Francis O'Sullivan

Francis O’Sullivan is the director of research and analysis for the MIT Energy Initiative and a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His work focuses on energy markets, financing, technologies, and regulation including unconventional oil and gas resources, liquefied natural gas markets, the energy-water nexus, solar energy, and the integration of advanced storage in the power sector. He is also actively studying the rapidly evolving power sector with a particular focus on trends in solar energy investment financing, tax equity investing for renewables, and the market integration and pricing of advanced storage in the power sector. Dr. O’Sullivan has written and spoken widely on these topics and has made presentations to the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Brookings Institution, the Bipartisan Policy Center, the National Governors Association, the National Association of Regulated Utility Commissioners, CERAWeek, the American Physical Society, and a range of other academic, policy, and industry forums. He is a lead author of both the 2011 MIT Future of Natural Gas study and the 2015 MIT Future of Solar Energy study. He is a member of the National Academies’ Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability and has served as a member of the secretary of energy’s working group on methane emissions and the scientific advisory board for the Environmental Defense Fund’s methane emissions campaign. Prior to joining MIT, Dr. O’Sullivan was a consultant with McKinsey & Company, where he worked on investment analysis and risk management, strategic planning, and operations in the private equity, oil and gas, electric utility, and renewable energy sectors. He received his Ph.D., E.E., and S.M. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his B.E. degree from the National University of Ireland, all in electrical engineering.