Vernon City Council
February 4, 2025

DECEMBER 19, 2024
www.newgenstrategies.net

UTILITY COST OF SERVICE,

RATE DESIGN, AND

FINANCIAL PLANNING

SERVICES

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Prepared for:

City of Vernon - Todd Dusenberry
General Manager of Public Utilities
4305 Santa Fe Avenue
Vernon, CA 90058
© 2024 NEWGEN STRATEGIES AND SOLUTIONS, LLC
Economics | Strategy | Stakeholders | Sustainability
www.newgenstrategies.net
225 Union Boulevard
Suite 450
Lakewood, CO 80228
Phone: (720) 633-9514
Fax: (720) 633-9535
December 19, 2024
Submitted via email and mail
City of Vernon
Attention: Todd Dusenberry,
General Manager of Public Utilities
4305 Santa Fe Avenue
Vernon, CA 90058
Cover Letter
Dear Mr. Dusenberry:

Vernon Public Utilities (VPU) has been a unique municipal utility for many years and faces unique challenges, even within California, as it ensures its role as an essential resource to the business community while providing cost competitive and reliable services to its customers. While VPU has historically served a more commercial customer base, its residential customer base is experiencing significant growth. Similar to other municipal utilities, VPU provides water, electric, fiber, and natural gas services to its customers; however, the utility operates in a uniquely competitive business environment. Due to the City of Vernon’s(City) location, it often faces direct competition from neighboring investor-owned utilities for its services, and larger commercial customers often can choose which utility will serve them. This situation is now converging with broader business and economic trends in California such as an evolving commercial business base in Vernon, increasing demand for data centers, California’s efforts to decarbonize and electrify, and regulatory issues such as Propositions 218 and 26 related to rate making.

Navigating these unique VPU issues and the broader utility challenges of balancing long-term infrastructure investment, maintaining customer satisfaction, and the sheer amount of data available to drive decision-making is often overwhelming. How do you optimize data analysis to identify and inform the best strategic approach to deliver the right services, address stakeholder demands, and ensure public trust? To address these challenges, we propose to provide VPU with robust, insightful, and defensible Utility Cost of Service, Rate Design, and Financial Planning Services (collectively referred to herein as the Study) that will deliver sound rate recommendations to allow VPU to make the best decisions for its current and future customers which are aligned with the City’s and VPU’s goals of highly competitive rates.

Mr. Todd Dusenberry
City of Vernon, CA
December 19, 2024
2 Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times
We propose to support VPU’s needs for this Study by integrating our utility economic and regulatory market expertise with our team’s local knowledge and experience with VPU. NewGen
Strategies and Solutions, LLC (NewGen) plans to include Bell Burnett & Associates (BB&A) as a subconsultant to provide the services included in the Study. Both NewGen and BB&A
(collectively referred to herein as the NewGen Project Team) have multiple years of experience supporting VPU and have helped the utility navigate the repurchase of the Malburg Generating Station and multiple utility rate making efforts. The NewGen Project Team also has a long history of working with municipal entities on a variety of critical financial and economic issues in California as well as across the country. This experience includes supporting and developing cost of service (COS) and rate recommendations for the majority of municipal electric utilities and Community Choice Aggregation (CCAs) in California over the last decade and integrating/understanding competitive issues in rate recommendations. We offer our combination of extensive utility financial modeling, utility cost of service, and rate design experience, including the development of innovative rate design utilizing our superior modeling abilities.

Understanding your community, your organization, and your data are the three essential elements to developing actionable strategies to sustain your future service. NewGen believes that strategy dictates everything. Our approach incorporates your data, market trends, and community values to provide an integrated view designed to allow you to make long-term decisions with confidence. VPU’s request for rate and financial planning services is directly related to the evolving utility landscape and trends in California and broadly with retail pricing. In this effort, we will deliver and ensure a successful Study by leveraging our nationally recognized COS and rate design expertise and delivering insights from our unique experience with tailored data analytics at utilities, while defending rate recommendations with our unmatched modeling capabilities.

NewGen has thirteen offices; the work for this Study will be performed out of our Denver office, which is located at 225 Union Boulevard, Suite 450, Lakewood, CO 80228. The phone number for our office is (720) 633-9514. I will be the primary point of contact and proposed Project Manager for this proposal response. I am also authorized to contractually bind the firm. My contact information is included below.

CITY OF VERNON

UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times 1

INTRODUCTION
NewGen Strategies and Solutions, LLC (NewGen) believes that it is crucial in any rate study to develop an efficient and effective model that is both transparent and dynamic to project a city’s capital and revenue requirements. For the City of Vernon (City), NewGen will develop a Microsoft Excel-based utility financial model based on the City’s budgeting and actuals, system, and accounts to support periodic updates and alignment with the cost of service (COS) model. The financial planning model will have the capability to forecast revenues by customer class and expenses for 10 years to evaluate potential rate, debt, or capital impacts for each utility or enterprise. We will use the financial planning model to develop revenue requirements for Vernon Public Utilities’ (VPU) gas, electric, water, and fiber utilities and their respective COS models.

When undertaking a COS, rate, or fee study for a municipal utility, it is essential that the participants in the study have a shared vision of the objectives to accomplish in the study. Our approach to reviewing and evaluating municipal utility rates is governed by the view that the ideal rate structure must satisfy seven criteria:
 Legal and Regulatory Compliance is a prime consideration because rate structures must incorporate applicable local, state, and federal statutes. In California, Propositions 218 and 26 will play critical roles in the electric and water rate making processes.  Equity requires that rates and charges result in no undue discrimination among customers.  Efficiency refers to the ability of the rate schedule to encourage the wise use of resources.  Revenue Adequacy recognizes that rates and fees are cost driven.  Affordability means that the recommended rates must result in bills that are within the ability of customers to pay.
 Sustainability means that the objective of the rate methodology is to keep rates low over time, not to keep them low for the short term by omitting or deferring needed expenses.  Administrative Simplicity recognizes that limits must be placed on the number of customer classes, the rate schedule's complexity, and the billing frequency.

Rate structures must be tailored to community perceptions, realities, and values if the project is to proceed smoothly and in a timely manner. Our standard approach to completing a cost of service/rate/fee study is predicated on a three-step process using industry-standard methodology that is explicit and replicable.
 Revenue Requirements – Develop and document the annualized full cost of providing each separate service, including those costs that may not be explicitly identified in the utility’s budget, such as unfunded repair and replacement costs.
 Cost of Service – Functionalize, allocate, and distribute revenue requirements to customer classes based on the cost of providing service to the customers.  Rate Design – Develop a rate strategy, pricing signals, and retail rates to fund system revenue requirements reflecting customer and usage demand forecasts while ensuring VPU’s competitive position.

As project(s) progress, our team will utilize periodic progress meetings and status calls as we begin development of the models and eventual rates for each enterprise. These calls will cover project progress, milestones, and data issues to ensure milestones and due dates are met.

CITY OF VERNON | UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES 2 Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times

GENERAL SCOPE OF WORK
The NewGen Project Team’s (NewGen and Bell Burnett & Associates [BB&A]) management approach will integrate our utility economics and financial markets expertise with our local experience to ensure a successful project and eventual implementation of new rates where needed. Our team’s management approach allows us to conduct simultaneous COS and rate studies for each of VPU’s enterprises, if or when needed. To begin the Utility Cost of Service, Rate Design, and Financial Planning Services (referred to herein as the Study), our team will conduct an on-site kickoff meeting to discuss and collaborate on desired outcomes, key issues, milestones, schedules, and communication plan. This meeting will also serve as an opportunity to review the data request/needs to ensure timely delivery of data to develop the financial planning, COS, and rate models. The kickoff meeting also provides an opportunity to discuss the financial markets, VPU’s long-term debt and capital goals, and financial strategy. This financial strategy discussion will inform the financial planning scenario and sensitivity analysis.

After the kickoff meeting, our team will focus on leveraging existing and/or developing a new utility financial planning tool that will include all the utilities. This will forecast financial performance and allow VPU to run scenarios to optimize each utility’s financial results. Based on the financial planning results, our work would then transition to developing more conventional COS and rate studies.

WORK PLAN
The NewGen Project Team’s approach is driven by collaboration and communication to provide defensible guidance and recommendations. We propose the following Work Plan for this Study.

Task 1: COS, Rate Design, and Financial Planning Consulting Service Task 1.1: Project Startup, Kickoff, and Financial Planning Upon authorization to proceed, we will begin gathering detailed information via a data request related to VPU’s operations and financials in support of the Study. The data request will include financial and operational data such as VPU’s budget, audited financials, billing database, system characteristics, customer class information, and asset data. In addition to VPU and utility financial and operational data, the NewGen Project Team will develop load forecasts for the water, electric, and gas utilities as needed by VPU to accurately project revenues and costs.

As VPU provides the data, the NewGen Project Team will review the initial responses and identify any gaps or additional data needs prior to the kickoff meeting. As stated in the General Scope of Work, we will hold an in-person kickoff meeting with VPU staff to collaborate on starting the project and discussing desired outcomes.

