Emiliano Grossman (@egrossman.bsky.social)

my (bskyless) coauthor Cristina Peñasco wrote a super-interesting op-ed on the recent Spanish blackout. It takes up some of what we worked on together for a recent paper. cepr.org/voxeu/column...

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When the lights go out: Power, trust, and the future of Europe's energy transition The blackout on 28 April 2025 that left all of Spain and Portugal in the dark was a stark reminder of the fragility of our energy systems and also the risk of renewables being turned into a scapegoat. This column argues that public trust is foundational to Europe’s energy transition and shows that support for climate policies is lower in high-income countries than in lower-income ones, with part of the trust deficit due to blurred institutional accountability. The blackout also underscored the urgent need to modernise Europe’s power grids, including digitalisation, expanded storage, and above all, interconnection. https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/when-lights-go-out-power-trust-and-future-europes-energy-transition