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DAVID F. RUSSELL, P.E.PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Current Position: Owner and founder of a private consulting practice - Russell Consulting. Business Objective: Provide timely and highly effective management and financial consulting services to public and private utilities, municipalities, and related government agencies and private companies. Through a network of associated professionals Russell Consulting provides a wide range of management and financial services, including: management consulting, utility economics, power markets and deregulation assessments, rate design and cost of service studies, and utility/business appraisals. Mr. Russell is an economist and engineer with broad experience in both operational and strategic planning, cost/benefit studies, economic/financial analysis of capital improvement programs, and rate design/cost of service studies. He has 30 years of experience within the utility industry and environmental sector as a Professional Engineer, Economist and Manager with a broad perspective on management and operations. As the Director of the Regulatory Services for Unitil Service Corp., a regional utility holding company, Mr. Russell managed the staff and resources of the Regulatory Services Department. The Company's retail affiliates (electric and gas utilities) are regulated by two state Public Utility Commissions and the FERC. Areas of functional responsibility included; sales and load forecasting, customer and load research, rate research and analysis, rate design, rate and tariff administration, revenue requirements and cost of service studies, economic analysis, demand side management (DSM) planning, program design and evaluation, and related analytical services. In this position, Mr. Russell was responsible for insuring that rates and cost recovery for the retail Co's. contributed positively to the continued financial strength of the Corp., and that positive regulatory relations were maintained. He successfully developed and implemented expanded DSM programs in both Ma. and N.H. He was also responsible for preparing and filing each retail Co's. Least Cost Integrated Resource Plans covering the next ten years, including the first Integrated Gas Resource Plan. He successfully managed and coordinated an external (PUC) audit of the accounting and control of all DSM expenditures by the affiliated retail Companies in N. H. As Chief Engineer with the Massachusetts DPU, Mr. Russell reviewed, conducted public hearings, and reported on the need for and the costs and benefits of major construction projects proposed by electric and gas utilities; including powerplants, substations, transmission lines, and gas storage facilities (LNG, SNG and Propane) and gas pipelines. He was instrumental in developing the States' gas pipeline safety code and was responsible for the gas pipeline safety program funded by the US Dept. of Transportation. He also helped to design and implement the Cost of Gas Adjustment clause for all retail gas utilities. He managed the environmental review process which included writing internal procedures, the "Scope of Work" for major facilities, and statewide rules and regulations. While in this position, he was appointed by the Governor to 2 special Comm’s., The Cogeneration Comm., and the Public Power Comm. As a Principal Management Consultant with Camp Dresser and McKee, Inc. (CDM), Mr. Russell took a lead role in many projects including management audits, financial feasibility reports, privatization studies and rate/cost of service studies for a wide range of municipal and private utilities. In that position he gained international experience as a financial advisor to the Water and Sewerage Corp. of the Bahamas and the World Bank, and the Governments of Egypt and Mexico. He served as project manager for a management audit of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, looking at all phases of their organization, operations and capital assets programs. As part of a major study for the N. J. Dept. of Environmental Protection, Mr. Russell was responsible for evaluating the costs and benefits of various ownership options, including a Regional Authority and both public and private water utilities, and financing alternatives for supplying the long term requirements of the Metro Camden Area. For the Town of Wallingford, Conn., he was project manager of a study that evaluated the town's municipal electric utility focusing on the financial and institutional benefits associated with public ownership. Mr. Russell assisted the City of Logansport, Ind. in evaluating the management, organization and control of the City-owned and operated electric utility (Logansport Municipal Utility - LMU). Key areas of this work consisted of a focused management audit and preparation of a management action plan. This evaluation was targeted at four critical areas - organizational structure, staff requirements, operational goals and performance measures, and management information systems. He also assisted the City, as its chief technical negotiator, for a long term wholesale power contract with Public Service of Indiana. Mr. Russell has completed many rate studies