Area: Energy
Bjarne Steffen
Biography
Bjarne Steffen is an Assistant Professor at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and heads its Climate Finance and Policy Group. His research concerns public policy related to the low-carbon transition in the energy and financial sectors, drawing on concepts from energy economics, financial economics, and innovation studies. He is a member of international advisory bodies, such as the World Economic Forum’s Taskforce on Mobilizing Investment for Clean Energy in Emerging Economies, and the OECD/UNEP Green Finance Platform’s Sustainable Finance Effectiveness Working Group, and an external faculty at the MIT’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.
Lena Klaaßen
Biography
Lena Klaaßen is a PhD candidate at the Climate Finance and Policy Group at ETH Zurich with a background in finance and power engineering. She conducts research on the role of the financial sector in accelerating investment in low-carbon technologies. In this context, her focus is on future investments needs in Europe’s infrastructure to get on a Paris-compatible pathway and whether current policies are fitted to induce required changes. Beyond that, she explores how and why investment needs and types vary across low-carbon technologies. Before joining the Climate Finance and Policy Group, she researched on carbon accounting in the corporate and cryptocurrency space.
Frank A. Wolak
Biography
Frank A. Wolak is the Holbrook Working Professor of Commodity Price Studies in the Department of Economics and the Director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at Stanford University. His research and teaching focuses on design, performance, and monitoring of energy and environmental markets. He served as Chair of the Market Surveillance Committee (MSC) of the California Independent System Operator and was a member of the Emissions Market Advisory Committee (EMAC) for California’s Market for Greenhouse Gas Emissions allowances.
Ram Rajagopal
Biography
Ram Rajagopal is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, where he directs the Stanford Sustainable Systems Lab (S3L), focused on large-scale monitoring, data analytics and stochastic control for infrastructure networks, in particular, power networks. His current research interests in power systems are in the integration of renewables, smart distribution systems, and demand-side data analytics.
Nicolas Astier
Biography
Nicolas Astier is a professor at the Paris School of Economics and a researcher at the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. His main research field is energy and environmental economics. His recent work relates to the on-going transformation of the electricity industry. His topics of interest include retail tariffs, the integration of renewables, market design and reliability. He also studies sustainable mobility, and notably the increased adoption of alternative fuel vehicles and the role of digital platforms.
Maria Francesca Lucente
Biography
Maria Francesca Lucente graduated in Law with full marks at the University of Calabria (2015), Civil lawyer (2018), private law expert at the University of Calabria and specialized with full marks in Civil Law at the University of Camerino with a thesis on “La comunità energetica quale nuovo strumento di partecipazione attiva dei cittadini al mercato delle energie rinnovabili. La forma giuridica della comunità energetica nel quadro regolatorio vigente…”; research fellow in the field of “Energy Communities” in the Comesto Project at the University of Calabria (Unical), recently PhD Student in Civil Law and Constitutional Legality at the University of Camerino. Author of several important scientific publications in Civil Law, Labor Law and Energy Law.
Oliver Ruhnau
Biography
Oliver Ruhnau is a Research Associate and PhD Candidate in Energy Economics at the Hertie School in Berlin. His research focuses on the economics of flexible electricity demand in the context of sector coupling and variable renewable energy sources. Previously, Oliver was a Data Scientist with the energy service company Digital Energy Solutions. He studied Engineering and Economics at the RWTH Aachen University and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.
Johanna Schiele
Biography
Johanna Schiele is a Master of Public Policy Candidate and McCloy Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her research focuses on hydrogen applications in heavy industry, subsidy design and innovation policy. Previously Johanna has worked for Aurora Energy Research in Berlin and as a researcher at the Oxford Smith School. Johanna holds BA in Economics and Philosophy from the University of Oxford.
Leonardo Meeus
Biography
Leonardo Meeus is a professor at the European University Institute. He is the Director of the Florence School of Regulation and the Loyola de Palacio Chair in the Robert Schuman Centre. He is also part-time professor at the KU Leuven.
Leonardo contributed as author, reviewer and editor to academic journals in energy economics, regulatory economics, engineering, law, operations research and management. He published the open access book “The Evolution of Electricity Markets in Europe”.
He also engages with decision makers to create impact, and blogs about his experience.
Transparency & Independence
The FSR is committed to independence, integrity and transparency. In line with our Rules of Practice, all professors submit an annual Declaration of Interests to ensure that any potential conflicts — actual or perceived — are properly disclosed and managed.
View FSR Rules of PracticeExperts in similar topics
Clara Poletti
Biography
Clara Poletti is an economist and energy regulation expert with more than thirty years of experience in the regulation of energy markets and public utilities. She served as Commissioner of the Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment (ARERA) from 2018 to 2025. From 2019 to 2025 she chaired the Board of Regulators of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), leading the coordination of national energy regulators across the European Union during a crucial phase of the energy transition. Throughout her career she has held several senior positions at ARERA, contributing to the development of regulatory frameworks for electricity and gas markets in Italy and in Europe. She has also been active in academia, serving as Director of the IEFE – Centre for Research on Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy at Bocconi University. She is currently a part-time Professor at the Florence School of Regulation and serves on several international advisory and governance bodies in the energy sector.
Transparency & Independence
The FSR is committed to independence, integrity and transparency. In line with our Rules of Practice, all professors submit an annual Declaration of Interests to ensure that any potential conflicts — actual or perceived — are properly disclosed and managed.
View FSR Rules of PracticeAlberto Pototschnig
Biography
Alberto Pototschnig is an economist with extensive experience in energy policy, regulation and market design issues, with a focus on European markets. Between 2010 and 2019 Alberto served as the first Director of the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).
After seven years in the consultancy business with London Economics, Alberto joined the Italian Energy Regulatory Authority in 1997. As Director of Electricity Regulation, he was responsible for the design and implementation of technical and economic regulation for the electricity sector.
In 2000 Alberto was appointed CEO of the Italian Electricity Market Operator, and later joined the Italian Transmission System Operator (TSO). From 2006 to 2010 he was a Partner in Mercados EMI, an international consultancy specialised in energy markets design and regulation.
Alberto regularly teaches in FSR training courses on regulatory and market design issues and directs the ‘Regulatory Policy Workshop Series’, the longest-running FSR workshop series, investigating the most topical issues in the energy sector.
Experts in similar topics
Catharina Sikow-Magny
Biography
Catharina Sikow-Magny is part-time professor at Florence School of Regulation at European University Institute since autumn 2024.
Before that Catharina worked at the European Commission where she held various positions since 1997, including Director responsible for Green Transition and Energy System Integration, Head of Unit in charge of Consumers, Local Initiatives, Just Transition and Head of Unit responsible for Networks and Regional Initiatives at the Directorate General for Energy. She has also worked on international transport, trans-European network policy and financing, internalisation of external costs, and strategic policy research.
Before joining the Commission, Catharina was a team leader and chief economist in the private sector in Finland. She has also worked for the United Nations Development Programme in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
She holds a Master of Economics degree from the Aalto University, Finland.
