Tom Michelman
Expertise
- Over 15 years energy industry experience
- In-depth knowledge of retail and wholesale electric markets, and renewable energy certificate markets
- Exceptional analytic, spreadsheet modeling and quantitative skills
- Winning track record of proposal and grant writing
- Manager of dozens of energy industry consulting projects
On-site Renewable Generation:
Managed dozens of wind turbine projects as Principal and co-founder of Boreal Renewable Energy Development: From fatal flaw analysis through design and construction for commercial, industrial, municipal and institutional clients.
Analysis includes: economic payback, wind resource modeling, project costs estimates, revenue generation, retail, wholesale, and REC market structure.
Created cutting edge pro-forma financial analysis spreadsheet that simultaneously takes into account, hourly electricity consumption, production based, applicable retail and wholesale electricity rates, project costs, tax and interest rates to provide a realistic and defensible return on investment. The model is constructed to easily provide sensitivity analysis for any variable of interest.
As part of team for Department of Energy, characterized current status and quantified market potential of market potential, availability and economics of mid-sized wind turbines.
As part of team, researched, assessed, and provided new community-based renewable energy business models for We Energies.
As part of team, analyzed, and crafted alternatives for long-term procurement of renewable energy for State of Maryland accounts.
Renewable energy project sales lead generator, proposal writer, contract negotiator and deal closer.
Regulatory:
Lead participant in crafting a consensus for Massachusetts’ avant-garde virtual “net metering” legislation which was incorporated into the Green Communities Act signed into law July 2008.
Provided expert testimony on proposed NSTAR distributed generation (DG) standby rates (Massachusetts DTE Docket 03-121) and their effect on the economics of DG wind turbine installations for Conservation Law Foundation and Solar Energy Business Association of New England. DTE accepted a settlement to which NSTAR as a signatory exempts wind turbine and other renewable installations from the standby rates.
Retail Energy:
Senior consultant specializing in retail energy, price responsive load, demand side management, and renewable energy. Responsibilities included managing millions of dollars of consulting projects and key developer of retail energy consulting practice. Leveraged multi-client subscription studies as springboard to over $3 million of new consulting work. Considered industry expert in retail energy field, presenting at dozens of conferences and meetings, and authoring dozens of articles and reports. Originator, managing editor, and contributor of KEMA-XENERGY’s Retail Energy Foresight. Bimonthly periodical publishes the only comprehensive updates on U.S. retail energy switching.
Education:
M.S., Resource Economics, University of Rhode Island, 1992 (Thesis, Contingent Valuation and the Bounded Rationality Perspective winner of award of merit at AAAE and NAREA conferences.)
B.A., Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences/Political Science, Northwestern University, 1983.
Additionally, master’s level continuing education classes in wind power, finance, statistics, and management.
Other:
Board Member of the Northeast Energy Commerce Association. 2005-2008 (www.necanews.org), leader in fashioning very successful annual renewable energy conferences.
President – Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail 2006-2008, Secretary 2004-2006 (www.brucefreemanrailtrail.org). Instrumental in growing the group into perhaps the largest and most potent rail trail advocacy group in Massachusetts.
Select Energy-Related Papers / Publications / Presentations:
Local Rules Rule The Economics Of Community-Scale Wind Projects . Presented at American Wind Energy Association Annual Conference. June 2006, Pittsburgh, PA.
As Important as Wind: The Structure of Utility Tariffs on Behind-the-Meter Community Scale Wind Projects. Presented at American Wind Energy Association Annual Conference. May 2005, Denver, CO.
The Wild, Wild East: REC Price and Supply / Demand Dynamics in ISO-NE, NYISO, and PJM. Presented at American Wind Energy Association Annual Conference. May 2005, Denver, CO.
Switching Trends column in Retail Energy Foresight, and author / contributor to numerous additional articles and analyses. 2000 to 2004.