for communities or authorities throughout New England and the northeast. Some of these involved the adoption of innovative rate structures designed to encourage conservation, and in two cases the differentiation of cost factors and rates based on geographic location. Mr. Russell has provided rate consulting services to many wastewater utilities, including the following: the Boston Water and Sewer Commission; the Blackstone Valley District Commission; the City of East Providence; the City of Warwick; and the Narragansett Bay Commission. Another area of specialization, which he took a lead role in, was feasibility studies for waste to energy facilities and contract negotiations for the sale of electric energy and capacity to power companies. He completed assignments as project engineer for feasibility studies for several resource recovery facilities located in the Northeast, the Midwest and Fla. He negotiated power contracts for many of these resource recovery plants. For the Ill. Association of Wastewater Agencies he wrote an Energy Handbook that provided a blueprint for member utilities, identifying and evaluating all cost effective measures to reduce, manage or switch energy resources in order to minimize total system energy costs. He has been a lead consultant for several projects involving the evaluation and appraisal of utility facilities and property. For the City of Warwick, R. I., he was responsible for a complete inventory and appraisal of all assets owned and operated by the municipal water utility. For the Jamaica Water Supply Co. he played a lead role in a severance study designed to determine additional capital and operating costs incurred as a result of a public takeover of a large portion of their system. For the Town of South Kingstown, he prepared a comprehensive evaluation of alternative privatization options (ownership and operations) for the public water supply system. He also served as CDM's manager of all appraisal/ acquisition studies for the multibillion dollar Central Artery/Harbor Tunnel project in Boston, Ma. For Eastern Utilities Associates, a regional electric utility, Mr. Russell was a Section Manager within the Rate Dept. where he was responsible for the development and implementation of several pass-through rate clauses designed to recover specific capital and operating costs based on customer demands and/or total use. These cost recovery mechanisms included fuel, purchased power, and oil conservation adjustment clauses. He was a lead engineer for cost of service and rate design studies prepared for rate cases involving affiliated retail electric companies. He also played a key role in preparing rate filings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Comm. for the Co.'s wholesale affiliate, and was responsible for all PURPA related programs for the Co.'s retail affiliates in Ma. and R.I. As a Senior Engineer for General Public Utilities, Mr. Russell provided in-house consulting services to the Corporate Planning Div. where he was instrumental in implementing the systemwide strategic planning process. He also assisted the Forecasting, Load Research and Supply Planning groups in determining the need for new power plants and the least cost alternatives. This work included the development of the firm's conservation and load management program (the industry’s first). As a Consultant to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Mr. Russell participated in the development of standard purchase and sale rates for cogeneration facilities and small powerplants, as required by PURPA. Additionally, he presented staff's case on cost of capital issues involving proposed rate increases by major electric utilities. EDUCATION:
Rutgers University, M.A., Economics (Resource and Regulatory Economics), 1984. PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION: Registered Prof. Engineer in Massachusetts (28342) & New Jersey (26512). PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS: I.E.E.E. (Power Engineer & Engineer Management Sections), National Society of Professional Engineers, American Public Power Association, American Water Works Association, New England Water Works Association (Member of the Rates and Conservation Committees), Rutgers Engineering Society, Water Environment Federation (Member of the Management and Administration Committee and the Conservation Subcommittee). PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS: Author of several papers published in professional journals and presentations given at regional and national conventions. EXPERT WITNESS SERVICES: Provided expert testimony in numerous quasi-judicial proceedings before several state Public Utility Commissions and Legislative Committees. Areas of expertise include many of the issues and topics outlined above. COMMUNITY SERVICE: Fmr. Chairman of the Planning Board (City of Newburyport), Chairman of the Mayor's Special Task Force on Police Facilities (Newburyport), Member of the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, Treasurer for the City Committee (Newburyport). ADJUNCT PROFESSOR: Part-time instructor at Boston University teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses in Economics, Management Science and Finance. |