Task 1.2: Load Forecasts and Financial Planning M odel
Similar to other parts of the country and California, VPU is experiencing volatility in load forecasts for certain utility enterprises. Data centers, new commercial customers, and electric vehicles are impacting utility projections and resource procurement decisions. Accurately projecting loads is critical to evaluating future financial performance and risks. The NewGen Project Team will develop a 30-year electric utility hourly load forecast and other monthly and summary-level load forecasts as needed or directed by VPU for the other utilities.

CITY OF VERNON | UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times 3
The electric load forecast will include net energy for load to serve retail customers for 30 years.

This forecast will be used at an annual system level to provide load growth forecasts in the financial model, while the hourly data will be used by VPU’s integrated resource plan (IRP) consultant to deliver forecasted capacity requirements, energy needs, and power supply costs.

The load forecast will include weather, economic conditions, seasonal patterns, retail electricity prices, demand projections for the Southern California and Los Angeles basin, and other demographic trends as input into an econometric model to forecast load. Other key elements and variables will be integrated such as historical weather data, economic historical and forecast data for Los Angeles County, and energy efficiency and demand-side management programs.

The NewGen Project Team proposes to develop a new or leverage an existing VPU financial planning model to begin evaluating overall and enterprise-specific financial performance. The financial planning model will forecast revenues by customer class and expenses for 10 years to evaluate and optimize potential rate, debt, load, capital plan, or other changes over time as desired by VPU. Our model includes a dashboard designed to manage, manipulate, and evaluate large amounts of data instantaneously. The dashboard conveys the key financial metrics, load profile changes, customer impacts, and rate structures to customers, staff, and Councils to facilitate informed decision-making to evaluate each system’s financial health. This effort is crucial in projecting financial performance, capital financing structures and needs, annual cash requirements, reserves, needed rate changes, and related financial key performance indicators (KPIs) (e.g., debt service coverage ratios, minimum cash on hand, etc.). In addition, the financial plan will develop enterprise-specific revenue requirements for use in the COS and rate design.

The NewGen Project Team expects the financial planning model to be critical to developing a long-term strategy and scenario analysis for VPU’s upcoming power generation resource decisions. As VPU has restructured its debt service to have a dramatic reduction in 2029, it must begin evaluating financing options to replenish or augment the capacity that may be retired beyond 2030. This analysis will evaluate options and costs to ensure power capacity for VPU customers while optimizing rates in 2030 and beyond to remain competitive and even achieve the lowest rates in California at that time.

Throughout the financial planning model development, we will hold periodic meetings with VPU to discuss progress and broader financial, California, and debt market insights for inclusion in the model. Upon completion of Task 1.2, the NewGen Project Team will deliver a draft financial planning model for review and inclusion in the subsequent COS and rate studies for each utility.

The final planning model will include all financial reporting and metrics required by VPU to communicate financial health and disclosures to ratings agencies. Please note that while the proposal includes completing the full financial planning model prior to the individual utility COS models, the NewGen Project Team is prepared to develop specific utility COS and rate models prior to the financial planning model if VPU is already aware of the need for immediate or nearterm rate changes for one or more utilities.

Using the financial planning model and scenario analysis, our team will collaborate with VPU staff to optimize debt, cash, rates, KPIs, and related goals to develop the Test Year Revenue Requirements (TY RR) for each utility based on a five-year or other multi-year term revenue requirement projection. The TY RR will then be used in each system’s COS model. We plan to CITY OF VERNON | UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES 4 Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times
conduct a virtual meeting to review and make final revisions to the financial planning model and to finalize the TY RR for each utility.

Task 1.3: Cost of Service and Rate Design Studies
Based on the results of the financial forecast and the TY RR, the NewGen Project Team will begin the COS analysis. While water, electric, gas, and fiber each have some minor variations from the following summary of the COS process, this general process and methodology will consistently be used and applied to each model. In general, there are three key steps to completing the COS:
a) unbundle or functionalize the revenue requirement into utility functions (i.e., production/treatment/supply, transmission, distribution, and customer); b) classify costs (i.e., volume, capacity, and customer); and c) allocate the costs to the customer classes. Included throughout the three steps of the COS is the creation of allocation factors to support the allocation of shared costs to different functions or classifications and the eventual customer class allocation factors to allocate the final costs of service to each customer class. An illustrative COS model demonstrating these three interconnected components for an electric utility is graphically depicted in the figure below.

NewGen has significant experience with VPU’s billing data and consumption profiles for multiple utilities and will leverage that experience in updating and creating the new COS models and allocations to customer classes to ensure each utility model’s defensibility. Our NewGen Project Team expects to update existing COS models for VPU and our scope allows for the creation of two new COS models where needed or desired. The COS models will use basic Excel tools such as reference tables, drop-down menus, and lists for inputs and adjusting selections such as allocation methodologies or specific allocators.

Using the unbundled COS model structure also provides VPU with additional insight into calculating the key COS elements driving the full cost recovery of rates. This insight and our COS model structure will quickly and easily provide the detailed components to create eventual rates and cost adjustment factors for each of the utilities. These COS-based costs and rates will be critical to support rate making and revenue recovery in the face of California’s Propositions 218 and 26 related to the electric and water utility rates. NewGen’s team has extensive experience across municipal and CCA utilities with their development and defense of rates related to CITY OF VERNON | UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times 5
Propositions 218 and 26. Draft COS analysis and supporting models will be provided to and reviewed with VPU for initial feedback and approval prior to completing the COS.

The final step in this task is to develop rate design models, billing impacts, and final recommended rates for each utility. This includes designing base rates and related adjustments (e.g., Energy Cost Adjustment, gas commodity charge, or Water Cost Adjustment factor) for each customer class. This will also entail proving the revenue adequacy of the new rates by forecasting and calculating the annual rate revenue generated for each customer class and comparing it to the class and total system COS. Rates will be designed to follow and support a broader VPU rate strategy discussed during the kickoff meeting and to align with the COS results with the breakdown of customer, demand/capacity, and volumetric-related costs for each customer class. As VPU is in a competitive environment or viewed by large commercial customers as such, our team will benchmark the current recommended rates to inform rate design and communicate the competitive advantage of VPU’s services compared to the local investor-owned utility (IOU) and others in the Los Angeles region.

The NewGen Project Team will design rates for a period of one to five fiscal years (as determined by phased-in or gradualism approach to rate changes) to fully recover VPU’s costs over that same period and ensure financial performance by tracking KPIs. Our rate design effort will also include recommendations on the use of gradualism where needed to phase in structural rate changes (e.g., shifts from volumetric to fixed charges) and larger customer class rate revenue increases where applicable. The results of the initial rate design will be presented and discussed via a virtual meeting with VPU staff.

Billing impacts for all customers in each rate class will be included in the models in addition to rate curves (i.e., effective rates over a range of consumption profiles or load factors) for each class and rate change. These billing impacts and related modelsfunctionality provide more detail and data on the true impacts of rate changes rather than simply communicating average bills or impacts to the 10 largest customers.

Task 1 Deliverables:
 Data request
 On-site kickoff meeting
 Periodic virtual meetings and related project progress meetings  Load forecasts for each VPU utility for use in IRPs, financial forecasts, and planning  Development of VPU financial planning
 Unbundled, classified, dynamic COS and rate models for each utility  Virtual meetings to discuss the draft and final results of the COS and rate models Task 2: Advise, Research, Analysis, and Support Relating to Utility Financial, Rate, or Planning Task 2 includes providing a report for the financial planning model, reports for each utility’s COS and rate design, presentations to stakeholders such as the Business and Industry Commission (BIC) or City Council, and other public engagement efforts as needed to communicate the results of the Study. The NewGen Team will leverage our extensive experiences and best practices in California for communicating COS and rate changes to stakeholders. Typically, these efforts CITY OF VERNON | UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES 6 Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times
include the development of a standard COS and Rate Study summary presentation for use with multiple stakeholder audiences, FAQs available on the utility website, and other targeted communication tools. We will collaborate with VPU staff and community relations teams prior to development of any communication collateral and presentations.

Our team will document the work, analyses, conclusions, and recommendations of the COS and rate models for each utility in a standalone report. The NewGen Project Team will provide a draft report for each utility effort for VPU’s staff to review. A conference call will be held with VPU staff to discuss the draft report and any comments or modifications staff may have. The NewGen Project Team will incorporate comments and feedback in a final report for VPU. The NewGen Project Team will collaborate with VPU to finalize the report and make it publicly available when desired in the public process.

The NewGen Project Team will also develop a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the Study. A copy of the presentation will be provided to VPU for review and feedback prior to any meetings or presentations. NewGen has included attendance for up to 10 public, BIC, or City Council meetings in support of the COS and rate making efforts in each utility and their eventual adoption in our proposal.

Task 2 Deliverables:
 Support development of communication collateral as defined by VPU  Attendance at up to 10 stakeholder, BIC, or City Council meetings  Draft and final financial planning report and COS and rate design report for each utility Task 3: Energy Cost Adjustment Billing Factor
VPU, similar to most electric utilities, utilizes an Energy Cost Adjustment (ECA) factor or rate to recover power supply and fuel-related cost variations properly and fully from the costs recovered and embedded in its base rates. The ECA acts as a risk management mechanism, allows VPU to optimize cash reserve levels, and ensures that the utility fully recovers its single largest and most volatile cost. Task 3 will review VPU’s current ordinance and ECA methodology and provide feedback based on VPU’s financial policies and utility best practices. This may include options for ECA rate change frequency and costs included in the calculation.

