Zoe Hilton

Zoe Hilton is a Senior Policy Analyst at CIS, working in the Energy Program. She co-authored the energy team’s flagship paper The six fundamental flaws underpinning the energy transition and has written for The Australian, The Australian Financial Review and The Spectator Australia on the costs of renewables and nuclear energy. She also contributes to the energy debate through YouTube videos exploring energy policy and modelling. Zoe previously worked in the NSW Government as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister for Enterprise, Investment & Trade and Science, Innovation & Technology. This included overseeing government strategy and grant program design and launch for research, commercialisation and investment attraction. She managed policy issues across a range of areas, including universities, science, technology, investment, trade, the 24-hour economy, aerospace, defence, international education and skilled migration. Zoe has a passion for working at the intersection of science and policy. She previously conducted research and wrote policy proposals to government on energy, climate, and the environment. Zoe developed a keen interest in how behaviour influences complex systems through her study of science and arts at the University of Sydney.

• Latest from Zoe Hilton

Future No Longer Made in Australia: How we lost our low-cost electricity advantage
Zoe Hilton, Michael StutchburyDecember 18, 2025IA154
Trouble has been brewing in Australia’s smelting paradise over the last two decades, as rising...
The Renewable Energy Honeymoon: starting is easy, the rest is hard
Zoe Hilton, Michael Wu , Aidan MorrisonOctober 2, 2025AP89
The belief that Australia can decarbonise its economy by relying on the wind and the...
Rooftop solar: paradise lost
Zoe Hilton, Michael Wu , Aidan MorrisonMarch 24, 2025AP80
Rooftop solar has been lauded by energy market bodies, policymakers, the media and environmental groups...
Impact of a Shadow Carbon Price on our Electricity Bills
Michael Wu , Aidan Morrison, Alex Bainton, Zoe HiltonMay 9, 2024AP68
This paper estimates that including VER as a class of market benefit could enable the...
The six fundamental flaws underpinning the energy transition
Zoe Hilton, Aidan Morrison, Alex Bainton, Michael Wu May 2, 2024AP67
This paper focuses on the question of how Australians have been led to believe two...

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