The Energy Policy Group at the University of Exeter provides an academic hub for the interdisciplinary study of energy policy. We place sustainability and change at the heart of debates about energy policy and governance. We work collaboratively with stakeholders and researchers on the economics and politics of energy to find new and innovative approaches for enabling the transition to a low carbon, sustainable and affordable energy system. Find out more about our team, vision and work here. We are part of ExeterEnergy.
Our new thinking...
Richard Lowes and Catherine Mitchell
Energy governance for the Northern Ireland energy transition
March 2021 | Report for Northern Ireland Executive | PDF
Thomas Pownall, Iain Soutar and Catherine Mitchell
Re-Designing GB's Electricity Market Design: A Conceptual Framework which Recognises the Value of Distributed Energy Resources
February 2021 | Energies | Link
Bridget Woodman and Oscar Fitch-Roy
The Future of renewable energy auctions: Scenarios and pathways
October 2020 | AURES Report | Link
Jess Britton
Rescaling energy - do places matter for net zero energy systems?
February | SPRU Climate and Energy Seminar | PDF
Richard Lowes and Oscar Fitch-Roy
The answer to our heating problem is blowing in the wind
January 2021 | EPG Blog | Link
Jess Britton, Angela Mae Minas, Ana Catarina Marques and Zoya Pourmirza
Exploring the potential of heat as a service in decarbonisation: Evidence needs and research gaps
January 2021 | Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning and Policy | Link
Ian Bailey, Oscar Fitch-Roy, Tor Håkon Jackson Inderberg and David Benson
Idealism, pragmatism, and the power of compromise in the negotiation of New Zealand's Zero Carbon Act
January 2021 | Climate Policy | Link
Jess Britton
Smart meter data and equitable energy transitions – can cities play a role?
January 2021 | Book Chapter | Link
Rachel Bray, Bridget Woodman and Emily Judson
Future Prospects for Local Energy Markets: Lessons from the Cornwall LEM
December 2020 | Report for Centrica PLC | PDF
Laura Sandys and Thomas Pownall
ReCosting Energy: Powering for the future
December 2020 | ReCosting Boxset 1 | Link
Oscar Fitch-Roy, David Benson and David Monciardini
All around the world: assessing optimality in comparative circular economy policy packages
December 2020 | Journal of Cleaner Production | Link
Oscar Fitch-Roy
Building an industry: Exploring offshore wind institutional entrepreneurship
December 2020 | SPRU Climate and Energy Seminar | Slides
Richard Lowes, Jan Rosenow, Meysam Qadrdan and Jianzhong Wu
Hot Stuff: Research and policy principles for heat decarbonisation through smart electrification
December 2020 | Energy Research and Social Science | Link
Catherine Mitchell
How inadequate policy action and governance is a barrier to a sustainable and cost effective energy system
July 2020 | Citizen Advice Series | PDF
Jess Britton and Urszula Papajak
Local government innovation in the energy sector
June 2020 | Florence School of Regulation blog | Link
Jess Britton and Richard Lowes
Submission to BEIS Heat Network Market Framework Consultation
June 2020 | Submission to BEIS | PDF
Catherine Mitchell, Richard Lowes and Jess Britton
Submission to Labour Party Green Recovery Package Consultation
April 2020 | Submission to Labour Party | PDF
Rachel Bray and Bridget Woodman
Cornwall Local Energy Market - Organisations Survey Report
July 2020 | EPG Working Paper 2003 | PDF
Emily Judson
Governance Challenges emerging from Energy Digitalisation
June 2020 | Cornwall Insight's Energy Spectrum, Issue 719 | PDF
Lena Kitzing, Oscar Fitch-Roy, Marco Islam, Catherine Mitchell
An evolving risk perspective for policy instrument choice in sustainability transitions
June 2020 | Environmental Innovations and Societal Transitions | Link
Thomas Pownall, Calum Harvey-Scholes and Bridget Woodman
Submission to BEIS Contracts for Difference for Low Carbon Electricity Generation: Consultation
May 2020 | Submission to BEIS | PDF
Emily Judson, Iain Soutar and Catherine Mitchell
Governance Challenges Emerging from Energy Digitalisation
June 2020 | EPG Discussion Paper 2002 | PDF
Emily Judson, Iain Soutar and Catherine Mitchell
Governance challenges Emerging from Energy Digitalisation: Annexes
June 2020 | Annexes to EPG Discussion Paper 2002 | PDF
Calum Harvey-Scholes and Emily Judson
Submission to Cornwall Council Consultation: Climate change Development Plan
May 2020 | Submission to Cornwall Council | PDF
Jan Rosenow and Richard Lowes
Heating without the hot air: Principles for smart heat electrification
May 2020 | Online Presentation with RAP | Link
Rachel Bray and Bridget Woodman
Cornwall Local Energy Market - Householder Survey Report
May 2020 | EPG Working Paper 2001 | PDF
Jan Rosenow and Richard Lowes
Heating without the hot air: Principles for smart heat electrification
March 2020 | Regulatory Assistance Project | Link
Richard Lowes
Is Hydrogen the solution to net-zero home heating?
