John J. Elder, P.E., Manager - Power Systems & Market Design

John J. Elder has over 30 years of experience in the power industry, and is an industry leader in the field of thermodynamic performance and heat balances for fossil fuel power plants.  Mr. Elder supervises LAI's production simulation and transmission load flow modeling efforts to derive forward locational energy prices and is an authority on technical operating and performance issues.  He has performed analyses of transmission pricing and access reforms under FERC Order 888 initiatives and has provided utility clients with engineering economic evaluations and performance assessments of power stations.  Mr. Elder also has extensive technical and supervisory expertise in fluid systems design, technology assessment, and steam cycle optimization.

Before joining LAI, Mr. Elder worked for at Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation as Principal Mechanical Engineer.  Mr. Elder received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He is a registered professional engineer in Massachusetts.

Philip L. Curlett, P.E., Manager - Energy Systems Engineering

Phil L. Curlett has 32 years of experience in the energy industry with a broad background in engineering, development, and financing of generation facilities and infrastructure projects.  Mr. Curlett has conducted technical performance and project financial analyses for developers, lenders, and power purchasers, as well as for utilities and government agencies.  He has also developed and managed bid evaluations for purchased power and EPC solicitations.  He has been active in many aspects of utility deregulation and privatization of infrastructure services in North America and several developing countries.  Mr. Curlett is a leading expert in energy systems modeling and assessment.  He has operated fluid flow models of natural gas pipeline systems for regional deliverability assessments and chronological power production simulation models for price forecasting.

Prior to joining LAI in 2000, Mr. Curlett was a Project Development Manager at Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation where he also held positions in the Heat Balance, Technical Studies, and Advanced Technologies groups.  Mr. Curlett received a combined B.A. and B.S. degree in Economics and Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell University.  He holds an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell and an M.B.A. from Babson College, and is a registered professional engineer in Massachusetts.

Michael C. Lints, P.E., Ph.D., Manager - Power Technology

Michael C. Lints, Ph.D. has over 25 years of experience in energy technology assessment, operational analysis, and applying advanced modeling techniques.  Dr. Lints’ expertise includes a variety of fossil power generation technologies, in particular, advanced turbine designs, waste coal, conventional coal, and biomass, as well as heat transfer, plant O&M standards, and engineering economics.  He has conducted pipeline network pressure / flow simulations and optimization analyses of regional gas pipeline delivery capability and bulk power security throughout the Northeast.  Dr. Lints has formulated mathematical models to account for the price effects attributable to merchant exit, volatility, and plant optionality, and has applied decision risk analysis to LAI’s litigation support services.  Dr. Lints has submitted expert testimony before state regulatory commissions.

Prior to joining LAI in 1990, Dr. Lints was President of Rochester Engineering.  He is a registered professional engineer in New York.  Dr. Lints holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Richard L. Carlson, Ph.D., Managing Consultant

Richard L. Carlson, Ph.D., has 30 years of experience as a consultant, software developer, and research economist on a wide range of energy and environmental economics topics, including market behavior, market volatility, portfolio risk measurement, integrated resource planning, emissions compliance, and rates setting. Dr. Carlson led development of software used for integrated resource planning, emissions compliance, and hydro storage scheduling. Previously, he was product manager of planning and risk software used for power plant valuation, fuels and emissions allowance budgeting, risk management, and other planning applications by electric utilities and generating companies. Dr. Carlson has performed independent market price analyses in support of power plant financings and the auction of purchased power agreements, and has testified in rates and integrated resource planning cases in Maine and Ontario, and on the long-term impacts of fuel ethanol production.

Dr. Carlson received a Ph.D. and M.A. in Resource Economics from the University of Wisconsin, and a B.S. from Washington State University. Prior to joining LAI he worked for 10 years at Ventyx (and its predecessor companies, Global Energy Decisions and Henwood Energy), most recently as Vice President of New Solutions. Before that, he was a consultant at The Goodman Group, Ltd. and Economics Plus, Inc., an assistant professor at Queens College in New York, and a research associate at Washington University.

