In this talk, Stephen will discuss his research on the economic costs of local planning restrictions and NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) attitudes in the context of renewable energy deployment. Using data on the United Kingdom, he estimates how wind and solar projects affect nearby property values. He then studies how these local costs influence the decisions made by planning officials and quantifies the scale of misallocated investment. Stephen will conclude by discussing how this work fits into a broader research agenda looking at these issues in both Europe and the US.
Stephen recently completed his PhD at the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley. His research interests are centered on energy and environmental economics, public policy, and data science. During his time at Berkeley Stephen was a researcher at the Energy Institute at Haas. Prior to ERG, he worked as an economist at the UK’s energy regulator, Ofgem. Stephen is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Mannheim. In the fall he will be starting as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography & Environment at the London School of Economics.