Overview
Ignacio J. Pérez-Arriaga is an Advisor to the African School of Regulation (ASR), where he previously served as Interim Director (2022–2024). Since 2012, he has been Co-Director of the MIT/Comillas Universal Energy Access Lab and was a Visiting Professor and Senior Lecturer at MIT from 2008 to 2022.
At Comillas University, he is a Professor and was the founding Director of its Institute for Research in Technology (IIT) (1984–1994).
He also serves as a Professor and Director of Training at the Florence School of Regulation.
A Life Member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Engineering and an IEEE Fellow, Pérez-Arriaga has held key regulatory roles, including Commissioner at the Spanish Electricity Regulatory Commission (1995–2000), Independent Member of the Irish Single Electricity Market Committee (2007–2012), and Member of the Board of Appeal of the EU Agency for the Coordination of Energy Regulators (2011–2016). He was also Review Editor for the 5th Assessment Report of the IPCC and Director of the research team for the Global Commission to End Energy Poverty (GCEEP) (2018–2022).
He has worked as a consultant and lecturer in over 40 countries. His research focuses on future trends in power system regulation, operation, business models, and planning, with a particular emphasis on energy access in emerging and developing economies. He has authored over 200 papers, led more than 100 research projects, and supervised 40 doctoral theses and over 100 master’s theses.
He holds an MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from MIT and a degree in Electrical Engineering from Comillas University in Madrid.