Based on this review, the NewGen Project Team will develop a streamlined ECA Excel model to transparently monitor ECA-related costs, calculate an ECA rate, and reconcile VPU’s power supply related costs and revenues on a monthly basis. The model will be aligned with VPU’s chart of accounts, power supply invoices, and other accounting tools to ensure a streamlined data input and ECA rate calculation. The model will defensibly reconcile costs and the ECA rates needed to properly ensure cost recovery and enable staff and stakeholders to readily see the calculations.

Furthermore, we will train VPU staff in the adoption and use of the model and include a reporting or summary table for use in communicating the ECA rate to stakeholders.

Task 3 Deliverables:
 ECA rate model and training for VPU staff
Task 4: Renewable Portfolio Standard Billing Factor
As in Task 3, VPU utilizes a Renewable Portfolio Standard or Renewable Energy Cost Adjustment (ECA-R) rate or factor to ensure recovery of volatile regulatory requirement-related costs to procure renewable energy in California. Over the last year, renewable energy credit (REC) and CITY OF VERNON | UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times 7
renewable energy prices have become volatile and elevated, increasing by more than 300%. Most utilities are not equipped to internally manage or cash flow that magnitude of price fluctuation.

Thus, the ECA-R is used to properly recover the costs. As with the ECA, the NewGen Project Team will develop an Excel model to transparently monitor REC or renewable-related costs, calculate an ECA-R rate, and reconcile VPU’s renewable energy and regulatory-related costs and revenues on a monthly basis. The model will be aligned with VPU’s chart of accounts, renewable/power supply invoices, and other accounting tools to ensure a streamlined data input and ECA-R rate calculation. The team will train VPU staff in the adoption and use of the model and will include a reporting or summary table for use in communicating the ECA-R rate to stakeholders.

Task 4 Deliverables:
 ECA-R rate model and training for VPU staff
Task 5: Water Cost Adjustment Billing Factor
Similar to Tasks 3 and 4, the VPU water utility also faces volatile or rapidly increasing costs to secure water resources and supplies. As these costs can fluctuate dramatically year to year, utilizing a Water Cost Adjustment (WCA) factor or rate, similarly to the ECA and ECA-R in the electric utility, can act as a risk management mechanism and ensure proper cost recovery for these volatile costs. To properly implement the WCA rate, the NewGen Project Team will develop an Excel model that identifies and tracks the specific WCA-related accounts and total expenses compared to the current base rate revenues associated with the WCA expenses to allow for the calculation of a WCA adjustment rate needed to ensure cost recovery. This Excel model will be aligned with VPU’s chart of accounts, will transparently monitor WCA-related costs, will develop a defensible WCA rate, and will allow VPU to implement monthly WCA rate adjustments. The team will train VPU staff in the adoption and use of the model and will include a reporting or summary table for use in communicating the WCA rate to stakeholders.

Task 5 Deliverables:
 WCA rate model and training for VPU staff
Task 6: Existing Rate Tariff Review and Recommendations Task 6 of the Study will include reviewing the existing tariffs for each utility and benchmarking them against the current trends in the market and pricing signals impacting VPU’s operations and services. As a part of the tariff review, the NewGen Project Team will review existing flat rates, tiers, or time of use (TOU) periods in each utility for alignment with regulatory trends and VPU’s financial policies/strategy. We will evaluate their design against VPU local system peak and pricing signals in addition to power supply pricing and California Independent System Operator (CAISO) peak signals for the electric utility rates. While VPU does not have 15-minute interval data for all customers, we will work with VPU to leverage prior interval data used in the existing electric benchmarking model. Based on the comparison, the NewGen Project Team will identify any potential gaps or opportunities available to VPU in updating its tariff or tariff language. This task will also include updating the tariffs and/or ordinances for each utility and the recommended rates developed in Task 1.

Task 6 Deliverables:
 Review existing tariffs for each utility and identify potential refinements  Update tariffs with new rates as determined in Task 1 CITY OF VERNON | UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES 8 Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times
Task 7: Special Rates and Tariffs
Task 7 will include the design of special rates and tariffs as identified by VPU for each utility. As VPU primarily serves the business and industrial community, potential business incentive rates may be evaluated to support economic development through the different utility services. Other new or refined rate structures may include but are not limited to electric vehicle (EV), electrification, net energy metering (NEM), and standby rates in the electric utility; water budget billing structure for the water utility; and others as identified through discussions with VPU staff.

Task 7 Deliverables:
 Develop and design special rates or tariffs as identified by VPU Task 8: Key Financial Metrics and Rate Comparisons
Similar to prior work and support by the NewGen Project Team, Task 8 is expected to include development of templates, summary reports, or other reporting tools to monitor and benchmark financial performance for VPU. The team will develop reporting tools and/or models that calculate and benchmark key financial performance metrics such as debt service coverage ratio, fixed cost recovery, days cash on hand, and others as identified by VPU. The NewGen Project Team will also benchmark these specific financial metrics to VPU’s financial policies and regional utilities to help identify any metrics that may be misaligned for a specific service at VPU.

Task 8 Deliverables:
 Develop financial metric reporting tools
Task 9: Proposition 218 Assistance
Proposition 218, a portion of which is set out in the California Constitution as Article XIII D, was enacted in 1996 to ensure that public agency utility service rates, fees, and charges are reasonable and proportional to the cost of providing the applicable services. The principal requirements for application of such rates, fees, and charges, as they relate to public utility service, are:
 A property-related rate/fee/charge imposed by a public agency on a parcel shall not exceed the costs required to provide the property-related service.  Revenues derived by the rate/fee/charge shall not be used for any purpose other than that for which it was imposed.
 The amount of the rate/fee/charge imposed upon any parcel shall not exceed the proportional cost of service attributable to the parcel.  Rates must reflect services immediately available to a fee payer.  Rates may not fund general governmental services, like police and fire services.

Fundamental COS principles dictate that rates should be recovered from types of customers in proportion to the cost of serving them. Proposition 218 requires that rates/fees/charges be reasonable, meaning that the rate-setting methodology must be sound and that there must be a nexus between the costs and the rates charged. The team follows industry standard COS process rate-setting methodologies, particularly when developing tiered water rates, to ensure that they do not exceed the proportionate cost of providing the corresponding services.

While NewGen’s COS methodology should not be considered legal guidance as it does not offer any assurances of compliance with any other state, federal, or other laws, our approach is informed by the best available legal guidance and strives to match that guidance.

CITY OF VERNON | UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times 9
Task 9 Deliverables:
 Support and facilitate VPU’s compliance with Proposition 218 Tasks 10 and 11: General Utility Financial Support and Special Projects California utilities are facing unprecedented demands, continued regulatory pressures, market uncertainty, and the continued drive to implement climate and 100% clean energy goals. The past two years have seen increasing pressure and volatility in energy rates, gas regulations, resource adequacy, renewable energy credits (RECs), and capital costs. The broader trends in the market coupled with the potential changes driven by data center loads often lead to utilities needing broad and/or targeted general financial support as a new risk, regulatory development, customer growth opportunity, or other issue arises for the utility. The NewGen Project Team can provide broad utility rate making, financing, market trend insights, stakeholder, regulatory, and other expertise as needed or requested by VPU. Providing VPU with flexible, expert augmented staff will allow the utility to respond to inquiries, special projects, or issues in a timely manner and provide added utility finance capacity when needed.

Tasks 10 and 11 Deliverables:
 General utility financial and special project support including staff augmentation at times

FEES AND COSTS
Task Labor Expenses Total
Task 1: Financial Model, COS/Rate Models and Load Forecasts $248,000 $2,400 $250,400 Task 2: Presentations and Reporting $49,000 $12,000 $61,000 Tasks 3–5: ECA, ECA-R and WCA Rate Models $15,000 $0 $15,000 Task 6 and 7: Existing Tariff Review and Develop Special Tariffs $11,000 $0 $11,000 Task 8: Develop Key Financial Metrics $5,000 $0 $5,000
Task 9: Prop 218 Support (included in Task 2) $0
Tasks 10 and 11: General Support and Special Projects (1) $57,000 $0 $57,000 Total $385,000 $14,400 $399,400
(1) General utility consulting support assumes approximately 40 hours per expert available to VPU on asneeded basis.

ABILITY OF THE PROPOSER TO PERFORM
Firm Description – NewGen
NewGen is a management and economic consulting firm specializing in serving the utility industry and market. Established as a Limited Liability Company in August 2012, NewGen primarily serves public sector utilities and provides nationally recognized expertise in load forecasting, utility cost of service and rate design studies, financial feasibility studies, municipalization efforts, depreciation and appraisal studies, litigation support for state and federal regulatory proceedings, utility financial planning, and stakeholder engagement for electric, water, wastewater, solid waste, and natural gas utilities. NewGen was created by consultants who are dedicated to our clients’ missions and recognized as experts in our respective fields of service. “Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times” succinctly describes our capability to provide our clients solutions and recommendations tempered with our keen insight into the growing role CITY OF VERNON | UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES 10 Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times
of stakeholders, resource availability (including renewables), environmental concerns, cost of providing utility services, and economic conditions. This ensures an integrated approach to delivering our products and services. We recognize the need for strategic intent behind our clients’ actions by applying the latest market insights, technologies, and tactics to support our recommendations. Our results empower decision-makers to implement sound public policy, incorporating community input, market direction, and regulatory mandates.

