Name: Kayam Karnawat
Company: Energy Industry Analyst at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
Program: M.S. Energy and Environment, 2022
Describe your experience in the program.
My experience in the M.S. program at Boston University was overwhelmingly positive. I found the smaller class sizes to be more collaborative, the professors were always willing to talk after hours, and the lectures were informative, particularly when you brought questions and curiosity with you. As a major research institute, performing research outside class hours encouraged me to apply the skills I already knew and continue learning outside of the classroom. It was easy to make friends through the Club Water Polo team and as Secretary of the Outing Club. Both clubs allowed me to travel throughout New England. The community in Boston is great, and BU is closely located to both Fenway and the green line for easy access to the city. It was bittersweet leaving Boston, but after graduating from BU, I felt well-prepared to succeed in my job in DC.
Explain what your job is now.
Currently, I am an analyst in the Office of Energy Policy and Innovation at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Washington, DC. FERC is an independent regulatory agency that works to provide reliable energy at just and reasonable rates to consumers by ensuring fair competition in the electricity and natural gas markets. Much of what I work on includes areas surrounding natural gas/electric coordination, resource adequacy, spot and future market trading, and environmental impact assessments on pipeline certificates. Some specific public projects that I have been involved in include our Winter and Summer Assessments, State of the Markets report, and Transmission rulemaking to improve regional transmission and interconnection planning and cost allocation. The job involves a lot of writing, data analysis, presenting, and staying on top of geopolitics and world events.
What aspect of your success do you specifically credit with your time at the school/with the organization?
A few things come to mind when I reflect on what I learned at BU that has impacted me in my job at FERC. The emphasis on data analysis, background on energy markets, and the multidisciplinary approach – I chose to take courses outside the department in business, economics, and international relations – were instrumental in broadening my perspective on energy policy. I also attribute having the opportunity to TA for the International Economics course and research with the Institute for Global Sustainability for helping me understand the importance of energy policy and security as it pertains to economic growth to social stability. National, state, and local policy changes, court cases, and world events are changing the world we live in. Projects that may have gotten approved a decade ago are now under more scrutiny, and as such, it is even more important that from a policy lens, we take the whole picture into account.
What advice do you have for students/young adults who plan to pursue a career in this field?
My advice would just be to find a topic or issue that you are passionate about and then see where you can make the biggest impact in doing that. There is no right or wrong answer; it can be anything from improving environmental regulation internationally to domestic energy security or even something tangentially related like sanctions. A piece of advice I was given by the current acting Chairman of FERC after an event was to “show up”; and if you don’t know yet what you’re interested in, consider that piece of advice. Although the program at BU may be very quant-heavy, it also provides a basic foundation and the flexibility to experiment in other disciplines so you can find your niche. For those that are interested in energy policy, and especially want to get involved in the public sector, I would say to first find your reason and then see how you can get involved. Rather than being a critical observer of the decision-making processes of the policymakers, see where you can make meaningful contributions!