/11/20/c...

Climate Inaction is an Affordability Problem - Legal Planet This post is authored by UCLA Law’s Kimberly A. Clausing along with guest contributors Christopher R. Knittel and Catherine Wolfram. Many of us have seen large increases in our homeowner’s insurance p...

Climate inaction is ALREADY a big expense affecting US households' costs. One of the biggest? The impact of climate-related natural disasters on housing costs. New post and research by @kclausing.bsky.social @knittelmit.bsky.social @cwolfram.bsky.social

legal-planet.org/2025/11/20/c...

15th Annual Leaders Conference – NewDEAL Washington, DC | November 19-21

Faculty Director @knittelmit.bsky.social is speaking at the New Deal Leaders 15th Annual Leaders' Conference. Sessions include in-depth policy conversations on key issues, including #housing, #education, #cleanenergy, #AI, + more. buff.ly/sjRJmp8

📅 November 19-21
📍 Washington, DC

The podcast version of our BPEA paper on “Who bears the burden of climate inaction?” (thread below, with @cwolfram.bsky.social and @knittelmit.bsky.social) just dropped .

www.brookings.edu/articles/how...

An MIT CEEPR paper by @knittelmit.bsky.social, @gibmetcalf.bsky.social and @shereeinsaraf.bsky.social looks at the impacts from a Gas-to-VMT Tax Shift. Check out the full paper at the link below:

ceepr.link/42R44sv

🧵 (1/7) With @knittelmit.bsky.social and @cwolfram.bsky.social, happy to announce our new paper on “Who Bears the Burden of Climate Inaction?”, just posted for BPEA @brookings.edu.

We find large climate cost impacts that vary by both geography and income.

www.brookings.edu/articles/who...

Any #Warsaw recommendations? Food and tourism.

My theory is that he views everything through the lens of zero-sum games. He can get away with that with real-estate transactions for the most part.

Then they came after the naturalized citizens' speech,
whose status could still be questioned,
and I did not speak out—
because I was born here.

Then they came after my speech—
and there was no one left to speak for me.

Then they came after the green card holders' speech,
who had nearly all constitutional protections, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a permanent resident.

Then they came after the visa holders' speech,
who had limited protections under the Constitution,
and I did not speak out—
because I was not on a visa.

First they came after the undocumented immigrants' speech,
who had few constitutional protections,
and I did not speak out—
because I was not undocumented.