Adi Keskar, Ph.D.
Program Manager: Engineering, Regulatory Policy, and Federal Affairs at the North Carolina Utilities Commission
I serve as a technical advisor to the five Commissioners of the North Carolina Utilities Commission, where I focus on electric and natural gas regulation. In this role, I also provide guidance on federal regulatory and policy matters and lead a team working at the intersection of engineering and policy analysis.
Previously, I taught as an Adjunct Lecturer in UNC Chapel Hill’s Environment, Ecology, and Energy Program, where I offered the undergraduate course Fundamentals of the U.S. Electricity System: Technology, Regulation, & Decarbonization. I have also worked at the North Carolina State Energy Office (NCDEQ: SEO) as an NC STEM Policy Fellow where I advanced state-level energy policy initiatives, including the design of an energy efficiency program for wastewater utilities and the implementation of federal and state grant programs.
I earned my Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (Advisor: Jeremiah X. Johnson) from North Carolina State University in May 2023, where my research centered on enhancing grid flexibility through the efficient use of distributed energy resources in the United States and India. My dissertation explored the interactions between demand response and energy efficiency in commercial buildings. I also led a binational project examining the farm-level impacts of large-scale solar water pump deployment in India and future opportunities for using those pumps as flexible grid resources.
Beyond my doctoral work, I co-founded the Student Energy Club at NC State. Prior to my Ph.D., I earned an M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan, where I conducted research with Drs. Johanna Mathieu and Ian Hiskens at the Michigan Power and Energy Laboratory. I hold a B.E. in Electrical Engineering from PES University, Bangalore.
(This website is my personal website and does not reflect any views of the NCUC)
In Fall 2023, I served as an Adjunct Lecturer in UNC Chapel Hill’s Environment, Ecology, and Energy Program, where I offered the undergraduate course Fundamentals of the U.S. Electricity System: Technology, Regulation, & Decarbonization. Over the semester, students explored the technical and policy foundations of the grid and concluded by simulating participation in a public utility commission proceeding. Working in groups, they prepared written testimony on the 2022 Carbon Plan proceeding, developed policy recommendations, and defended their work under cross-examination by a mock Commission panel. Guest lectures from industry professionals and three North Carolina Utilities Commissioners (Kim Duffley, Karen Kemerait, and Jeff Hughes) further enriched the students’ experience, giving them firsthand insight into the complexities of energy regulation.
See some other highlights below.
Introduced by NCUC Operations Director Freda Hilburn at the North Carolina Utilities Commission Staff Conference (May 27th, 2023)
New publication on solar water pumps in India in Environmental Science & Technology.
I spent one year at the North Carolina State Energy Office as an NC STEM Policy Fellow. I got to work on several projects, including setting up an energy efficiency program for rural wastewater treatment plants, IIJA grants, and lots more. A great group!
How should the United States plan for winter peaking power grid? Click the image to read my paper published in Energy Policy.
Participating in a panel in best practices in U.S.-India Higher Education Collaborations. The panel (with J.X. Johnson, R.N. Patel, S. Jain, S. Ghosh, and moderated by Patrick McNamara) focused on our experience of collaborating on the Partnership-2020 project with NIT-Raipur. Watch the full panel by clicking on the image.
Second prize at the annual Environmental, Water Resources, and Coastal Engineering symposium of NC State CCEE
Collecting campus building air conditioning system data with undergraduate researcher Sarah Nagy for a Department of Energy project, I-DREEM: Investigating short-term and long-term impacts of Demand Response on Energy Efficiency Measures.
I have worked with facilities and operation staff at NC State to conduct experiments on seven campus buildings, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Michigan and Stanford University.
Want to know how the U.S. Electricity System works? Watch this webinar I conducted with PhD Candidate Lucas Ford.
I am currently serving as one of the four Macro-Energy Systems Fellows 2021-2022. Click this image to learn more about macro-energy systems (or visit https://www.macroenergysystems.org/)
IEEE Panel on interactions between demand response and energy efficiency
Speaking about the breadth of NC State's energy portfolio. Click on the image to watch the video.
With fellow officers of the NC State Student Energy Club. Learn more about the club here: https://ncsuenergyclub.org/
Solar water pumps are bringing access to tens of thousands of farmers in India. Learn more about my research, funded by the Partnership 2020 program, on investigating the effectiveness of educational interventions to improve the utilization of these systems and their ability to provide flexibility to the Indian power system.
At the 2022 Macro-Energy Systems *(MES) Workshop with fellow MES student fellows Jason, Alison, and Wilson.