Firm Description – Bell Burnett & Associates
BB&A is a management and strategic consulting firm serving the utility industry and public sector clients in the West. BB&A’s core business is financial management and strategic business consulting. We offer independent development, review, and assessment of strategic and financial plans, including complex financial modeling and forecasting, COS studies, cost/benefit analysis, feasibility work, rate design analysis, and transaction execution. We regularly serve as strategic advisors to General Managers and Executive Directors in the review of strategic financial initiatives, and in turn, develop and present analysis and recommendations to their respective Boards and Commissions. BB&A has worked on numerous cost of service and rate design projects. In working on comparable assignments over the years, we have found that a combination of attributes is essential in bringing and crafting a rate design plan and business case for an agency like the City, including our deep understanding of municipal utilities in California stemming from over three decades of work; our experience in executive management in both the public utility sector and the private sector; our strong technical foundation and strategic perspective in financial modeling, cost of service studies, and rate design; and our broader experience in working with large, sophisticated agencies including VPU. We bring an understanding of the local landscape and start with a perspective of how any rate design package can balance the critical needs of providing these essential services while balancing affordability.

Project Team
The NewGen Project Team includes recognized COS, policy, financing, rate-making, and financial forecasting experts who possess unique knowledge of California municipal utility resources. This includes knowledge of industry trends as well as best practices for electric, water, gas, and fiber utilities. Brief summaries of the Project Team’s experience and qualifications follow, as well as a table displaying estimated time for each team member in each project phase. Tony Georgis and Eric Callocchia both lead our gas, electric, and water utility finance work in California. In addition, Mike Bell, Alex Burnett, and Drew Atwater all live in California and support California water, electric, gas, and fiber utilities. Full resumes are included as Appendix A.

Tony Georgis, Partner and Managing Director | NewGen | Project Role/Responsibility: Project Manager Tony is Managing Director of NewGen’s Energy Practice and brings more than 25 years of experience in engineering and economic analyses for the energy, natural gas, water, and waste resources industries. His work includes assignments for private industry, local governments, and utilities, including sustainability strategy, strategic planning studies, stakeholder engagement, financial and economic analyses, COS and rate studies, energy efficiency, and market research.

Tony has managed multiple utility COS and rate design studies for California utilities and CCAs including developing revenue requirements, unbundling costs, classifying costs, and rate design.

Tony has also worked with VPU’s electric and gas utilities since 2014.

CITY OF VERNON | UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times 11
Eric Callocchia, Partner | NewGen | Project Role/Responsibility: Water Utility Lead Eric has 13 years of utility COS and financial consulting experience. His expertise involves a broad range of industry issues, including revenue stability, customer affordability, COS rate making, and public engagement and education. His expertise in utility COS is rooted in his exceptional analytic skills and broad experience, which ensure that the recommendations he develops are understandable and withstand legal scrutiny. Eric has managed multiple water utility COS and rate projects in California.

Meghan Helper, Senior Consultant | NewGen | Project Role/Responsibility: Assistant Project Manager Meghan has supported clients since June 2019 and assists on COS and rate design projects, with an emphasis on data driven analytics. She has supported the team members with in-depth analysis of revenue projections by customer class, analysis of rate impacts and rate scenarios, and work on updating COS and rate design models for client use. She is adept at Excel applications and managing large data sets to develop cost allocations and determine rate revenue. Meghan has supported VPU’s electric and gas COS, rate, and cash flow models for the past two years.

Tia Carnes, Senior Consultant | NewGen | Project Role/Responsibility: Water COS Analyst/Consultant Tia joined the firm in February 2020. During her tenure, she has provided financial modeling, appraisal/valuation support, COS and rate design analyses, and support to the organizational review and workshop development projects. Her experience includes leadership training and development, team assessment, and financial analysis. Tia came to NewGen with a strong background in customer service, logistics, and high-volume task management. Tia is familiar with VPU’s gas utility and has been managing the recent COS and rate benchmarking updates for VPU.

Aidan Oates, Consultant | NewGen | Project Role/Responsibility: Water COS Analyst/Consultant Aidan joined NewGen in 2021, providing financial modeling, COS, and rate design assistance. His experience includes valuation, trading, economics, and investment banking specific to the energy industry. Aidan works with NewGen project managers to build financial models for utility clients.

These models utilize industry-standard cost allocation methodologies and allow clients to project their systems’ operating, capital, debt service, and reserve requirements on both a short-term and long-term basis. Aidan provides expert utility billing analysis to project utility revenues.

Alanna Daley, Consultant | NewGen | Project Role/Responsibility: Energy COS Analyst/Consultant Alanna joined NewGen as a Consultant in September 2024, applying financial modeling skills to a broad range of rate design projects for clients. Alanna has extensive experience analyzing utility billing data to project cash flow and financing scenarios as a part of utility rate studies.

Drew Atwater, Associate | BB&A | Project Role/Responsibility: Financial Debt Market Advisory Drew brings 15 years of experience in COS studies and rate design. Drew has served as Deputy General Manager of the Moulton Niguel Water District; Manager of Rates, Charges, & Financial Planning for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; and an Associate Consultant for Raftelis Financial Consultants and Atwater Consulting Group. He brings expertise in budget protocols, budget process, data management and financial modeling. In this capacity, he led the development and execution of enhanced financial management operations by establishing streamlined flow of information across departments, building cross-functional relationships, and enabling cutting-edge modeling for forecasting purposes. Drew has extensive financial and CITY OF VERNON | UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES 12 Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times
operational experience including leveraging data analytics to optimize processes, operations, and asset management. He is the Chair of the AWWA Rates and Charges Committee Subcommittee on Rate Design and a lead author of the upcoming AWWA M1 Rates & Charges Manual.

R. Alexander Burnett, Principal | BB&A | Project Role/Responsibility: Financial/Debt Market Advisory Alex brings 34 years of infrastructure and transportation experience as a banker and financial advisor, having served as the Head of the West Coast for Public Finance at JP Morgan, a Managing Director at Citigroup and a Managing Director at Public Financial Management. In this capacity, Alex has worked on financial and strategic planning, organizational assessments, financial strategy, rate and cost design, credit strategy, contract and developer negotiation, and project delivery, and has served as an investment banker and financial advisor managing capital market transactions in excess of $50 billion, resulting in a deep understanding of financial alternatives, technical modeling, funding and budgeting strategies, and financial markets.

Michael A. Bell, Principal | BB&A | Project Role/Responsibility: Financial/Debt Market Advisory Mike brings 45 years of public sector experience as a public sector executive and consultant, including the last 5 years as a founder of BB&A. Mike is the former Chief Financial Officer for Anaheim Public Utilities and Southern California Public Power Authority where he was responsible for the development of best-in-class annual budgets. Mike is the former Executive Director of the California Municipal Utility Association and served as Principal and Senior Director of Client Services for RW Beck’s electric, water, wastewater, and transportation businesses in California. Mike has also served as Assistant General Manager and Economic Planning Manager for 20 years for Anaheim Public Utilities and City Water, Light and Power in Springfield, Illinois.

Mike brings particular expertise to the team in governance, budget process and financial controls, having been responsible for these areas in the past at several large public agencies.

Task Georgis Helper Daley Carnes Callocchia Oates BB&A Total Task 1 10% 25% 34% 9% 7% 13% 2% 100%
Task 2 15% 11% 36% 4% 12% 22% 0% 100%
Tasks 3–5 6% 15% 47% 0% 6% 18% 9% 100%
Tasks 6 and 7 17% 58% 25% 0% 0% 0% 0% 100%
Task 8 8% 25% 50% 0% 17% 0% 0% 100%
Tasks 10 and 11 15% 21% 0% 21% 21% 0% 21% 100%
Qualifications
NewGen is well qualified to provide VPU with the services in the Request for Proposals. Our team has a long history of working with municipal entities in California and nationwide on a variety of critical regulatory, financial, and economic issues. As a company, we routinely provide insight and analysis for electric, water, wastewater, fiber, solid waste, natural gas, and other municipal utility areas. We also understand the nuances of California’s water, power, and gas markets, as we routinely provide financial and utility consulting services for municipal utilities and CCAs, including intervening in the IOU general rate cases. Our experience spans strategic planning, general rate case expert witness testimony, COS and rate studies, and municipalization efforts.

