Managing Consultant
Bill Wheatle

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Bill Wheatle

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Dr. Bill Wheatle joined E3 in Fall 2020 and currently works in the Boston office in E3’s Climate Pathways practice area. He develops scenarios for economywide pathways to deep decarbonization and assesses the impact building electrification on the natural gas system.

Bill’s interest in energy technology and policy arose from learning about climate change’s effects on vulnerable communities, including those in the Caribbean where much of his family still lives. He studied battery materials as an undergraduate at Cornell University and as a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin.

In his free time, Bill enjoys cooking Caribbean food, baking bread, reading fantasy novels and historical fiction and nonfiction, and playing board and video games.

Education: PhD, Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin; BS, Chemical Engineering, Cornell University

Projects

Impact of Massachusetts’s Decarbonization Goals | Massachusetts Local Gas Distribution Companies, 2021-2023

E3 provided analysis in support of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) December 2023 Order in the 20-80 “Future of gas” proceeding, which sets a new regulatory framework for the future of natural gas distribution in support of the Commonwealth’s climate goals. The DPU recommended the E3 team’s analysis in support of the 20-80 proceeding, writing:

“The Department commends the LDCs and their Consultants for their comprehensive effort in estimating the costs and economy-wide GHG emissions reductions involved in transitioning the natural gas system. The Department fully recognizes the difficulty in assessing these multidimensional challenges and expresses its appreciation for the comprehensive Pathways Report.

E3 developed and analyzed eight decarbonization pathways and six regulatory design recommendations as part of a multi-year engagement examining the role of local gas distribution companies (LDCs) in Massachusetts in achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Commonwealth by 2050. In addition to the Decarbonization Pathways Study, which was developed as part of the Commonwealth’s 20-80 proceeding, E3 assisted each of the LDCs in their filing of a Net Zero Enablement Plan that included LDC-specific recommendations and plans to support the Commonwealth’s decarbonization goals. This project also involved a broad modeling framework designed by E3 as well as an extensive stakeholder process aimed at gauging stakeholder perspectives on gas decarbonization.

Read the detailed project description.

WRI United States Decarbonization Scenarios | World Resources Institute, 2021

E3 worked with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to develop four scenarios of increasing ambition to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across all sectors of the United States economy using E3’s US PATHWAYS and RESOLVE models. E3 collaborated with WRI to develop robust scenario definitions, collect publicly available data and assumptions, and create interactive spreadsheet results. The goal of the study was to understand the effect of high-impact federal policies on achieving 50% emissions reduction by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. The analysis demonstrates the importance of key near-term building blocks, including: 1) aligning economics for customers and companies to adopt clean energy technologies; 2) aligning policy and institutions to remove barriers to technology deployment; 3) increasing consumer awareness and education to unlock higher levels of adoption; and 4) creating a transition plan for fossil fuel jobs to ensure a smooth transition.

Read the detailed project description.


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