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Timothy H Profeta

Executive In Residence in the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability
Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability
Box 90335, Durham, NC 27708
2117 Campus Drive, Durham, NC 27708

Selected Publications


How DOE’s Proposed Large Load Interconnection Process Could Unlock the Benefits of Load Flexibility

Report · November 13, 2025 On October 23, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright issued a letter directing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to consider an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (DOE ANOPR) to establish rules for the interconnection of large ... Open Access Link to item Cite

Planning for Growing Electricity Demand During an Era of Uncertain Renewables and Climate Policy

Report · November 15, 2024 Electricity demand growth has accelerated significantly, a trend that is expected to continue for at least the next 5 to 10 years and is driven by new technologies such as data centers and the expansion of the manufacturing and industrial base in the Unite ... Open Access Link to item Cite

Unlocking Clean Energy Projects Using Tax Chaining: A Primer

Report · July 30, 2024 Chaining is an emerging concept that marries two highly consequential provisions of the tax code established by the passage of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA): Transferability of tax credits and direct (also known as elective) pay to nonprofit or pu ... Open Access Link to item Cite

Projecting Electricity-Sector Investments Under the Inflation Reduction Act: New Cost Assumptions and Interactions with EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Proposal

Report · December 4, 2023 Energy Pathways USA, an initiative of the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University, has released a report that offers new insights into US energy transition investments. This report comprehensively models the intersect ... Open Access Link to item Cite

Federal-State Partnerships: Tackling Climate through Infrastructure

Report · September 22, 2021 From January–July 2021, The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions (NI) and the Center for the New Energy Economy (CNEE) conducted a series of conversations with state leaders and have identified several specific policy priority areas releva ... Open Access Link to item Cite

Federal Grants to States: Opportunities for Climate Change Assessment, Planning, Programs, and Information Exchange

Report · June 24, 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the critical relationship between the federal and state governments’ response to nationwide crisis. More than anything else, the ability of state leaders to respond ably and nimbly to the specific challenges of their j ... Open Access Link to item Cite

Climate Change Is Here, but Who Is Paying for It?

Report · June 24, 2020 In an era of increased political polarization and decreased confidence in national institutions, many bold initiatives have stalled or met an untimely end. This abdication of federal responsibility is no more evident than the ongoing response to COVID-19. ... Open Access Link to item Cite

Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Environment & Climate Change of the U.S. House Committee on Energy & Commerce

Report · December 11, 2019 Nicholas Institute Executive Director Tim Profeta testifies before the Subcommittee on Environment & Climate Change of the U.S. House Committee on Energy & Commerce to suggest the best means by which to achieve economy-wide solutions to climate change. The ... Open Access Link to item Cite

Using the Old to Solve the New—Creating a Federal/State Partnership to Fight Climate Change

Report · October 17, 2019 Climate change is a challenge like none other. Its impacts are occurring at a global scale, and any policy solution must take effect at an equivalent scale. Yet the politics of the issue push in precisely the reverse direction, as large efforts fail due to ... Open Access Link to item Cite

Revisiting the NAAQS Program for Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions under the Clean Air Act

Report · January 5, 2017 The future is uncertain for the regulation of greenhouse gases from power plants, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan, which covers existing plants. The rule is under review in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and ... Open Access Link to item Cite

Enhancing Compliance Flexibility under the Clean Power Plan: A Common Elements Approach to Capturing Low-Cost Emissions Reductions

Report · March 16, 2015 As states and stakeholders evaluate compliance options under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan, many recognize the potential economic benefits of market-based strategies. In some states, however, market approaches trigger ... Open Access Link to item Cite

Regulating Climate: What Role for the Clean Air Act?

Journal Article Environmental Law Reporter · 2009 Link to item Cite

California Climate Change and the Constitution

Journal Article Environmental Forum · 2008 Link to item Cite

Managing without a balance: Environmental regulation in light of ecological advances

Journal Article Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum · September 1, 1996 Cite