CITY OF VERNON | UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times 13
NewGen has completed more than 75 COS, rate studies, appraisals, strategic planning or expert witness projects for utility clients in California in the last five years. A list of similar California utility economics experience is included below with an asterisk next to projects directly managed or conducted by individuals in this proposal, as further detailed in their resumes.  City of Anaheim (2016–2017 and 2019–
Ongoing)
 Orange County Power Authority (2021–
Ongoing)
 City of Alameda (2015–2020)*  City of Glendale (2017– Ongoing)*  City of Brea (2022–2024)*  Imperial Irrigation District (2020–Ongoing)*  City of Burbank (2021–Present)*  Merced Irrigation District (2015–Ongoing)*  City of Milpitas (2018)*  Turlock Irrigation District (2015, Ongoing)*  City of Pasadena (2018–2022)*  Clean Power Alliance (2022)*  Coachella Valley Water District (2021–
Ongoing)*
 Central Coast Community Energy (2020–
Ongoing)*
 City of Redding (2016–2017, 2020–Ongoing)*  San Jose Clean Energy (2022–Ongoing)*  Jurupa Community Services District (2014–
2015)*
 San Diego Community Power (2024–
Ongoing)*
 City of Santa Clara (2020–2021)*  City of Fullerton (2010–2014)*  City of Vernon (2015–Ongoing)*  City of Concord (2014–2019)*  City of Riverside (2016–2018, Ongoing)  City of Victorville (2022–2023)*  San Diego County Water Authority (2016–
Ongoing) *
Similar Projects
Glendale Water & Power Department | Electric Cost of Service and Rate Design Studies | NewGen NewGen has supported multiple electric utility COS and rate design studies on behalf of Glendale Water and Power (GWP) since 2017. In 2017, GWP initially considered a large capital project for the repowering of an existing combined cycle power plant. The NewGen team created a dynamic and interactive five-year financial forecast to assist GWP in projecting revenues and expenses in addition to understanding the effects of the repowering project on rates, debt, and reserve balances. The forecast model includes dynamic and instantaneous scenario analysis and comparisons, dashboards, and financial statements/reporting to summarize performance, selected financial metrics, and KPIs. A TY RR was developed based on the financial forecast and was used in the COS. The COS process and model included functionalization, classification, and allocation of costs to each customer class. The resulting costs to serve each class were compared to projected revenues to recommend rate changes. Detailed advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) data for each class was analyzed and used to support more accurate and defensible customer class allocations of costs. Since the COS effort in 2017, NewGen has supported and updated the COS and rate efforts at GWP as the repowering project evolved over time and through City Council iterations on the scope and scale of the generation. In 2023, NewGen completed a final updated COS with a Council adopted repower plan resulting in the issue of $500 million in new debt financing obligations coupled with a series of rate increases provided to City Council in December 2023.

City of Vernon Public Utilities | Electric and Gas Utility COS, Rate Design, and Utility Financial Studies | NewGen CITY OF VERNON | UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES 14 Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times
NewGen has supported multiple electric and gas utility COS, rate design, and utility financial studies on behalf of VPU since 2014. In support of the natural gas utility, NewGen has provided marketing and communication plan support and COS and rate studies, and provides as-needed regulatory, financial, and competitive analysis services. NewGen has completed multiple natural gas COS studies which included developing revenue requirements, functionalizing costs, and allocating costs to customer classes. These COS efforts inform rate making and competitive marketing of services for natural gas in the Los Angeles area. VPU’s gas system is unique as the utility can directly compete with the incumbent natural gas utility in the service territory. As such, NewGen supported competitive analyses of the COS results, performed in-depth competitive benchmarking to inform rate making, and updated line extension policies and methods to support customer acquisition. Deliverables in past work included COS and rate models, a benchmarking tool that is periodically updated with market conditions to support customer acquisition, marketing plans, and a line extension review/benchmarking analysis. NewGen has also completed multiple electric COS and rate studies for VPU. These studies have included developing multi-year TY RRs to set rates for an extended period of stability, functionalizing, classifying, and allocating costs to customer classes. This has resulted in COS-based rates for VPU’s customer classes and collaboration with the utility in using and setting the ECA factor to recover volatile market power costs. NewGen has been involved in gas and electric utility stakeholder meetings and presentations to the BIC and City Council in support of rate adoptions.

Coachella Valley Water District | Domestic Water Cost of Service Study | NewGen Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) is a special district established by the state legislature.

The District uses a budget-based increasing tier rate structure for its consumption charges. Each customer has an individualized “water budget.” While some agencies may characterize water budgets as a means to encourage conservation or efficiency, the true purpose of a water budget is to align individual customer water demands with the District’s total cost to develop incremental water supply and distribution over long timespans. The overall goals of the Domestic Water Study were focused on developing a financial plan and proposed rate structure that meets the District’s financial, operational, and capital needs in a manner that equitably distributes costs and maintains the affordability of potable water service. Specific goals included: develop a rate structure in line with California Proposition 218; set rates such that operating cash flows would remain positive for all fiscal years (this goal intends to avoid the creation of a structural operating deficit within the utility); set rates such that the Domestic fund reserves can be maintained at the targeted level while providing funding for necessary capital projects; utilize unrestricted reserves above the reserve policy target to fund capital projects in order to minimize rate increases; and calculate rates that follow industry best practices and cost of service principles. In 2024, the District unanimously adopted NewGen’s recommended rates.

City of Brea | Water and Sewer Cost of Service Study | NewGen Brea imports 100% of its water from Metropolitan Water District and Cal Domestic. Both suppliers have increased their rates over the past several years. In addition, the City is required to expend capital for essential maintenance and improvements to the Brea water system. Brea selected NewGen to perform a water and sewer rate and impact fee study with the following objectives: develop a five-year rate forecast for the water and sewer enterprise funds; develop cost-based impact fees for the water and sewer systems; calculate drought rates based on CITY OF VERNON | UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times 15
historical demand impacts of various drought restrictions; determine an appropriate fixed cost recovery mechanism related to multi-family and master-meter customers; evaluate the costs incurred by the water and sewer enterprises on the City itself, and the services required by the City of the water and sewer enterprises, and incorporate these additional expenses and revenues into the City’s water and sewer rates; and conduct Council work sessions and public outreach meetings throughout the study to solicit input from City stakeholders. NewGen’s water and sewer rate and impact fee recommendations were all approved by Council vote.

City of Vernon, CA | Assets Disposition and Risk Management | BB&A BB&A worked with the City on several projects over the past 5 years. Two of the larger projects included working with the City on the reacquisition of the Malburg Generating Station (MGS) and the City’s Risk Management Policy. MGS is a 120 MW base load/134 MW full load combined cycle, natural gas-fired, electric power plant located within the City. The City entered into a Power Purchase Tolling Agreement in 2008 (PPTA) pursuant to which the City agreed to purchase the capacity, energy, ancillary services, and resource adequacy benefits produced by the MGS. BB&A worked with the City in connection with the execution of a Purchase and Sale Agreement to reacquire MGS from the 2008 purchaser. The City reasonably expects to achieve meaningful benefits from the reacquisition of the MGS, including but not limited to potential cost savings, operational flexibility, long-term site control after the PPTA termination, resource management, power supply flexibility, and local reliability. BB&A also worked with the City in connection with the development and adoption of a Risk Management Policy for electricity and natural gas, including policies and procedures, credit and trading limits, and counter-party exposure.

Reference List
We encourage VPU to contact the references below for whom we have performed similar work.

We are able to provide additional references and information at the request of VPU.

Firm/Agency Name Contact Name, Title, Phone Number, and Email Firm Imperial Irrigation District –
Electric COS, OATT, Pole Rates
Belen Valenzuela, Chief Financial Officer/Manager,
[email protected] | (760) 339-9345
NewGen
Central Coast Community
Energy – COS and Rate Making
Mary Federico, Senior Billing Operations and Rates
Analyst
[email protected] | (831) 641-7213
NewGen
Coachella Valley Water District
– Domestic Water Cost of
Service Study
Karla Romero, Director of Finance
[email protected]
(760) 398-2661 ext. 2240
NewGen
City of Brea –Water and Sewer
Cost of Service Study
Faith Madrazo, Financial Services Manager
[email protected] | (714) 990-7600
NewGen
Vernon Public Utilities – Assets
Disposition and Risk
Management.

Richard Corbi – Risk Management Policy Planning and
Analysis Manager of VPU
[email protected] | (323) 583-8811
BB&A

AFFIDAVIT OF NON-COLLUSION
Our Affidavit is included as Attachment B to our proposal.

APPENDIX A:

RESUMES

UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE

DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING

SERVICES

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
225 Union Blvd., Ste 450
Lakewood, Colorado 80228
[email protected]
www.newgenstrategies.net
Master of Business Administration,
Finance Specialization, Texas A&M
University
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical
Engineering, Texas A&M University
Registered Professional Engineer (PE)
Mechanical, Colorado
Registered Professional Engineer (PE)
Mechanical, Louisiana
Cost of Service and Rate Design
Expert Witness and Litigation Support
Financial / Economic Analysis
Strategic Planning
Sustainability
Mr. Tony Georgis has spent more than 25 years consulting in the energy and public utility markets and was a founding partner of NewGen. Mr. Georgis is currently the Managing Partner for NewGen’s Energy Practice. His consulting career has focused on developing utility organizational and financial strategies with defensible, data-driven support. Tony’s experience blends strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, expert witness, sustainability, and analytical expertise to deliver a unique, more integrated perspective of the market and utility financial performance. Like other leaders at NewGen, Tony applies his experience and expertise to generate insights and a roadmap to address the utility market’s most complex issues and opportunities. His work includes leading strategic planning studies, expert witness testimony, financial and economic analyses, cost of service and rate studies, and market research.

