Professor Catherine Mitchell

About me:

Catherine Mitchell is Professor of Energy Policy at Exeter University.

She retired and became a Professor Emerita on 10 April 2022.

Catherine stepped down from being Director of the Energy Policy Group (EPG) of the University of Exeter at the end of 2019.

Catherine has worked on energy issues since the early 1980s. She worked previously as an academic in the Centre for Management Under Regulation at the Warwick Business School, University of Warwick (2000-2007); the Energy Group of the Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex (1990-2000); and the Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley (1999). Prior to that she was a journalist writing about oil and gas issues (1982-6).

Her undergraduate degree is History (London); her Masters was in Energy and Environmental Studies within the Geography Department of Boston University (USA); and her PhD is in the field of Technology and Innovation from the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex.

She was a Coordinating Lead Author (CLA) of Chapter 13 (National and Sub-National Policy and Institutions) of the IPCC Working Group 3’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6, April 2019- April 2022); she was a Lead Author (LA) in the IPCC Working Group 3’s Fifth Assessment report (AR5) and a coordinating Lead Author (CLA) of the Policy, Financing & Implementation Chapter of the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation 2008-2011.She also was a Lead Analyst of sub-Chapter 13 (Policy) of Chapter 11 (Renewable Energy) of the Global Energy Assessment undertaken through the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) 2008-2010.

She was on the Advisory Board of the GB based Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU, finished 2022). She was Chair of the Regulatory Assistance Project (2015-2019) – a US based non-profit organisation that provides regulatory advice to Governments, and has held multiple other positions (see below). She advises numerous national and international companies, NGOs and institutions (national and international) on various aspects of the transition to a sustainable energy system.

Catherine was an EPSRC Established Career Fellow leading a 7 year project (2012-2019) Innovation and Governance for Future Energy Systems (IGov1 and 2). This came to an end on 31 December 2019 http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/igov/

Membership and Advisory Positions:

• Member, HMT Treasury Net Zero Review Advisory Board, 2020-2021
• Member, BEIS Ministerial Working Group on Innovation and Governance, 2020
• Member, ESO RIIO-2 Stakeholder Group, July 2018 - 2020.
• Member, Prospering the Energy Revolution Advisory Group, UKRI-Innovate UK, October 2018 -2020.
• Member, Challenge Panel for National Infrastructure Commission Regulatory Review, 2018-2019
• Member, Advisory Board WinWind, EC Project, 2018-2021.
• Member, Ofgem Design Advisory Board for Electricity Settlement Reform, Oct 2017 - 2020
• CLA, Chapter 13, National and Subnational Policies and Institutions, WG3, IPCC AR6, April 2018 onwards
• Visiting Professor, Energy Systems Analysis Group, DTU, Copenhagen, Autumn 2018.
• Part of Advisory Board for I-REMB: Innovative re-making of markets and business models in a renewable energy system based on wind power, DIST - Center For Design, Innovation, and Sustainable Transition, Aalborg University, April 2016 onwards
• Guest Professor, Danish Technical University Systems Analysis team, October –December 2017.
• Keynote Speaker, Ofgem (GB Energy Regulator) Energy Systems Division 2017 Away Day.
• Visiting Professor Frei University Berlin (2015-6); UC Berkeley (2016); Columbia University, NY, USA, (2016);
• Member, Nature Energy Editorial Advisory Panel in Social Science and Policy 2015 onwards
• Advisory Board Member of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. London (2016-2022)
• Chair of The Regulatory Assistance Project, Montpelier, Vermont (2015-2019)
• Advisory Group Member of Smart Energy for Europe Platform, examining the post-2020 framework for investments in renewable generation in Europe
• Lead Author of Chapter 15 National and Sub-National Policies and Institutions of the IPCC’s WG3 AR5 Report on Mitigation of Climate Change, published 2014
• Co-ordinating Lead Author of the Policy, Financing & Implementation Chapter of the IPCC (Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change) Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation, published 2011
• Lead Analyst of sub-Chapter 13 (Policy) of Chapter 11 (Renewable Energy) of the Global Energy Assessment undertaken through the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), published 2012
• Responsible for policy and regulation in supply theme, UK Energy Research Centre Phase 1 and 2 ( 2004-2009, 2009-2014)
• Chairperson of the BIEE (2010); Vice Chair (2009)
• Member of Balancing & Settlement Code Panel, 2008 - 2010
• Principle Investigator, Energy Security in a Multi-Polar World 2008-2012 (Interdisciplinary research cluster involving energy policy, international relations and supply chain analysis to analyse the various temporal and dimensional aspects of energy security)
• Member of Advisory Board for BRITE (Bristol Technologies for the Environment) until 2008
• Member of the IPCC scoping meeting on Renewable Energy Sources, January 2008, Germany
• Strategy Advisor to the IEA Renewable Energy Technology Deployment Integrating Agreement, 2007
• International Advisor to New Zealand Government Energy Review, October 2006-March 2007
• Member, Advisory Board for Sustainable Development Commission Inquiry into Ofgem, the Energy Regulator, 2006-2007
• Principle Investigator, Policy and Regulatory Resource for the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Project (a Public-Private partnership, launched by the United Kingdom along with other partners at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in August 2002)
• Member, Scientific Advisory Panel, Towards a Sustainable Energy Future, Research Councils UK, 2003-2006
• Member, Scientific Advisory Panel of the Centre for Analysis of Society and Environment at Risoe National Laboratory, Denmark, 2003-2006
• Chairperson, 2003, GB Renewable Energy Planning Panel (report published November 2003)
• Member, UK Government’s Energy Advisory Panel, 1998-2003, two terms
• Member, Performance and Innovation Unit Energy Review Team, Cabinet Office, 2001-2 and Member, Resource Productivity Team, Cabinet Office, 2001
• Member of the DTI / DETR / Ofgem Embedded Generation Working Group 1999-2000.
• Positions held prior to 2000 not listed here.

Broad research specialisms:

Catherine’s research interest is how to accelerate the transition from the current ‘dirty’ energy system to a sustainable energy system in order to meet net zero by 2035, whilst also meeting other energy policy goals such as security and equity. She views this question as a system issue. This requires addressing all the issues which make up a system such as policy (and politics), institutions (including economic regulation), infrastructure, economics, innovation, law and planning. She is interested in what enables, constrains or channels energy system innovation at a local, regional, national and international level. She is also interested in the overlapping spheres of energy (including transport), waste resources and food policy and how energy policy fits within the broader climate change policy

Interests:

Catherine's research interest is the governance needs of how to undertake the transition from the current ‘dirty’ energy system to a sustainable energy system; and how to increase the rate of change to enable the meeting of net zero - preferably by 2035. She views this question as a system issue. This requires addressing all governance issues such as politics, policy, institutions (including economic regulation), infrastructure (and its rules and incentives), economics and markets, and people and their behaviour. She is interested in what enables, constrains or channels energy system innovation at a local, regional, national and international level. She is also interested in the overlapping spheres of energy (including transport), waste resources, water and food policy and how energy policy fits within the broader climate change policy.