Wired to save the planet: rethinking energy in an electrified world
Speakers
Chair
As the world races toward net zero, electricity systems are under pressure like never before. The push for cleaner power collides with soaring demand – driven by electrification, population growth, and energy-hungry technologies such as artificial intelligence and data centres. Can we keep the lights on, cut emissions, and keep energy affordable all at once?
This panel brings together experts from academia, industry, and the policy world to debate the forces reshaping the grid of the future. Speakers from LSE, government, and the private sector will explore how digitalisation, renewable integration, and evolving market structures are transforming the way we generate, trade, and consume electricity.
Together, we'll ask: what does a truly sustainable and intelligent grid look like and who gets to design it?
Meet your speakers and chair
Min-kyeong (Min) Cha is a LSE Fellow in Energy Economics and Policy in the Department of Geography & Environment. She draws on her interdisciplinary background to examine topics such as renewable energy policy, electricity markets, the adoption of clean energy technologies, and energy consumption behaviour.
Theresa Chambers is a senior analyst and public sector leader, currently working in the UK government's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, where she leads on power sector analysis. Her team applies analytical, economic and systems‑thinking approaches to some of the most complex challenges facing the energy system. Theresa has previously served as Operational Research Head of Profession in three major government departments and was instrumental in establishing the Home Office Data Analytics Centre. Her career spans strategic leadership, applied analysis and embedding evidence‑driven decision‑making at scale, with a consistent focus on improving policy outcomes and public value.
Tim Heal sits on the Octopus leadership team and is responsible for global strategy, corporate development, and international expansion. For four years he led revenue growth for Kraken, delivering enterprise software deals totalling 70 million utility customers relationships. Since 2017, Tim’s team has executed more than 40 strategic deals, including acquisitions of retail energy businesses, energy start-ups, and technology platforms. Before Octopus, Tim was at Boston Consulting Group. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and a degree in Natural Sciences from University of Cambridge.
Shefali Khanna is an LSE Fellow in Energy Economics and Policy in the Department of Geography and Environment at the London School of Economics. Her research focuses on understanding the role of behaviour change in the transition to a zero emissions economy and on evaluating the impact of climate and pollution mitigation policies. She was previously a Research Associate in Energy and Environmental Economics in the Business School at Imperial College London. She earned a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University.s.
More about this event
This event is part of the LSE Festival: How to save the planet running from Monday 15 to Saturday 20 June 2026. This year's Festival explores how existential threats including the climate crisis, conflict and AI are affecting all parts of the world, transforming the way and where we live, and how our societies function. With a series of events asking what can we be doing to save the Earth, its people and environment? Booking for all Festival events will open on Monday 18 May.
The Department of Geography and Environment is a centre of international academic excellence in economic, urban and development geography, environmental social science and climate change.
Hashtag for this event: #LSEFestival
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