Mr. Georgis leads and manages the development of strategic plans and Roadmaps for utilities, energy agencies, and municipal governments to guide decision-making in increasingly complex business environments. His strategic planning experience includes energy, water, wastewater, solid waste utilities, and local government entities. In support of strategic planning engagements, Mr.

Georgis often facilitates internal planning teams and external stakeholder engagement activities to promote broad and/or targeted stakeholder input to the plans. A strategic plan or Roadmap development typically includes overarching strategic elements such as the organization’s vision/mission, tactical components like projects and activities supporting and ensuring implementation, and tracking/reporting tools for the organization’s measurement of progress to the plan.

Mr. Georgis has also led the development of clean energy and sustainability (or CSR) plans for cities, counties, and utilities to improve the triple bottom line (economic, environmental, and social) and energy performance. Mr. Georgis utilizes an enterprise-wide approach to sustainability to manage regulatory, customer, and financial demands while improving the triple bottom line. He has facilitated the development of city-wide sustainability plans and served as a sustainability subject matter expert. In his role, Mr. Georgis collaborated among internal and external stakeholders, including city/utility staff, key department managers, community representatives, utility customers, and non-profit or nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). To support sustainability planning efforts, Mr. Georgis has developed optimization models to prioritize and identify the “next best dollar spent” to pursue sustainability goals while estimating total costs to implement. He has also implemented sustainability auditing/reporting tools such as greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories/reporting and the development of a utility-tailored version of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

Mr. Georgis’ clients for sustainability, energy strategy, and strategic planning include:
▪ Alameda Municipal Power, CA
▪ City of Colorado Springs, CO
▪ City of El Paso, TX
▪ City of Fort Collins, CO
▪ City of Longmont, CO
▪ City of Palo Alto Utilities, CA
▪ Fort Collins Utilities, CO
▪ Lakeland Electric, FL
▪ Loudoun County, VA
▪ Tampa Bay Water, FL
▪ State of Vermont Department
of Public Service, VT
▪ Western Area Power
Administration, CO
Mr. Georgis leads numerous utility financial planning, cost of service, and rate design projects. Specific tasks typically include:
▪ The development of the
revenue requirement.
▪ Functionalization of costs.
▪ Allocation of costs to
customer classes.
▪ Review of existing customer
class criteria.
▪ Evaluation of line extension
and facilities charges.
▪ Rate design.
▪ Transitioning of models for
the client’s future use.

He has also led the development of financial forecasting models to support long-term capital, expense, revenue budgeting, and decision-making. Mr. Georgis routinely facilitates workshops to develop utility rate strategies or rate studies and presents the study and financial recommendations to governing bodies, boards, and city councils. Mr. Georgis’ clients for cost of service and rate design include:
▪ Alameda Municipal Power, CA
▪ American Samoa Power
Authority
▪ Anaheim Public Utilities, CA
▪ Arizona Public Service, AZ
▪ Austin Energy, TX
▪ Benton Public Utility
District, WA
▪ Burbank Water and Power, CA
▪ Central Cost Community
Energy, CA
▪ City of Cleveland Electric
Utility, OH
▪ City of Garland, TX
▪ City of Gonzales, CA
▪ City of Weatherford, TX
▪ City Utilities, Springfield, MO
▪ Clean Power Alliance, CA
▪ Cleveland Public Power, OH
▪ Colorado Springs Utilities, CO
▪ Farmington Electric Utility, NM
▪ Glendale Water and
Power, CA
▪ Imperial Irrigation District, CA
▪ Lafayette Utilities System, LA
▪ La Plata Electric
Association, CO
▪ Lincoln Electric System, NE
▪ Lubbock Power and Light, TX
▪ Merced Irrigation District, CA
▪ New Braunfels Utilities, TX
▪ Pasadena Water and
Power, CA
▪ San Diego County Water
Authority, CA
▪ San Jose Clean Energy, CA
▪ U.S. Army; Huntsville, AL
▪ Vernon Public Utilities, CA
▪ Victorville Gas Utility, CA
Mr. Georgis often provides technical, financial, and advisory support services for various energy and utility-related projects. He is an expert in developing financial pro formas, bond financings, performing scenario analyses, and evaluating market conditions to support project financing or feasibility decision-making. He has analyzed technical assumptions, optimized project financing, performed scenario/sensitivity analyses, and assisted clients in bidding processes. He has provided economic analyses of utility-scale renewable energy projects, power plant fuel conversions, LNG terminals, conventional/renewable distributed energy resources, and DSM/demand response program benefits. Mr. Georgis’ clients for economic, financial, or market analyses include:
▪ Arizona Power Authority, AZ
▪ Austin Energy, TX
▪ CalRecycle, CA
▪ CPS Energy, TX
▪ Ember Infrastructure, NY
▪ Fayetteville Public Works
Commission, NC
▪ Florida Municipal Power
Agency, FL
▪ Fort Collins Utilities, CO
▪ Freeport Container Port,
Grand Bahama
▪ Hawaii Gas Company, HI
▪ ISO-New England, MA
▪ Kings River Conservation
District, CA
▪ Niobrara Energy
Development, CO
▪ Solid Waste Authority of
Central Ohio, OH
▪ Terrebonne Parrish, LA
▪ U.S. Army; Huntsville, AL
▪ Water and Power Authority,
US Virgin Islands
Mr. Georgis has provided expert testimony since 2014 regarding electric utility revenue requirements, cost of service, rate design, and ratemaking issues before state and local regulatory bodies and courts. He has national experience providing litigation support regarding ratemaking matters at wholesale and retail levels in California, Florida, Indiana, and Texas.

Mr. Georgis’ expert witness and litigation support experience include:
▪ Centerpoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC; SOAH
Docket No. 473-14-3897 and PUC Docket
No. 42560
▪ City of Lubbock, Lubbock Power & Light; PUC
Docket No. 52390
▪ City of Lubbock, Lubbock Power & Light; SOAH
Docket No. 473-24-04313; PUC Docket No. 54657
▪ City of Lubbock, Lubbock Power & Light; SOAH
Docket No. 473-21-0043 and PUC
Docket No. 51100
▪ Oncor Electric Delivery Company; SOAH Docket
No. 473-22-2695 and PUC Docket 53601
▪ Southwestern Electric Power Company
(SWEPCO); SOAH Docket No. 473-21-0538 and
PUC Docket No. 51415
▪ Indiana Michigan Power Company, Cause No.
45993
▪ Northern Indiana Public Service Company LLC
(NIPSCO); Cause No. 45159
Northern Indiana Public Service Company LLC
(NIPSCO); Cause No. 45772
▪ Duke Energy, Florida; Docket No. 20210016-EI ▪ Florida Power & Light Company; Docket No. 20210015-EI
▪ City of Pasadena – Pasadena Water and Power; No. BC 677632 ▪ Pacific Gas and Electric Company
CPUC Application No. 21-06-021
▪ San Diego Gas and Electric Company
CPUC Application No. 22-05-016
▪ Southern California Edison Company
CPUC Application No. 23-05-010
Mr. Georgis has presented at numerous industry associations and conferences, provided training for utility staff, and published several trade journal articles. These efforts have focused on utility finance, strategic planning, market trends/opportunities, and sustainability. Mr. Georgis’ presentations and publications are detailed below. ▪ Demystifying Distributed Energy Resources
▪ Distributed Energy Resources: Risks and Opportunities ▪ Distributed Energy Resources: Risks and Opportunities ▪ Balancing Aging Infrastructure, Rates, and Residential Demand ▪ Tools and Frameworks to Drive the Business Case for Sustainability ▪ SEC Climate Change Disclosure Guidance
▪ SEC Guidance on Climate Change Disclosures
▪ Leadership in Sustainability – Sustainability Decision Making, Implementation and Reporting ▪ Regulatory Drivers for Sustainability
▪ Transportation Sustainability and Climate Change Seminar ▪ Evolution of the Carbon Markets and Opportunities for the Scrap Tire Industry ▪ Evolution and Optimization of Energy Efficiency and Smart Grid Measures ▪ Carbon Credits and Recycling Products
▪ Selling Tire-derived Products to the Architectural and Construction Markets ▪ Growing Role for Demand Response in ISO Operations. Utility Automation and Engineering T&D, November 2008 ▪ Recycling and Climate Change: A Primer. Resource Recycling, August 2009 ▪ Recycling and Climate Change: Opportunities for Recycling as a Climate Change Strategy. Resource Recycling, September 2009
900 Bestgate Rd., Ste. 402
Annapolis, MD 21401
[email protected]
www.newgenstrategies.net
Bachelor of Arts in Economics and
Mathematics, Johns Hopkins University
American Water Works Association –
Active member of the AWWA Rates and
Charges Committee and Cost of Service
Subcommittee
Cash Flow Sensitivity Analysis
Econometrics
Economic Impact Analysis
Financial Modeling
Public Finance
Utility Management
Utility Rate and Fee Design
Water and Wastewater Cost of Service
Analyses
Mr. Eric Callocchia has 13 years of utility cost of service and financial consulting experience. His expertise involves a broad range of industry issues, including revenue stability, customer affordability, cost of service rate making, and public engagement and education. His expertise in utility cost of service is rooted in his exceptional analytic skills and broad experience, which ensure that the recommendations he develops are understandable and withstand legal scrutiny.