March 2020 | Views featured in the Guardian | Link
Catherine Mitchell
Key policy issues for decarbonising energy - Getting governance right
February 2020 | Seminar to GSI Students, London | PDF
Catherine Mitchell
Delivering Net Zero: New thinking on a fit-for-purpose institutional framework
February 2020 | Presentation to the ADE, London | PDF
Christoph Burger, Antony Froggatt, Catherine Mitchell and Jens Weinmann with chapter contribution by Helen Poulter
Decentralised Energy a Global Game Changer
January 2020 | Book and chapter contributions | Link
Emily Judson, Thomas Pownall, Helen Poulter, Callum Harvey-Scholes and Rachel Bray
Submission to DCUSA consultation on DCP 350 - Creation of Embedded Capacity Registers
February 2020 | Submission to DCUSA | PDF
Caroline Kuzemko and Jess Britton
Policy, politics and materiality across scales: A framework for understanding local government sustainable energy capacity applied in England
April 2020 | Energy Research & Social Science | Link
Catherine Mitchell
Lessons from GB, NY and Eastern Australia
December 2019 | Renewing the energy vision, Belfast | Link
Rebecca Willis
What Boris Johnson's government needs to do to show it is serious on climate change
December 2019 | The Conversation | Link
Catherine Mitchell
Key issues of energy policy and net zero: Getting governance right
December 2019 | HMT Learning week, London | Link
IGov
RIIO
December 2019 | Primer | Link
Oscar Fitch-Roy, Jenny Fairbrass and David Benson
What we don't talk about when we talk about carbon markets
December 2019 | JEPP Online | Link
Catarina Marques, Anegela Mae Minas, Jess Britton and Zoya Pourmirza
Heat as a service: Understanding evidence needs and research gaps
September 2019 | Workshop Report, London | PDF
Jess Britton, Julie Smith, Basia Cieszewska
UK energy research & the gendered institution
August 2019 | RGS conference, London | PDF
IGov
The UK Capacity Market
December 2019 | Primer | Link
Matthew Lockwood, Catherine Mitchell and Richard Hoggett
Energy Governance in the United Kingdom
November 2019 | Book chapter | Link
Emily Judson, Oscar Fitch-Roy, Thomas Pownall, Rachel Bray, Helen Poulter, Iain Soutar, Richard Lowes, Peter Connor, Jessica Britton, Bridget Woodman and Catherine Mitchell
The centre cannot (always) hold: Examining pathways towards energy system de-centralisation
November 2019 | Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews | Link
Rebecca Willis
Proposal for an Energy Transformation Commission
October 2019 | Reforming energy governance for net zero, London | Link
Catherine Mitchell
What reform is required of the current energy system/governance?
October 2019 | Reforming energy governance for net zero, London | Link
Catherine Mitchell
Getting Energy Governance Right
October 2019 | Reforming energy governance for net zero, London | Link
Thomas Pownall
Electricity market redesign: a typology of interventions
October 2019 | Presentation at the I-REMB Conference, Copenhagen | Slides
Richard Lowes
Great Britain's vision for decarbonised heat and the lack of progress
October 2019 | Presentation at Heat Decarbonised Pathways in Northern Ireland, Belfast | Slides
Thomas Pownall
An electricity market design for a renewable, storage and energy efficient electricity system
October 2019 | Presentation to the Department of Planning, Copenhagen | Slides
Catherine Mitchell, Rebecca Willis, Richard Hoggett, Iain Soutar, Helen Poulter, Bridget Woodman and Jess Britton
National Infrastructure Commission: 'The Future of Regulation Study' Call for Evidence
October 2019 | Submission to NIC | Link
Catherine Mitchell
Looking at the NIC Regulatory Review
October 2019 | IGov New Thinking | Link
Catherine Mitchell
Concluding the 40-year utilities experiment: death spirals or rebirth
October 2019 | Presentation to the Beesley Lectures, London | Link
Rebecca Willis
Environmental Audit Committee Inquiry into Net Zero Government
October 2019 | Submission to the Environmental Audit Committee | Link
Bridget Woodman and Oscar Fitch-Roy
Auctions for the support of renewable energy in the UK
October 2019 | AURES report | Link
Matthew Lockwood, Catherine Mitchell and Richard Hoggett
Unpacking 'regime resistance' in low-carbon transitions: The case of the British Capacity Market
September 2019 | Energy Research and Social Science | Link
Catherine Mitchell, Richard Hoggett and Rebecca Willis
Submission to BEIS/Ofgem consultation on Flexible and Responsive Energy Retail Markets
September 2019 | Submission to BEIS/Ofgem | Link
Catherine Mitchell, Rebecca Willis and Richard Hoggett
Submission to BEIS/Ofgem consultation on Reforming the Energy Industry Codes
September 2019 | Submission to BEIS/Ofgem | Link
Calum Harvey-Scholes
Climate Emergency Declarations Accelerating Decarbonisation?
