Improving the Electric Grid

One of the focal areas of the MIT Climate Policy Center is research and analysis related to improving the electric grid. In the U.S., for example, improvements to the electric power system would yield many benefits, from keeping up with projected increases in demand to reducing energy costs for consumers,  improving the system’s resilience to extreme weather events and other disruptions, and achieving better environmental outcomes.

Research and Analysis

Read recent research and policy analysis on this topic coauthored by researchers affiliated with the MIT Climate Policy Center:

• Audun Botterud, Christopher Knittel, John Parsons, Juan Ramon L. Senga, and S. Drew Story, "Federal Policy Options for Improving Grid Reliability and Reducing Costs with Transmission," MIT Climate Policy Center analysis, January 2025.
• Christopher R. Knittel, Juan Ramon L. Senga, and S. Drew Story, "Potential Impacts of Subsidizing Transmission," MIT Climate Policy Center brief, December 2025.
• Audun Botterud, Christopher R. Knittel, John E. Parsons, Juan Ramon L. Senga, and S. Drew Story, "Bridging the Gaps: The Impact of Interregional Transmission on Emissions and Reliability," MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR) Working Paper 2024-13, August 2024. (Read a research brief containing highlights of the working paper.)
• Les Armstrong, Alexa Canaan, Christopher Knittel, Gilbert Metcalf, and Tim Schittekatte, "Can Federal Grid Reforms Solve the Interconnection Problem?" Science 385, no. 6704 31-33 (July 4, 2024): 31-33. DOI:10.1126/science.ado9254.
• Audun Botterud, Christopher R. Knittel, John E. Parsons, Juan Ramon L. Senga, and S. Drew Story, "Evaluating the Impact of the Connect the Grid Act for Texas," MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR) Research Commentary, June 2024.
• Audun Botterud, Christopher R. Knittel, John E. Parsons, Juan Ramon L. Senga, and S. Drew Story, "Evaluating the Impact of the BIG WIRES Act," MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR) Research Commentary, January 2024.

Media Coverage 

• Michael McCardel, "Connecting Texas Power Grid to U.S. Would Increase Reliability and Save Hundreds of Millions of Dollars, Study Shows," WFAA.com, June 23, 2024.
• Zack Budryk, "80 Percent of 2021 Blackouts Preventable with Addition of Texas to National Grid: Study," The Hill, June 4, 2024.
• Jason Plautz, "Blackouts Could be Slashed if Texas Joins the U.S. Grid — Study," E&E News, June 3, 2024.
• Sara DiNatale, "Connecting ERCOT Grid to Others Would Reduce Outages, MIT Study Says," San Antonio Express-News, June 3, 2024.
• Lauren Pettersen, "Connecting the Texas Power Grid Could've Kept Power on During 2021 Winter Storm, MIT Researchers Say," KVUE.com, June 3, 2024.
• Zach Hale, "MIT Analysis Finds BIG WIRES Act Could Reduce U.S. Power Outages by Nearly 60%," S&P Global, February 2, 2024.

Additional Research from MIT

• Nancy  W. Stauffer, "Cutting Carbon Emissions on the U.S. Power Grid," MIT News, March 11, 2024.
• Nancy W. Stauffer, "Decarbonizing the U.S. Power Grid," Energy Futures, MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), Winter 2024.
• Amanda Farnsworth and Emre Gençer, "Highlighting Regional Decarbonization Challenges with Novel Capacity Expansion Model," Cleaner Energy Systems,
  Vol. 5 (August 2023).