Mr. Callocchia is a contributing author to the most recent edition of the Water Environment Federation’s Manual of Practice 27 – Financing and Charges for Wastewater Systems. He is an active member of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) Rates and Charges Committee and a contributing author to the upcoming eighth edition of AWWA’s Manual M1 – Principles of Water Rates, Fees, and Charges.

Mr. Callocchia provides water, wastewater, and stormwater industry expertise and policy guidance to NewGen’s clients. His rate study approach involves the development of customized financial models that focus on the policy issues, cash needs, revenue requirements, and key performance indicators of each client. His models equip clients with the necessary information to make critical capital financing decisions and rate adjustments to finance their system’s operation, asset maintenance, and replacement needs while maintaining fund balance policies based on industry best practices. The models also have the capability of scenario analysis and can be incorporated with operating and capital expense and revenue projects. Mr. Callocchia develops and recommends alternative rate structures and assists with implementing phased-in rate plans that address client issues and maintain the financial health of utility funds.

Mr. Callocchia also provides expert guidance on managing water, sewer, and stormwater utilities, including developing policies and procedures related to customer service, organizational communication, and public outreach.

Clients that Mr. Callocchia has provided these services include:
▪ Albemarle County, VA
▪ Anne Arundel County, MD
▪ Bloomington and Normal Water
Reclamation District, IL
▪ City of Annapolis, MD
▪ City of Brea, CA
▪ City of Charlottesville, VA
▪ City of Concord, CA
▪ City of Dover, DE
▪ City of Falls Church, VA
▪ City of Frederick, MD
▪ City of Fredericksburg, VA
▪ City of Hagerstown, MD
▪ City of Hampton, VA
▪ City of Naperville, IL
▪ City of North Kingstown, RI
▪ City of Park Ridge, IL
▪ City of Portsmouth, VA
▪ City of Prospect Heights, IL
▪ City of Richmond, VA
▪ City of Rockville, MD
▪ City of Salisbury, MD
▪ City of Westminster, MD
▪ Coachella Valley Water
District, CA
▪ Delaware County Regional
Water Quality Control
Authority (DELCROA), PA
▪ Frederick County, MD
▪ Jericho Water District, NY
▪ Jurupa Community Services
District, CA
▪ King George County Service
Authority, VA
▪ Loudoun Water, VA
▪ Rivanna Water and Sewer
Authority, VA
▪ Somerset County Sanitary
District, MD
▪ Town of Barnstable, MA
▪ Town of Colonial Beach, VA
▪ Township of East
Brunswick, NJ
▪ Town of Elkton, MD
▪ Town of Fairfield WPCA, CT
▪ Town of Herndon, VA
▪ Town of Lovettsville, VA
▪ Town of Middleburg, VA
▪ Town of Pound, VA
▪ Town of Purcellville, VA
▪ Town of Wallingford, CT
▪ Town of Vienna, VA
▪ Village of Addison, IL
▪ Village of Fox Lake, IL
▪ Village of Libertyville, IL
▪ Village of Lindenhurst, IL
▪ Village of Lombard, IL
▪ Village of Orland Park, IL
▪ Village of Westchester, IL
▪ Washington Suburban
Sanitary Commission, MD
▪ Wise County Public Service
Authority, VA
In 2019, the Village engaged NewGen to complete a feasibility study to project the costs of implementing a Master Stormwater Management Plan (MSM) and to determine the appropriate methodology to charge Village citizens the fees for the MSM-planned projects. The Village also tasked NewGen with developing credit policies and manuals, appeal procedures, and an appropriate Stormwater Ordinance. Mr. Callocchia developed a financial model that projected the twenty-year cost of the Village’s MSM and the various impervious area-based cost allocation methods the Village could adopt as a funding mechanism. Mr. Callocchia’s feasibility study allowed Village staff and elected officials to evaluate the various stormwater funding alternatives and implement industry best practices for the administration of its stormwater management program. Mr. Callocchia finalized the impervious area and utility billing databases. He also coordinated with Village staff to develop an interactive online fee lookup tool that allowed Village citizens to see their potential stormwater fee before it became effective. Mr. Callocchia also worked with Village staff to conduct two Town Hall-style public information sessions before the fee became effective.

The City of Westminster serves as the County Seat. It is in the center of Carroll County, conveniently located near Maryland’s largest cities, two state capitals, Annapolis and Harrisburg, and the nation’s Capital. The City had historically faced challenges when funding stormwater operations and capital costs. In the past, the City had not accounted in a detailed fashion for the actual stormwater management costs, with most of the costs absorbed by the City’s streets and road maintenance accounted for in the General Fund. The City engaged NewGen in 2019 to complete a feasibility study with several tasks:
▪ Identify and isolate the actual cost of stormwater maintenance. ▪ Develop and recommend a ten-year stormwater CIP given the City’s asset listing and future stormwater needs.
▪ Recommend policies regarding stormwater fees and credits. ▪ Engage in a public information campaign to educate the City’s citizens on the need for additional resources for stormwater management.
▪ Assist in implementing a Stormwater Utility that properly accounts for the City’s stormwater costs.

Mr. Callocchia developed a financial model detailing the City’s stormwater costs and helped the City implement a stormwater fee tied to the account information of City sewer users.

Frederick County, Maryland, was anticipating the issuance of a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit from the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) that would place a particular cost burden on the County’s 48,000 stormwater fee payers. Mr. Callocchia developed a financial model that determined the Maximum Extent Practicable (MEP) level the County could reasonably fund, given current funding levels, median household income, and the County’s procurement limitations. Mr. Callocchia’s financial model allowed for a sensitivity analysis to determine the possible increase in funding given several factors. The County used Mr. Callocchia’s analysis to appeal the permit requirements and reduce the financial impact on the County’s customers by reducing the mandated spending related to the permit and lengthening the required implementation timeframe.

The City of Geneva was actively involved in developing the Kane County Stormwater Management Ordinance in 1998. Geneva became a “certified community” in 2001 by adopting the final version of the City’s stormwater ordinance. The Lake County Stormwater Management Commission provided a template that was the basis of the City’s Stormwater Management Program Plan (SMPP). The plan aimed to meet the minimum standards required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase II program.

Mr. Callocchia led a team that conducted a financial analysis as a part of a Citywide Watershed Study. The City supported the drainage and stormwater-related costs through its General Fund. His role in the Watershed Study was to support and participate in the initial City staff meeting to establish a City Vision document. Mr. Callocchia also identified current grants and funding sources and developed funding strategies to facilitate the City’s Public Works Department’s capital and operational needs related to their drainage infrastructure responsibilities. He recommended funding gap strategies associated with an annual program and budget. Mr. Callocchia also participated in and supported a City Council strategic planning workshop on the topic related to the Citywide Stormwater Report and financial perspectives.

Mr. Callocchia developed a water and sewer rate model for the City of Annapolis, Maryland that projected various debt scenarios, including bond coverage calculations and cash-on-hand target projections. The City was able to generate ratings of AA-, Aa3, and AA- from the three major rating agencies and issue revenue bonds totaling $30,755,000 on schedule, thanks to the feasibility report generated by Mr. Callocchia’s team.

Silgan Plastics is the leading manufacturer of metal containers in North America and Europe and the largest manufacturer of metal food containers in North America, with a volume of approximately half the market share in the United States of America. They are also a leading worldwide manufacturer of metal, composite, and plastic closures for food and beverage products. Mr. Callocchia led a team to evaluate the utility rate charges for a selection of Silgan’s manufacturing plants and assisted Silgan in settling rate disputes with local utility providers.

Mr. Callocchia’s detailed evaluations and expert analysis resulted in a settlement agreement for more than $500,000 above the amount offered to Silgan before Mr. Callocchia’s involvement.

The San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) and The Metropolitan Water District of California (MWD) were engaged in litigation regarding the water rates charged to SDCWA by MWD. Mr. Callocchia developed a report on MWD’s rate-setting methodology and how it relates to the principles and industry standard practices detailed in the American Water Works Association (AWWA) Manual M1 - Principles of Water Rates, Fees, and Charges.

Mr. Callocchia’s evaluation assisted SDCWA in showing the illegality of MWD’s rates based on their nonconformity to AWWA standards and California Law (Proposition 26). Mr. Callocchia’s work involved cost-of-service analysis and knowledgeable explanation of industry standards to the Superior Courts of California. After Mr. Callocchia’s report, a judge ruled in favor of the Water Authority, saying MWD’s rates for 2011-2014 were illegal and awarded SDCWA $235 million. Upon appeal, the appellate court ruled in favor of MWD on one of twelve issues. The California Supreme Court denied a petition by SDCWA to review the appellate court ruling. The results of the dispute in which Mr. Callocchia was involved as an expert were:
▪ MWD must pay the Water Authority approximately $51 million for the so-called “Water Stewardship” charges that MWD added to the transportation rates it charged the Water Authority from 2011-2014.