September 2019 | IGov New Thinking | Link
Catherine Mitchell
Whole Energy System Coordination for a Net Zero Future
September 2019 | Presentation to the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Berlin | Link
IGov Team
Shortcut to Key IGov Findings
August 2019 | IGov Shortcut | Link
IGov Team
Getting energy governance right: Lessons from IGov
August 2019 | IGov Blog | Link
Richard Lowes
A heat and buildings decarbonisation policy framework for a zero carbon UK
August 2019 | EPG Blog | Link
Jessica Britton
Smart meter data and equitable energy transitions – can cities play a role?
October 2017 | Local Environment | Link
Thomas Pownall
Market Design Issues for a smart, flexible, sustainable and secure energy system
July 2019 | IGov Blog Series
Blog 1: Setting the scene
Blog 2: The ‘rules of the game’ and why they no longer work
Blog 3: The institutional glue to link markets and networks
Blog 4: Proposed design
Blog 5: Summary of blog series
Rachel Bray
World's Apart
July 2019 | EPG Blog | Link
Catherine Mitchell, Rebecca Willis, Richard Hoggett, Thomas Pownall, Richard Lowes and Jessica Britton
New Thinking: The IGov institutional framework for energy governance
July 2019 | IGov New Thinking | Link
Jessica Britton
New thinking: Governance for local energy transformation
July 2019 | IGov New Thinking | Link
Rebecca Willis
The stark truth about UK government climate action: there is no one in charge
July 2019 |The conversation | Link
Catherine Mitchell
Decentralising Energy and Communities
June 2019 | Presentation to Community Energy in a Climate Emergency, London | Link
Callum Harvey-Scholes
Universities have alerted us to the scale of the climate crisis – now they must lead in showing society how to solve it
June 2019 | The Conversation | Link
Oscar Fitch-Roy
Just another lobbyist? Long-term UK influence in EU Energy and Climate policy
June 2019 | Presentation to BEIS, London
Emily Judson
Governing Digital Energy
June 2019 | Presentation to PGR Summer Conference, Lancaster University | Slides
Matthew Lockwood
The significance of Parliament's Citizen Assembly on net zero
June 2019 | IGov Viewpoint | Link
Ioanna Ketsopoulou, Peter Taylor, Jim Watson, Mark Winskel, Michael Kattirtzi, Richard Lowes, Bridget Woodman, Helen Poulter, Christian Brand, Gavin Killip, Jillian Anable, Alice Owen, Richard Hanna, Rob Gross and Matthew Lockwood
Disrupting the UK energy system: causes, impacts and policy implications
June 2019 | UKERC Research Project | Link
Richard Lowes, Lesley Rudd, Stuart Fegan and Unnada Chewpreecha
Hot Jobs Workshop Note
May 2019 | Various presentations at 10:10, UKERC | Summary Notes
Richard Lowes Slides
Lesley Rudd Slides
Stuart Fegan Slides
Unnada Chewpreecha Slides
Julie Smith, Jess Britton and Basia Cieszewska
Power Shift: How to build a gender balance in the Energy Research Portfolio
June 2019 | UKERC Whole Systems Networking Project Report | Link
Lena Kitzing, Vasilios Anatolitis, Oscar Fitch-Roy, Corinna Klessmann, Jan Kreiss, Pablo del Rio, Fabian Wigand and Bridget Woodman
Auctions for Renewable Energy Support: Lessons learned in the AURES Project
June 2019 | IAEE Energy Forum | PDF
Richard Lowes, Bridget Woodman and Oscar Fitch-Roy
Policy change, power and the development of Great Britain's Renewable Heat Incentive
May 2019 | Energy Policy | Link
Rebecca Willis and Catherine Mitchell
We have a plan - good governance to achieve a net-zero target
May 2019 | IGov New Thinking | Link
Rachel Bray, Thomas Pownall, Catherine Mitchell and Bridget Woodman
Submission to ENA Future Worlds: Impact Assessment Consultation
May 2019 | Submission to ENA | PDF
Catherine Mitchell
Where is IGov on net zero?