Edward A. McGee, P.E, Managing Consultant

Edward A. McGee has an extensive international background in gas supply, transportation, and distribution, as well as in the energy, chemical, and process industries.  He has coordinated LAI's steady-state and transient flow pipeline modeling efforts, and has assessed network performance and contingency events.  Mr. McGee has developed and applied quantitative planning and management techniques, including computer-based simulation and optimization models.  He has advised numerous gas utilities and petrochemical companies on energy planning, acquisitions, and operations.

Prior to LAI, Mr. McGee was a Vice President/Director at Stone &Webster Management Consultants, Inc. and a Business Development Manager at Stone & Webster Engineering Corp. responsible for world-class chemical and refining complexes.  Before that he was Director of Energy Resources for W. R. Grace and worked at AMOCO Oil.  He received his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and both his B.S and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame. Mr. McGee is a licensed professional engineer in Indiana and is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Institute of Management Sciences.

Thomas M. Halleran, Executive Consultant

Thomas L. Halleran is a senior transmission planner / operator / engineer with 36 years of electric utility industry experience. He was formerly the Manager of Substation and Transmission Engineering and the Chief System Operator for Con Edison where he was responsible for the transmission, generation, and steam systems.  Mr. Halleran has extensive knowledge of the New York transmission system and has helped implement new market design and local reliability rules among all the Northeast ISOs.  He has applied his operational expertise to current inter-market coordination issues for the reliability-constrained scheduling of bulk power flows.  Mr. Halleran has represented Con Edison’s interests at the NYISO and has testified at FERC on behalf of Con Edison.

Prior to joining LAI, Mr. Halleran worked at positions of increasing responsibility at Con Edison.  He received his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Manhattan College and an M.B.A. from Fordham University.  He is a senior member of the IEEE and serves on or participates in NYISO and ISO-NE business and market committees, including as Chairman of the NYISO System Operations Advisory Subcommittee.  Over the last decade he has been an active participant at NYISO Business Issues & Management Committees and the ISO-NE Market Committee.

William R. Luthern, Executive Consultant

William. R. Luthern was a senior gas industry executive with a variety of planning, operations, marketing, and regulatory experience.  He was responsible for liquid natural gas, propane production and storage operations for three operating utilities, as well as for the gas system control centers, propane plants, meter stations, pressure control, and distribution facilities.  Mr. Luthern was able to open new markets and directed supply planning, acquisition, and regulatory matters in the U.S. and Canada.  He has helped LAI clients with FERC storage regulation, gas interchangeability, and LNG terminal siting / technology / safety issues.

Before joining LAI Mr. Luthern was VP of Production & Control for Keyspan Energy delivery, the largest distributor in the Northeast.  Prior to that he was VP of Gas Resources at Boston Gas Company where he was responsible for gas supplies and corporate acquisitions.  Mr. Luthern was a Director of the New England-Canada Business Council and the Business Advisory Council to Massachusetts and Nova Scotia, and served on other state and regional committees, including as Chairman of the Northeast Power Coordinating Council working group charged with reviewing the Criteria for the Design and Operation of Interconnected Power.  He received his B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Northeastern University, and his M.B.A. from Suffolk University.

Edward K. Tsikirayi, Executive Consultant

Edward K. Tsikirayi has 14 years of bulk power planning and operations experience, including transmission-constrained reliability assessments and competitive market production simulations.  He utilizes LAI’s suite of chronological simulation and transmission flow models to conduct resource adequacy assessments, project economic evaluations, energy and capacity price forecasts, and load / optimal power flow analysis.  Mr. Tsikirayi has conducted numerous multi-regional and inter-market price forecasts for LAI clients, estimated the impact of proposed transmission upgrades on inter-zonal transfer limits, and developed demand curve parameters for ICAP pricing mechanisms.

