Highlights from
FY 2025: Annual Report
Energy and Climate Finance and Policy
Electricity demand is on the rise due to AI and other factors—are there ways to help meet it without derailing decarbonization, driving up prices, or rapidly building new infrastructure? How can we mobilize private investment in climate solutions? What could help improve electricity reliability in developing countries? Just a few of the questions that Nicholas Institute experts and partners pursued in FY 2025…
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Rethinking Load Growth
The U.S. power system may be able to accommodate nearly 100 gigawatts of new electricity load with minimal impact to the grid, reported a February 2025 study by experts at the Nicholas Institute and the Nicholas School of the Environment. The study—dubbed “seismic,” “stunning,” and “buzzy” by media—has garnered significant attention in energy and tech industry circles for its analysis of how load flexibility could help the grid meet unprecedented demand from data centers and other consumers.
In March, lead author Tyler Norris highlighted the study’s findings in testimony before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy. This summer, Constellation and GridBeyond cited the report when launching a new AI-powered demand response platform, and Google also linked to it when announcing new agreements with two utilities to activate the load flexibility approach.
mentions of publication in media outlets in FY 2025, including:
- The Economist
- Forbes
- E&E News
- The Financial Times
- Utility Dive
- TechCrunch
- Axios
- Inside Climate News
- The Energy Gang podcast
- POWER
- Mother Jones
- MIT Technology Review
- The (Raleigh) News & Observer
- …and more!
- The Economist
views of relevant content on Nicholas Institute website during FY 2025
downloads of publication during FY 2025 (most-downloaded Nicholas Institute resource ever)
‘From Billions to Trillions’ Forges Path for Climate Investment
The second annual “From Billions to Trillions” summit brought together leaders across numerous sectors to discuss the changing landscape of climate finance.
Experts from finance, government, industry, and academia unpacked challenges and explored potential solutions in conversations with Duke faculty on April 9. Building on a successful summit last year, the gathering tackled the critical question of how to unlock massive private sector funding needed to accelerate a sustainable, low-carbon future.
The summit was jointly organized by experts at the Nicholas Institute, Fuqua School of Business, Sanford School of Public Policy, and Nicholas School of the Environment.
The event brought together some of the most insightful voices on how to mobilize private capital to decarbonize our global economy —showing that climate impact and financial return are no longer at odds; they’re increasingly intertwined. No shrinking violets here— kudos to the speakers for being refreshingly candid and sharp.
Summit attendee Chris Wolfington, CEO, TRC Companies
attendees from Duke, the public and private sectors, NGOs, and academic institutions
views of the summit webpage in FY 2025
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Navigating Energy Transitions in Emerging Markets
The landscape of development and development finance is undergoing dramatic shifts, including the dismantling of U.S. foreign assistance programs and rising pressures on multilateral systems. The day before Duke’s “From Billions to Trillions” summit, the James E. Rogers Energy Access Project convened more than 100 students, faculty, alumni, and external partners for an event focused on the implications for energy transitions in low- and middle-income countries.
The day’s conversations ranged from the rise of country-led alternatives to aid dependence to new models for capital mobilization, enterprise resilience, and student-driven innovation. A recent gift by M.A. Rogers will enable the James E. Rogers Energy Access Project to expand its impact in the coming years, and the event addressed how Duke and other universities can serve as platforms for innovation, partnerships, and transformational change.
Climate Weeks in NYC & London
Climate Week NYC 2024 and London Climate Action Week 2025 gathered business and political leaders from across the globe to address the need for climate action. Duke University experts, including many from the Nicholas Institute, shared their insights and research at several key events, helping represent the Duke Climate Commitment. Their contributions underscored the critical role of academic institutions in driving forward-thinking solutions and fostering global collaboration in managing climate change.
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Electric Transportation Experts From Across the Southeastern U.S. Share Insights at Duke
The spring Southeast Electric Transportation Regional Initiative (SETRI) meeting at Duke highlighted successes, challenges, and opportunities in regional electric mobility across research, industry, and policy. Speakers at the April 3 event shared insights on the electric vehicle landscape throughout the Southeast, market trends, charging infrastructure, consumer education, and local engagement. The event also featured a poster session, networking, and an electric vehicle display.
The meeting was hosted by the Nicholas Institute and Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute, in collaboration with SETRI partner organizations.
Bringing this multisector community together is important to share ideas on how to best advance electric mobility—a key emerging industry in the southeastern United States and important strategy for reducing transportation emissions.
Incentivizing Grid Reliability in Low and Middle-Income Countries
To take on the challenge of poor electricity reliability and quality in low- and middle-income countries, the James E. Rogers Energy Access Project at Duke (EAP) co-convened a virtual workshop with the World Bank, one of the world’s largest investors in developing country power systems. Duke scholars drove a discussion around whether a new generation of digital technologies, combined with shifts in development finance norms, could enable the rollout of new outcome-based incentives that could drive improved grid performance.
EAP and the World Bank are collaborating on a white paper to pilot new reliability incentives for power grids in low- and middle-income countries. The paper—slated for publication in fall 2025—will explore the potential of digital technologies and new development finance norms to improve grid performance.
Education Spotlight
Unique Duke Course Exposes Students to Realities of International Climate Diplomacy
Fifteen undergraduate and graduate students from five Duke schools spent the fall semester engaging with international climate change policy and diplomacy practices via Duke’s United Nations Climate Change Negotiations Practicum offered by the Nicholas Institute. In November, the students traveled to Baku, Azerbaijan, where world leaders convened for the 2024 U.N. Climate Change Conference, also known as COP29. There, they attended events, explored pavilions focused on specific issues and countries, and supported clients including country delegations and non-governmental organizations.
“The [practicum] introduced me to the challenge of balancing optimism with realism, particularly when addressing the urgent need for climate action in the face of political and economic constraints,” said Gary Alvarez Mejia, a master of public policy student at the Sanford School of Public Policy.
Student Profile: Tyler Ratcliffe
During his first three years at Duke, undergraduate Tyler Ratcliffe built a reputation as an energy evangelist, helping peers pursuing a variety of majors understand how they could play leadership roles in the future of energy and sustainability.
In November 2024, the junior served as the first undergraduate co-chair of the student-led Energy Week at Duke. That fall, he co-designed and led a house course on “Energy and Climate Venture Investing,” with faculty advisor and Nicholas Institute Director Brian Murray. Building off the course, the Duke Undergraduate Energy and Climate Club organized an Energy and Climate Ventures event in the spring, convening leading investors and entrepreneurs—including many Duke alumni—and students for lightning talks and networking around the “From Billions to Trillions” summit.
“The energy and climate ventures and entrepreneurship community at Duke is vibrant and growing, and I want more students to know about opportunities to get involved,” Ratcliffe said. “Energy is a choose-your-own-adventure path. Everyone I have met shares a passion for doing something meaningful.”