Hey there! I am Kumaresh Ramesh, an energy professional and policy nerd passionate about energy access, infrastructure, and decarbonization. After majoring in energy systems engineering from IIT Bombay, I contributed to foundational work on key issues in the electricity sector. Across energy consulting and think tanks, my approach has been grounded in analytical rigour and effective communication. I am now a graduate student at Yale, focusing on energy systems in the United States and emerging economies, with generous support from the Three Cairns Group, Inlaks Foundation, and Quad Fellowship.
I will be graduating in May 2026 and am actively seeking full-time roles in energy policy, consulting, and infrastructure development – where I can leverage both my engineering background and policy expertise. I am particularly interested in designing interventions that unlock new energy systems and markets, and supporting decarbonization pathways for consumers, sectors, and entire economies. Beyond these, I remain open to any opportunity that allows me to connect the dots between energy technology, policy, and economics. Whether you are hiring, know somebody who is hiring, or are just active in this space, let’s connect!
Experience
Intern,
Regulatory Assistance Project – India and Global Opportunities
remote | May 2025 – Aug 2025
- Reviewed real and model power purchase agreements to identify key contractual provisions
- Modelled the dispatch, costs, and revenues for a thermal power plant under conventional and market-based contractual agreements
- Performed sensitivity analysis to quantify the impact of outages on dispatch behaviour and net revenues
Link to report
Research Analyst,
Council on Energy,
Environment and Water
New Delhi | Nov 2022 – Jun 2024
- Worked under a USAID-funded grant to evaluate the economic feasibility and recommend policy measures facilitating solar-plus-storage as a viable power backup vis-a-vis diesel gensets
- Developed an open-source calculator enabling consumers to analyse the impact of time-of-use tariffs and charging strategies on techno-economics of distributed solar-plus-storage systems
Link to calculator
- Developed first national estimates for electricity use and emissions by process and mode of procurement for India’s steel sector
- Modelled RE penetration scenarios for the sector and estimated the associated capex and CO2 reduction
- Identified key challenges and provided recommendations to increase RE adoption based on review of
national and state power sector policies and discussions with industry representatives and financiers
Link to report
- Analyzed the impact of state-level regulatory provisions on the economic feasibility of rooftop solar installations
- Provided insights and feedback on consumer incentives under state- and national-level rooftop solar policies to government stakeholders
- Recommended global best practices to Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to accelerate rooftop solar deployment based on stakeholder interviews and secondary literature review in nine leading countries
Analyst,
Black and Veatch
Global Advisory
Mumbai | Aug 2021 – Oct 2022
- Evaluated the regulatory readiness of India and South Africa to phase out coal power plants (CPPs)
Link to report - Developed MCDA tools to prioritise CPPs for phase-out and match appropriate repurposing concepts
Link to tools
- Assessed the impact of 30+ key national and state energy policies on data center operational costs
- Apprised the client of regulatory and policy incentives for renewable generation and procurement
Publications
Research reports
Co-authored with Dominic Scott and Dr Alejandro Hernandez from the Regulatory Assistance Project, we demonstrate how shifting from traditional power purchase agreements to instruments like contracts for difference for renewables and call options for thermal resources can deliver lower costs, improved reliability, and protection against price spikes. (read more)
Co-authored with Arohi Patil and Bhawna Tyagi, my colleagues at CEEW, this analysis delves into state-level policy and regulatory structures that directly impact the financial viability of rooftop solar systems. We identify best practices, such as net billing and new business models, from across 28 states and 8 union territories to enable higher uptake of rooftop solar. (read more)
This report delves into the success stories of nine countries leading in rooftop solar deployment and critically analyzes State interventions to draw valuable insights from their experiences. These insights can inform strategies in other countries aiming to scale up RTS deployment and facilitate the transition towards a cleaner and more resilient energy future. (read more)
The study, co-authored with colleagues from CEEW in collaboration with Delhi’s leading power utility, puts forward a framework for Indian power utilities to evaluate the benefits of rooftop solar systems deployed in their network. (read more)
Blogs and opinion pieces
State-level regulators in India have introduced green retail rates (“electricity tariffs”) to fulfil corporate demand for green electricity while retaining businesses as utility consumers. In this research blog, I analyze how the divergence in regulatory provisions hinders the wider uptake of these green tariffs by businesses and what steps should be taken. (read more)
Availability provisions in traditional PPAs are time-agnostic; therefore, thermal power plants have little incentive to support the grid during times of need. This article, published in PowerLine, India’s premier power sector publication, explains how these power plants can be better incentivized to respond to market signals. (read more)
Arohi Patil, my colleague at CEEW, and I authored this comment in Prabhat Khabar, a leading Hindi newspaper in eastern India, in response to the increase in the budgetary allocation for rooftop solar subsidies in India. We reiterate the need to think beyond subsidies and highlight four key lessons from local and global success stories that can be adopted across India to enhance deployment. (read more)
Skills
Technical analysis
- Life cycle assessment
- GIS and mapping
- Power system models
- Optimization
- Structural equation models
Economic analysis
- RE project finance
- Cost-benefit analysis
- Regression analysis
Policy and comms
- Policy landscape analysis
- Regulatory review
- Impact measurement and reporting
- Report writing
- Policy briefs & memos
Software
- Advanced MS Office
- R
- Python
- OpenLCA
- ArcGIS
- PLEXOS
Relevant courses
Master of Environmental Management
at School of the Environment, Yale University, 2026
Specialization: Energy and the Environment
Bachelor of Technology and Master of Technology
at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, 2021
Major: Energy Systems Engineering
Projects
This multi-method qualitative study analyzes policy and regulatory interventions at the state and national levels to promote the use of renewable electricity in data centers in India. Yash Khandelwal, my co-author, and I also draw upon international case studies to highlight best practices and provide actionable recommendations to policymakers in India.
The research paper synthesized evidence of rising thermal stress in Mumbai and its differing impacts, particularly on economically disadvantaged populations. Based on a three-level frameowrk of spatial planning, economic development, and cultural norms, the paper provides three key policy recommendations to tackle adverse effects of urban heat islanding and climate change. The paper was accompanied by an opinion piece targeted to non-expert stakeholders.
The project used scenario-based technoeconomic analysis to quantify the interaction between direct electricity subsidy and capital subsidy for rooftop solar installations in households with different consumption levels. Electricity subsidy reduces, and possibly eliminates, the incentive to adopt rooftop solar for low-consumption households. However, at higher consumption levels, a threshold-based electricity subsidy can incentivize households to adopt rooftop solar.
The project assessed the contribution of each manufacturing stage to the embodied energy in a crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafer based on secondary literature. We also reviewed five end-of-life management strategies for solar panels for technological readiness, economic feasibility, social outcomes, and environmental impacts.
Kumaresh R. 