Prior to joining LAI, Mr. Tsikirayi was Lead Engineer for Power Supply and Reliability Planning with ISO-NE where he was responsible for developing ISO-NE’s 13 sub-area reliability model and performing the transmission-constrained reliability assessment of ISO-NE’s first Regional Transmission Expansion Plan.  Prior to ISO-NE, Mr. Tsikirayi worked as Principal Engineer for Integrated Resource Planning at the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority and was the utility’s representative on the Southern African Power Pool’s Generation Planning Working Group.  Mr. Tsikirayi received his B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Moscow Power Engineering Institute.

Boris L. Shapiro, Ph.D., Executive Consultant

Boris L. Shapiro, Ph.D., has 30 years of experience in the energy industry including power plant design and performance, power system planning, and operations, and market design.  He has international consulting and domestic regulatory experience providing technical and commercial advice to state utility regulatory commissions, electric power utilities, and system operators in the restructuring of the electric power industry, and the design and implementation of energy markets.  Dr. Shapiro participated in the development of the Forward Capacity Market in New England and in the New England Regional System Planning process having representing the State of Massachusetts in the regional Planning Advisory Committee.

Prior to joining LAI, Dr. Shapiro worked for the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities and for PA Consulting Group.  He received his M. S. degree in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, and a Ph. D. in Electric Power from the Russian Electric Power Research Institute.

Diane A. Rigos, Ph.D., Senior Consultant

Diane A. Rigos, Ph.D., is a research scientist with 20 years of computational and physical chemistry experience in the areas of materials, reactions, and energy.  Energy research has focused on LNG, fuel cells, renewable technologies, thin film solar cells, and renewable portfolio standards.  She has assisted clients with evaluations of power supply proposals and is providing technical and safety advice on proposed LNG projects.  Materials modeling research has focused on density functional theory studies of corrosion initiation and on laser-induced high temperature effects on defense material.  Dr. Rigos has also evaluated electric interconnection and system upgrade costs for merchant generators and calculated various emission rates for alternative resource options.

Prior to joining LAI in 2005, Dr. Rigos was Chair and Associate Professor of Chemistry at Merrimack College.  In addition to her academic work, Dr. Rigos was a Principal Scientist at Physical Sciences Inc. where she worked on defense and energy contracts. During that time she was also a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University's Department of Physics, and a Visiting Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Laboratory.  Dr. Rigos received a B.A. in Chemistry from Cornell University, a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an M.B.A. from Northeastern University.

Sara Pierce, Senior Consultant

Sara Pierce has expertise in chemical engineering, power generation, heat dynamics and pipeline simulation modeling.  She has developed steady-state and transient flow models of pipeline systems in order to analyze regional gas flows and capacity data.  Ms. Pierce has provided quantitative research, data management, and engineering and modeling support for a variety of projects, including market price forecasting and infrastructure assessments.

Ms. Pierce has previous energy experience in legislative and policy analysis research for the Northeast-Midwest Coalition Congressional and Senate staff.  She received her B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Matthew J. DeCourcey, Consultant

Matthew J. DeCourcey has expertise in economics and financial analysis. He has provided quantitative research, analytical, and technical support for a number of projects in the natural gas and power industries.  Mr. DeCourcey has assisted law firms with complex litigation matters, assisted with the development and evaluation of capacity demand mechanisms, and has conducted numerous financial analyses of trading strategies, asset optimization and regulatory initiatives.

Prior to joining LAI, Mr. DeCourcey worked for SmartEnergy, Inc., an energy services company operating in the New York and PJM markets.  Mr. DeCourcey holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from the University of Massachusetts at Boston.

Jennifer A. Bartels, Consultant

Jennifer A. Bartels has experience providing research and quantitative analysis.   Ms. Bartels has assisted with the development of long-term price forecasting of gas, oil and coal prices for multiple clients to assist with energy strategies and capital decisions, and has analyzed flow patterns on major interstate pipelines.

Ms. Bartels holds a B.S. in Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.