Dr. Murphy is an economist with over 30 years of experience, specializing in issues related to energy systems and their transformation in response to climate change.

His work centers on the electricity and gas industries, including the challenges and opportunities facing the electricity sector as it transitions from fossil generation toward greater reliance on intermittent renewable power sources. Dr. Murphy also considers issues confronting the natural gas industry as it transitions to a decarbonized future. He has led a number of studies investigating long-term strategies for decarbonizing the electric and/or gas sectors or an entire economy. Additionally, he has examined the impacts on energy systems and consumers of particular policy decisions, such as increasing a state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requirement, supporting clean generation, or transitioning the gas system to a clean future. With a background in engineering, Dr. Murphy brings expertise in competitive and regulatory economics, finance, and quantitative modeling to address these questions.

Dr. Murphy’s experience encompasses issues related to climate change policy and analysis, resource and investment planning, valuation, competitive industry structure and market behavior, and market rules and mechanics. He has provided testimony, analyses, and expertise in the context of state-level decarbonization planning, business planning and strategy, regulatory hearings and compliance filings, litigation, and arbitration. Dr. Murphy has examined matters from the perspectives of state agencies, investor-owned and public electric utilities, regulators and consumers, environmental and industry groups, and independent power producers, among others.

Practices
Education

Stanford University
PhD in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management and MA in Engineering-Economic Systems

Johns Hopkins University
BES in Materials Science and Engineering

Testimony

June 2022

Testimony of Dean Murphy and Josh Figueroa regarding Petition of Liberty Utilities for approval of an agreement to purchase renewable natural gas (RNG).

May 2022

Joint comments of the Brattle Group and the Massachusetts Attorney General on utilities’ technical analysis in the Massachusetts Future of Gas proceeding, DPU 20-80.

December 2017, February 2018

Oral and written testimony of Dean Murphy and Mark Berkman before Committees of the New Jersey Senate and Assembly regarding the environmental and economic impacts of the Salem and Hope Creek nuclear plants in New Jersey.

March 2017

Oral testimony before Committees of the New York Assembly on New York’s Zero-Emissions Credit program, regarding the environmental and economic impacts of New York’s three Upstate nuclear plants.