Acadia Center is seeking motivated law and policy students to apply for its Roger E. Koontz Fellowship in Law and Climate Policy. The Koontz Fellow will work with Acadia Center staff – policy experts, researchers, attorneys, and communications professionals– on projects that directly impact the organization’s work. Depending on the work, the Fellow may have the opportunity to meet with policymakers, attend public meetings, and engage in coalition interactions. Projects will be assigned based on skills and interests and could include the following:
- Clean Energy and Community Engagement: Scoping issues for legal and policy review related to community and stakeholder engagement in the anticipated expansion of the region’s clean energy projects, power grid, and transmission, such as a review of the adequacy of current permitting processes to seek and engage community-level input.
- Energy Regulatory System Reform: Researching legal issues and policy solutions on issues involving the need to reform approaches to regional power grid and state-level utility planning, financing, and governance so that it advances clean energy, climate, consumer, and energy justice goals.
- Building Energy and Energy Justice: Using legal analysis to advance organizational initiatives on energy efficiency and building decarbonization to understand better the connections between energy equity and environmental justice issues and develop policy recommendations for housing and transportation/mobility.
- Legislative/Statutory Analysis: For example, examining state laws to assess agencies’ existing authority to advance policies to cap GHG emissions and trade emissions allowances.
- Regulatory Intervention Support: In policy dockets, rate cases, and other adjudicated proceedings before Public Utilities Commissions (PUC), provide legal support for ongoing regulatory interventions through discovery, interrogatory requests, testimony drafting, and more.
- Energy contract and procurement legal analysis and advocacy: in regional settings, such as multi-state procurements for offshore wind, or regional procurements for public policy transmission upgrades, help Acadia Center dissect and understand provisions of RFPs, contracts, and ISO-NE tariffs filed before FERC for their impact on costs, reliability, emissions reductions, equity, and beyond.
The position will also provide the opportunity to gain exposure to and understanding of climate and clean energy issues by drafting public comments, policy memos, or explanatory outreach materials, attending webinars, coalition meetings, and meeting with government officials and other stakeholder groups.
Key Qualifications
- A strong interest in environmental, energy, or climate law and policy.
- An interest in the application of data, consumer, health, and equity analyses to law and policy.
- Interest in the role of energy efficiency and other clean energy programs, public policy, community, state, and regional engagement, electric and gas utilities, buildings, and transportation energy use.
- Self-guided literature research, legal/docket research, conducting interviews, and preparing summaries.
- Knowledge of social media and digital media best practices is helpful.
- JD is preferred, MPP/MPA candidates are welcome to apply as well if they possess relevant legal experience.
The Koontz Fellow position is fully remote, though there may be possibilities for in-person connections near Acadia Center staff locations in Rockport, ME; Boston, MA; Providence, RI; Hartford, CT; and New York City. The fellowship is expected to run full-time for 8-10 weeks in June, July, and August and can be structured as full or flex time. Acadia Center will provide a stipend of $8,000-$13,000 (full-time level) depending on factors such as educational level, background experience, and schedule. Applicants are encouraged to seek support from other school or work support programs, such as those offered by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).