Gilbert Michaud

Dr. Gilbert Michaud is a Senior Research Fellow at gLAWcal – Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development (United Kingdom). He is also an Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy at the School of Environmental Sustainability at Loyola University Chicago. Michaud serves as a Faculty Affiliate at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. Michaud has published academic papers in journals such as the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, The Electricity Journal, and Economic Development Quarterly, among other scholarly venues. He is author or co-author of over 80 technical reports and commentary pieces, and has been quoted in several national news media outlets, including NPR, The Associated Press, Forbes, and Bloomberg Law. He currently serves as the national policy chair for the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), and has also served as a guest editor for a special issue of Solar Energy journal focused on solar policy and economics for climate action. Previously, Michaud was a faculty member at the George V. Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service at Ohio University. He holds a PhD in Public Policy and Administration from the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), as well as a certificate in Data Analytics from Cornell University.

Community Renewables
Economic Development
Electric Utilities
Electricity Regulation
Energy Policy
Industry Clusters
Net Metering
Public Policy Theory
Solar Energy
State Politics
Workforce
Wind Energy

Michaud, G., Riley, J., Jolley, G. J., Belleville, E. D. (2022). Industry survey of wood waste markets in Ohio. International Wood Products Journal, 13(2), 91–98. doi: 10.1080/20426445.2022.2025650.
Khalaf, C., Michaud, G., Jolley, G. J. (2021). Toward a new rural typology: Mapping resources, opportunities, and challenges. Economic Development Quarterly, 1–18. doi: 10.1177/08912424211069122.
Purwandani, J. A., Michaud, G. (2021). What are the drivers and barriers for green business practice adoption for SMEs? Environment Systems and Decisions, 41(4), 577–593. doi: 10.1007/s10669-021-09821-3.
Khalaf, C., Michaud, G., Jolley, G. J. (2021). How to assess the transferability of worker skills: A hybrid clustering approach. Journal of Regional Analysis & Policy, 51(1), 67–78.
Michaud, G. (2020). Perspectives on community solar policy adoption across the United States. Renewable Energy Focus, 33, 1–15. doi: 10.1016/j.ref.2020.01.001.
Jolley, G. J., Khalaf, C., Michaud, G., Belleville, D. (2020). The economic contribution of logging, forestry, pulp & paper mills, and paper products: A 50-state analysis. Forest Policy and Economics, 115, 1–20. doi: 10.1016/j.forpol.2020.102140.
Michaud, G. (2019). Punctuating the equilibrium: A lens to understand energy and environmental policy changes. International Journal of Energy Research, 43(8), 3053–3057. doi: 10.1002/er.4464.
Michaud, G., Pitt, D. (2019). Non-utility photovoltaic deployment: Evaluation of U.S. state-level policy drivers. Strategic Planning for Energy and the Environment, 38(3), 52–80. doi: 10.1080/10485236.2019.12043348.
Jolley, G. J., Khalaf, C., Michaud, G., Sandler, A. (2019). The economic, fiscal, and workforce impacts of coal-fired power plant closures in Appalachian Ohio. Regional Science Policy & Practice, 11(2), 403–422. doi: 10.1111/rsp3.12191.
Michaud, G. (2018). Deploying solar energy with community choice aggregation: A carbon fee model. The Electricity Journal, 31(10), 32–38. doi: 10.1016/j.tej.2018.11.003.
Smith, C., Driver, D., Michaud, G. (2018). The solar and wind economy in Ohio: Industry analysis and policy implications. Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development, 20(1), 43–61.
Michaud, G. (2018). Shale industry’s economic contribution in Ohio, USA: Implications for future activity in the state. Regional Science Inquiry, 10(2), 163–171.
Pitt, D., Michaud, G., Duggan, A. (2017). Analyzing the costs and benefits of distributed solar energy in Virginia (USA): A case study of collaborative energy planning. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 61(11), 2032–2049. doi: 10.1080/09640568.2017.1381074.
Michaud, G., Jolley, G. J. (2017). Using proprietary databases to overcome data suppression in industry cluster analysis. Journal of Extension, 55(4), Article 8.
Michaud, G. (2016). Community shared solar in Virginia: Political and institutional barriers and possibilities. Politics, Bureaucracy, and Justice, 5(1), 1–15.
Michaud, G. (2016). Natural disasters and the United States’ electricity grid: The role of FEMA and the value of micro-grids. Michigan Journal of Public Affairs, 13, 20–30.
Pitt, D., Michaud, G. (2015). Assessing the value of distributed solar energy generation. Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports, 2(3), 105–113. doi: 10.1007/s40518-015-0030-0.

Invited Conference Presentations:

2022 The way forward for more inclusive energy scenarios. Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) Fall Research Conference (postponed from fall of 2021). Austin, TX. March 27–29, 2022.
2021 Locational drivers for utility-scale solar PV farms. EUEC 2020: The 23rd Annual Energy, Utility & Environment Conference. Virtual. August 17–19, 2021.
Rural workforce development in the face of solar energy transitions. SOLAR 2021, the 50th American Solar Energy Society (ASES) National Solar Conference. Boulder, CO. August 3–6, 2021 (with Christelle Khalaf).
Developing community-based solar through electricity aggregation programs. 96th Annual Western Economic Association International (WEAI) Conference. Virtual. June 27–July 1, 2021.
Do peer effects impact residential solar PV adoption? 96th Annual Western Economic Association International (WEAI) Conference. Virtual. June 27–July 1, 2021 (with Christelle Khalaf).
Ohio’s utility-scale solar industry can help create thousands of jobs and help attract new businesses to the state. 25th Annual Ohio Energy Savings & Management Conference. Virtual. February 16–18, 2021.
2020 Activating behavioral support for local solar development with community choice aggregation. Behavior, Energy & Climate Change (BECC) Conference. Virtual. December 7–10, 2020 (with Mat Roberts and Sarah Conley-Ballew).
What are the drivers of community solar deployment across U.S. states? Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) Fall Research Conference. Virtual. November 11–13, 2020.
Predicting declining and growing occupations using supervised machine learning. 67th Annual North American Regional Science Council (NARSC) Conference. Virtual. November 9–13, 2020 (with G. Jason Jolley and Christelle Khalaf).
Enhancing public affairs pedagogy with a civic engagement based curriculum. 2020 Northeast Conference on Public Administration (NECoPA). Virtual. November 6–7, 2020.‍
Impacts of solar as part of Central Ohio’s transition to a clean energy economy. 2020 Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) Summit on Sustainability. Virtual. October 15–16, 2020.
The impacts of PPAs in Florida. 2020 Solar United Neighbors (SUN) National Solar Congress. Virtual. October 14, 2020 (with Kelly Stevens).
Understanding the economic impacts of community solar in Cleveland, Ohio. Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA) Annual Summit. Virtual. September 29–October 1, 2020 (with Jonathan Welle).
What are the characteristics of U.S. states with high rates of community solar deployed? SOLAR 2020, the 49th American Solar Energy Society (ASES) National Solar Conference. Virtual. June 24–26, 2020.
2019 Do peer effects impact residential solar PV adoption? Evidence from Solarize programs. Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management
(APPAM) Fall Research Conference. Denver, CO. November 7–9, 2019 (with Christelle Khalaf).
An assessment of utility-scale solar farm locations. 37th USAEE/IEEE North American Conference. Denver, CO. November 3–6, 2019.
Analyzing the drivers of green power programs: Insights from Minnesota cooperatives. 2019 Energy Policy Research Conference (EPRC). Boise, ID. September 29–October 1, 2019 (with Gabriel Chan).
Computing and communicating the environmental contributions of utility-scale solar farms: An Ohio case study. 2019 Midwest Public Affairs Conference (MPAC). Indianapolis, IN. September 19–20, 2019.
Climate action through community solar: Inside Minnesota’s community solar program. SOLAR 2019, the 48th American Solar Energy Society (ASES) National Solar Conference. Minneapolis, MN. August 5–9, 2019 (with Gabriel Chan).
Public participation in green pricing: Motivating cooperative utility members. 2nd International Conference on Energy Research and Social Science (ERSS). Tempe, AZ. May 28–31, 2019 (with Gabriel Chan and Jacob Herbers).
The economic and site selection implications of solar farms in Ohio. 2019 Ohio Solar Congress. Athens, OH. March 9, 2019 (with Christelle Khalaf and Dan Allwine).
2018 Deploying solar energy with community choice aggregation fees: A case study of Athens, Ohio. 2018 Energy Policy Research Conference (EPRC). Boise, ID. September 6–7, 2018.
Evaluating the policy framework and economic development impacts of Ohio’s solar energy industry. SOLAR 2018, the 47th American Solar Energy Society (ASES) National Solar Conference. Boulder, CO. August 5–8, 2018.
The economic contribution of the pulp and paper mill industry and commercial logging: A 50-state analysis. 49th Annual Mid-Continent Regional Science Association (MCRSA) Conference. Kansas City, MO. June 6–8, 2018 (with G. Jason Jolley and Christelle Khalaf).
Current transitions in energy and agricultural employment. Emerging Coproduction Systems for Sustainable Rural Economies Symposium. Athens, OH. May 23, 2018.
Solar jobs: Ohio’s new economy and the impacts of policy. 2018 Ohio Solar Congress. Wilmot, OH. March 17, 2018.
2017 Community net metering in the U.S.: Policy perspectives, barriers, and opportunities. Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) Fall Research Conference. Chicago, IL. November 2–4, 2017.
Modeling the distribution grid impacts of solar PV on residential and commercial buildings. Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) 57th Annual Conference. Denver, CO. October 14, 2017 (with Damian Pitt, Michael DePaola, Joseph Costello, Michal Voscek, Jesse Harris, Zhifang Wang, Hadi Athari, and Hamidreza Sadeghian).
Community shared solar policy adoption in the U.S. SOLAR 2017, the 46th American Solar Energy Society (ASES) National Solar Conference. Denver, CO. October 9–12, 2017.
Ohio’s solar and wind industries: Evaluation of policy and economic impact. 2017 Energy Impacts Symposium. Columbus, OH. July 26–27, 2017 (with Colton Smith and David Driver).
Ohio’s shale industry contribution analysis: Implications for economic development and public policy. 2017 Energy Impacts Symposium. Columbus, OH. July 26–27, 2017.
Reemployment options in Appalachian Ohio’s coal economy: A skillshed analysis. 48th Annual Mid-Continent Regional Science Association (MCRSA) Conference. Oregon, OH. June 7–9, 2017 (with G. Jason Jolley and Austin Sandler).
Alternative energy and economic resilience in Appalachian Ohio. Ohio University, 2017 State of Region Conference: A New Era in Economic Resiliency. Athens, OH. May 23, 2017.
Ohio shale industry’s economic contribution. Ohio Shale Policy and Technology Symposium. Athens, OH. April 19–20, 2017.
State-level drivers of distributed PV deployment. 2017 Ohio Solar Congress. Zanesville, OH. April 8, 2017.
Ohio’s wood industry cluster: Identifying value-added opportunities in the Appalachian region. 56th Annual Meeting of the Southern Regional Science Association (SRSA). Memphis, TN. March 30–April 1, 2017.
2016 Richmond, Virginia community solar impact analysis: Implications for future state-level policy proposals. 47th Annual Mid-Continent Regional Science Association (MCRSA) Conference. Charlotte, NC. June 9–11, 2016.
Greater Richmond region community solar feasibility study: Implications for Virginia's Clean Power Plan targets. Virginia Power Dialog at the University of Richmond. Richmond, VA. April 8, 2016 (with Jonathan Knopf).
2015 State-level policy and non-policy determinants' influence on non-utility photovoltaic installations in the US. Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) Fall Research Conference. Miami, FL. November 12–14, 2015.
State-level solar policy in the US: A historical institutionalist approach. American Society for Environmental History (ASEH) Annual Conference. Washington, DC. March 18–21, 2015.
2014 Planning and permitting for solar energy: An evaluation of “solarize” programs in Virginia. Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) 54th Annual Conference. Philadelphia, PA. October 30–November 2, 2014 (with Damian Pitt and Derrick Burke).
Policies to incent residential and commercial solar deployment in the United States: An evolution of institutions and processes. (Re)visions of the Future: Public Sociology, Environmental Justice, & the Crisis of Climate Change. George Mason University Public Sociology Conference. Arlington, VA. October 18, 2014.
An inquiry of residential solar photovoltaic deployment in the United States: Cost-efficient state-level policy, or circumstance? College of William & Mary Graduate Research Symposium. Williamsburg, VA. March 21, 2014.

Assessing the value of distributed solar energy generation

Pitt, D., Michaud, G. (2015). Assessing the value of distributed solar energy generation. Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports, 2(3), 105–113. doi: 10.1007/s40518-015-0030-0.

Natural disasters and the United States’ electricity grid: The role of FEMA and the value of micro-grids

Michaud, G. (2016). Natural disasters and the United States’ electricity grid: The role of FEMA and the value of micro-grids. Michigan Journal of Public Affairs, 13, 20–30.

Community shared solar in Virginia: Political and institutional barriers and possibilities

Michaud, G. (2016). Community shared solar in Virginia: Political and institutional barriers and possibilities. Politics, Bureaucracy, and Justice, 5(1), 1–15.

Using proprietary databases to overcome data suppression in industry cluster analysis

Michaud, G., Jolley, G. J. (2017). Using proprietary databases to overcome data suppression in industry cluster analysis. Journal of Extension, 55(4), 4TOT5.

Analyzing the costs and benefits of distributed solar energy in Virginia (USA): A case study of collaborative energy planning

Pitt, D., Michaud, G., Duggan, A. (2017). Analyzing the costs and benefits of distributed solar energy in Virginia (USA): A case study of collaborative energy planning. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 61(11), 2032–2049. doi: 10.1080/09640568.2017.1381074.

Shale industry’s economic contribution in Ohio, USA: Implications for future activity in the state

Michaud, G. (2018). Shale industry’s economic contribution in Ohio, USA: Implications for future activity in the state. Regional Science Inquiry, 2, 163–171.

The solar and wind economy in Ohio: Industry analysis and policy implications

Smith, C., Driver, D., Michaud, G. (2018). The solar and wind economy in Ohio: Industry analysis and policy implications. Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development 20(1), 43–61.

Deploying solar energy with community choice aggregation: A carbon fee model

Michaud, G. (2018). Deploying solar energy with community choice aggregation: A carbon fee model. The Electricity Journal, 31(10), 32–38. doi: 10.1016/j.tej.2018.11.003.

The economic, fiscal, and workforce impacts of coal-fired power plant closures in Appalachian Ohio

Jolley, G. J., Khalaf, C., Michaud, G., Sandler, A. (2019). The economic, fiscal, and workforce impacts of coal-fired power plant closures in Appalachian Ohio. Regional Science Policy & Practice, 11(2), 403–422. doi: 10.1111/rsp3.12191.

Non-utility photovoltaic deployment: Evaluation of U.S. state-level policy drivers

Michaud, G., Pitt, D. (2019). Non-utility photovoltaic deployment: Evaluation of U.S. state-level policy drivers. Strategic Planning for Energy and the Environment, 38(3), 52–80. doi: 10.1080/10485236.2019.12043348.

Punctuating the equilibrium: A lens to understand energy and environmental policy changes

Michaud, G. (2019). Punctuating the equilibrium: A lens to understand energy and environmental policy changes. International Journal of Energy Research, 43(8), 3053–3057. doi: 10.1002/er.4464.

The economic contribution of logging, forestry, pulp & paper mills, and paper products: A 50-state analysis

Jolley, G. J., Khalaf, C., Michaud, G., Belleville, D. (2020). The economic contribution of logging, forestry, pulp & paper mills, and paper products: A 50-state analysis. Forest Policy and Economics, 115, 1–20. doi: 10.1016/j.forpol.2020.102140.

Perspectives on community solar policy adoption across the United States

Michaud, G. (2020). Perspectives on community solar policy adoption across the United States. Renewable Energy Focus, 33, 1–15. doi: 10.1016/j.ref.2020.01.001.

Senior Research Associate