May 2019 | IGov New Thinking | Link
Rebecca Willis, Catherine Mitchell, Richard Hoggett, Jessica Britton and Helen Poulter
Enabling the transformation of the energy system
April 2019 | IGov briefing | Link
Richard Lowes
Beyond Peak Heat
April 2019 | EPG Blog | Link
Jess Britton and Caroline Kuzemko
Local government sustainable energy capacities: Scale, context and materiality
April 2019 | Presentation to UKERC Annual Conference: Local Energy Systems in National and International Contexts | Slides
Richard Lowes, Bridget Woodman and Oscar Fitch-Roy
Policy change, power and the development of Great Britain's Renewable Heat Incentive
April 2019 | Energy Policy | Link
Richard Lowes
Whole Energy Systems and Net Zero for Kernow
April 2019 | Presentation to Cornwall Council | Slides
Emily Judson
AI in energy: is it as smart as you think? Part Three
April 2019 | EPG Blog | Link
Oscar Fitch-Roy, David Benson and Bridget Woodman
Policy Instrument Supply and Demand: How the Renewable Electricity Auction took over the World
March 2019 | Journal of Politics and Governance | Link
Emily Judson
AI in energy: is it as smart as you think?
March 2019 | EPG Blog | Link
Richard Lowes
Decarbonising heat - 10 policy steps to drive a low carbon heat market
March 2019 | EPG Blog | Link
Emily Judson
Governing Digital Energy: Fair, Secure and Sustainable
March 2019 | Presentation at KernowCon PGR Conference, Penryn | Slides
Catherine Mitchell, Rebecca Willis, Richard Hoggett, Richard Lowes, Rachel Bray, Helen Poulter and Jess Britton
Submission to Ofgem RIIO-2 sector specific methodology consultation
March 2019 | Ofgem Consultation | Link
Iain Soutar
Challenges and opportunities in our local energy system.
February 2019 | Presentation for Show the Love for Cornwall, Truro | Link
Iain Soutar
Emergence and control in UK energy system democratisation
February 2019 | In Search of Good Energy Policy Seminar Series, University of Cambridge | Link
Iain Soutar
Challenges and opportunities in out local energy system
February 2019 | Presentation at Show the Love for Cornwall, Truro | Link
Catherine Mitchell, Richard Hoggett, Becky Willis and Jess Britton
Submission to Ofgem Targeted Charging Review: minded to decision and draft impact assessment
February 2019 | Ofgem consultation | Link
IGov
New York State REV
February 2019 | Primer | Link
IGov
Fit for purpose GB energy governance framework
February 2019 | Primer | Link
IGov
Distribution Service Providers and valuing Distributed Energy Resources
February 2019 | Primer | Link
IGov
Energy System Change in Eastern Australia
February 2019 | Primer | Link
Catherine Mitchell
GB Conservatism – we are in the vicious policy cycle phase
February 2019 | New Thinking Blog | Link
Rebecca Willis
Simplifying energy governance to help the UK’s path to zero-carbon
February 2019 | New Thinking Blog | Link
Catherine Mitchell
Energy code review workshop
February 2019 | Presentation for BEIS/Ofgem, London | Link
Rachel Bray and Bridget Woodman
Cornwall LEM Seminar
February 2019 | Presentation at Cornwall Local Energy Market event | Slides
IGov
Energy Industry Codes and Licenses
January 2019 | Primer | Link
Jess Britton, Jeffery Hardy, Catherine Mitchell and Richard Hoggett
Changing actor dynamics and emerging propositions in the UK electricity retail market
January 2019 | IGov Report | Link
Thomas Pownall
Electricity market design for a sustainable, secure and efficient electricity system in the UK
January 2019 | Presentation to Energy Systems Catapult, Birmingham | Slides
Rachel Bray and Bridget Woodman
Barriers to Independent Aggregators in Europe
January 2019 | Working paper | PDF
Emily Judson
Conceptualising the emerging digital energy landscape
January 2019 | EPG Blog | Link
Oscar Fitch-Roy, Jenny Fairbrass and David Benson
Ideas, coalitions and compromise: reinterpreting EU-ETS lobbying through discursive institutionalism
January 2019 | Journal of European Public Policy | Link
Lena Kitzing, Oscar Fitch-Roy, Marco Islam and Catherine Mitchell
An evolving risk perspective for policy instrument choice in sustainability transitions
2019 | Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions | Link
Jess Britton
The changing role of cities and local energy – does energy system governance need to catch up?
November 2018 | IGov Blog | Link
Helen Poulter
Fuel poverty indicator letting down poorer households
November 2018 | IGov Blog | Link
Iain Soutar
We need to talk about (deep) energy democracy
November 2018 | EPG Blog | Link