An interview with Professor Paul Joskow: On grid integration and decarbonization

Mary E. Caulfield*

Edited by Soumya Kannan

Interview | Aug. 29 2022

*Email: mcaulf@mit.edu

DOI: 10.38105/spr.hll0k9n15v

Introduction

Professor Paul Joskow is the Elizabeth & James Killian Professor of Economics and Management at MIT. He received a BA from Cornell University in 1968 and a PhD in Economics from Yale University in 1972. Professor Joskow was an active member of the MIT faculty from July 1, 1972 until August 31, 2010 and served as Head of the MIT Department of Economics from 1994 to 1998. He was Director of the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research from 1999 through 2007. He returned to MIT in 2018 after serving as the president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation from 2008 through 2017. At MIT, he is engaged in teaching and research in the areas of industrial organization, energy and environmental economics, competition policy, and government regulation of industry. Professor Joskow has published eight books as author, co-author, or editor and 150 articles and papers in these areas.

In particular, his recent work has addressed transmission grid expansion to support efficient transition to decarbonized electricity sectors, focusing on the challenges associated with the development of large intra and inter-regional projects. His analysis of the New England Clean Energy Connect project appeared in his article, “Facilitating Transmission Expansion to Support Efficient Decarbonization of the Electricity Sector,” published in the September 2021 issue of Economics and Energy and Environmental Policy.

Open Access

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Mary E. Caulfield

Department of Comparative Media Studies/Writing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA