Jay Zarnikau is an expert in energy economics with over four decades of experience spanning research, regulation, teaching, and strategic consulting. Dr. Zarnikau’s research and industry expertise includes energy market design, regulatory policy in energy markets, energy pricing, energy efficiency and resource planning, and renewable energy integration.
Energy industry leadership
Dr. Zarnikau has held senior roles in both the public and private sectors. During his tenure as director of the Electric Utility Regulation at the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), Dr. Zarnikau was instrumental in designing key frameworks of the Texas electricity market. He also led analyses of how regulations from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) affected state entities outside of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).
A widely recognized authority on grid reliability, Dr. Zarnikau played a foundational role in the development of ERCOT. He cochaired the Working Group on Demand Side Resources and helped shape market rules governing demand response and grid reliability.
In the private sector, Dr. Zarnikau consults with industrial and commercial clients on energy efficiency, resource planning, and rate analysis. He served on the board of a retail energy aggregator, providing guidance on electricity brokerage and payment systems.
Testifying experience
As an expert witness, Dr. Zarnikau has testified in numerous regulatory proceedings and legal disputes. He has analyzed a wide array of complex economic and regulatory issues, including rate-setting at public service commissions, fuel costs, electricity market rules. His experience includes matters involving interruptible electricity tariffs, the electricity consumption of a data center, actions related to the allocation of transaction costs, disputes related to Bitcoin mining facilities, and allegations of monopoly power.
Dr. Zarnikau has appeared before state regulatory agencies in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia. He has also testified in the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
Research and academic impact
Dr. Zarnikau conducts research on wholesale electricity prices and retail market competition. His extensive work includes analyses of the price relationships between wholesale and retail electricity and natural gas, the own-price elasticity for residential and industrial electricity demand, and the effectiveness of energy efficiency programs. He has evaluated the market impact of renewables, the merit-order effects of wind and solar generation, resource valuation during scarcity, and the structural reliability of electrical grids during extreme weather.
In his empirical work, Dr. Zarnikau leverages diverse energy market data, including auction outcomes and clearing prices from various system operators and regional transmission organizations (RTOs), such as the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), PJM Interconnection (PJM), and the Southwest Power Pool (SPP).
In his recent research, Dr. Zarnikau has evaluated how integrating intermittent renewables affects interconnected wholesale prices. His article, “Price Impacts of Energy Transition on the Interconnected Wholesale Electricity Markets in the Northeast United States,” examines ISO New England (ISO NE), NYISO, and PJM, as well as Canadian markets.
Dr. Zarnikau has published over one hundred articles in leading academic and trade journals, such as Energy Economics, The Energy Journal, Energy Policy, and The Electricity Journal.
At the University of Texas at Austin, he has taught courses in applied statistics, energy policy, and the economics of energy regulation. Dr. Zarnikau is the former program manager of the university’s Center for Energy Studies.