The decision prevents MWD from imposing more than $20 million in illegal charges annually in the future. By 2047, those unlawful charges would have amounted to approximately $1.1 billion. ▪ MWD unlawfully under-calculated the Water Authority’s statutory water rights to MWD’s water supply. ▪ A contract clause MWD used to disqualify local water supply projects in San Diego County from receiving funding from MWD was unconstitutional.
▪ Engage in a public information campaign to educate the City’s citizens on the need for additional resources for stormwater management.
▪ Assist in implementing a Stormwater Utility that properly accounts for the City’s stormwater costs.

The City of Westminster, Maryland, was sued by a new customer who alleged that the methodology used by the City to calculate its water and sewer benefit assessments, commonly known in the utility industry as System Development Charges, was unlawful. Mr. Callocchia was an expert witness detailing the industry standard methodologies used to calculate these fees and provided the Court with the rationale and basis for the City’s fees. The Court ultimately found that the City’s fees were not illegally calculated based on the City’s testimony, which included Mr. Callocchia’s expert witness statements. ▪ WEF Manual 27, Financing and Charges for Wastewater Systems, Contributing Author ▪ Setting Water and Sewer Rates in New York State While Addressing the Challenges of 2020 New York State GFOA 2020 Northeast Holiday Seminar, 2020 ▪ Setting Water and Sewer Rates
New York State GFOA 38th Annual Conference, 2017
▪ A World without Crystal Balls: Attempting to Forecast Operating Expenses Tri-Association Conference, 2016
▪ Enhanced General Fund Reimbursement by Enterprise Funds Brown Edwards Conference, 2014

MEGHAN HELPER
Senior Consultant
Economics | Strategy | Stakeholders | Sustainability
www.newgenstrategies.net

CONTACT
225 Union Boulevard, Suite 450
Lakewood, CO 80228
[email protected]
www.newgenstrategies.net

EDUCATION
Master of Science in Engineering and
Technology Management, Colorado
School of Mines
Bachelor of Science in Geophysical
Engineering, Colorado School of Mines

KEY EXPERTISE
Electric Cost of Service and Rate Design
Litigation Support
Ms. Meghan Helper joined the firm as an Analyst in July 2019 and assists with cost of service and rate design projects, emphasizing data-driven analytics. Ms.

Helper has a B.S. in Geophysical Engineering and an M.S. in Engineering and Technology Management, with areas of interest in Data Analytics and Project Management. Before joining NewGen, Ms. Helper managed a tree nursery and worked in geophysical consulting.

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Cost of Service and Rate Design – Electric
Ms. Helper assists with cost of service and rate design studies for electric utility clients. She has assisted with load analysis for solar and non-solar data, billing and distributed generation analysis, and proforma development. Ms. Helper’s cost of service and rate design projects include:

Litigation Support
Ms. Helper assists in litigation support and preparing expert witness testimony.

Her testimony support is related to revenue requirements, cost of service, rate design, and the proper allocation of generation costs considering a system’s unique characteristics. Ms. Helper’s litigation support clients include:
▪ City of Aurora, CO
▪ City of Farmington, NM
▪ City of Georgetown, TX
▪ City of Greenville, NC
▪ City of Merced, CA
▪ City of Springfield, Mo
▪ City of Weatherford, TX
▪ City of Vernon
▪ Estes Park Power and
Communications
▪ Georgetown Electric Utility
▪ Glendale Power and Water, CA
▪ Greenville Electric Utility, TX
▪ Imperial Irrigation District, CA
▪ Lafayette Utilities System, LA
▪ Navajo Tribal Utility
Authority, AZ
▪ San Francisco Public Utility, CA
▪ Santee Cooper, SC
▪ Silicon Valley Power, CA
▪ U.S. Army, Fort Hood, TX
▪ U.S. Army, Fort Myer, VA
▪ U.S. Army, Fort Polk, LA
▪ U.S. Army, Killen, TX
▪ U.S. Army, Letterkenny Army
Depot, PA
▪ U.S. Army, Monterey, CA
▪ U.S. Army, Presidio of
Monterey, CA
▪ U.S. Army, Redstone Arsenal, AL
▪ U.S. Army, Vernon Parish, LA
▪ U.S. Army, Yuma, AZ
▪ Wyoming Municipal Power
Agency
▪ Indiana Michigan Rate Case ▪ NIPSCO Rate Case
Tia Carnes
Senior Consultant
Economics | Strategy | Stakeholders | Sustainability
www.newgenstrategies.net

CONTACT
225 Union Blvd., Ste 450
Lakewood, Colorado 80228
[email protected]
www.newgenstrategies.net

EDUCATION
Master of Business Administration,
Belmont University
Bachelor of Science in Bible/Biblical
Studies, Cairn University

KEY EXPERTISE
Appraisals and Valuation
Cost of Service and Rate Design
Financial Planning & Budgeting Model
Organizational Effectiveness
Rate Benchmarking & Analysis
Ms. Tia Carnes joined the firm as a Consultant in February 2020. During her tenure, she has provided financial modeling, appraisal/valuation support, cost of service and rate design analyses, and most notably, support to the organizational review and workshop development projects. Her experience includes leadership training and development, team assessment, and financial analysis. Ms. Carnes came to NewGen with a strong background in customer service, logistics, and high-volume task management.

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Cost of Service and Rate Design
Ms. Carnes performs cost of service and rate design studies for electric, wholesale, and retail water, reclaimed water, wastewater, drainage, and natural gas utilities. She assists clients in understanding their service offerings’ financial and operational impacts and develops rates intended to fully recover operating costs. Her clients include:

Organizational Effectiveness
Ms. Carnes conducts a high-level review of an organization to determine best practices, areas for improvement, and recommend solutions. Her contributions include analysis of survey results determining the organizational health of the client and facilitating workshops to build team skills and organizational effectiveness. Her clients include:

Appraisals and Valuation
Ms. Carnes performs appraisal analyses to develop value indicators using the income, cost, and market valuation approaches. Her appraisal projects include:

Power Generation Assets
Power Distribution Assets
▪ City of Austin, TX
▪ City of Brea, CA
▪ City of Charlottesville, VA
▪ City of Coachella Valley, CA
▪ City of Corpus Christi, TX
▪ City of Henderson, KY
▪ City of Lewisville, TX
▪ City of Maryville, MO
▪ City of Orland Park, IL
▪ City of Springfield, MO
▪ City of Waco, TX
▪ City of Austin, TX
▪ City of Denton, TX
▪ CPS Energy, TX
▪ DEMCO, LA
▪ Somervell County Appraisal
District, TX
▪ Robbins Schwartz

TIA CARNES
Senior Consultant
Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times 2
▪ City of Harrisonburg, VA
Water and Wastewater Systems
▪ Town of Lexington, SC
Power Supply Contracts
▪ Basic Management, Inc., NV
Other Projects
Public Power Feasibility
▪ City of San Diego, CA
Facilities Rates Study
▪ City of Phoenix, AZ
Community Engagement
▪ City of Redding, CA

AIDAN OATES
Consultant
Economics | Strategy | Stakeholders | Sustainability
www.newgenstrategies.net

CONTACT
900 Bestgate Road, Suite 402
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
[email protected]
www.newgenstrategies.net

EDUCATION
Master of Energy Management, Tulane
University
Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and
Finance, The College of William and Mary

KEY EXPERTISE
Cost of Service and Rate Design
Financial Planning & Budgeting Model
Renewable Energy Equity
Mr. Aidan Oates joined NewGen in 2021, providing financial modeling, cost of service, and rate design assistance. His experience includes valuation, trading, economics, and investment banking specific to the Energy industry.

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Cost of Service and Rate Design•
Mr. Oates works with NewGen project managers to build financial models for utility clients. These models utilize industry-standard cost allocation methodologies and allow clients to project their systems’ operating, capital, debt service, and reserve requirements on both a short and long-term basis. Mr.

Oates provides expert utility billing analysis to project utility revenues properly.

Clients to whom Mr. Oates has provided these services include:

PRIOR RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Heikkinen Energy Advisors
Equity Research Associate
 Began the renewable energy equity research division by initiating coverage of several renewable companies operating in different industry subsectors.  Built financial models to determine the inherent value of businesses operating in various renewable segments, including biomass production, sustainable utility generation, solar inverter manufacturing, battery distribution, and solar installation.
 Updated the models for mergers, acquisitions, debt and equity offerings, and general industry developments.
 Performed market research, valuation alterations, and quarterly report updates for publication.
 Created a system of comparing reporting across solar installation companies.

Thompson Financial Group
Financial Advisory Associate
 Albemarle County Service
Authority, VA
 Bloomington and Normal Water
Reclamation District, IL
 City of Brea, CA
 City of Frederick, MD
 Coachella Valley Water
District, CA
 Town of Barnstable, MD•
 Township of Hamilton, NJ•
 Town of Middleburg, VA•
 Village of Orland Park, IL

AIDAN OATES
Consultant
Thoughtful Decision Making for Uncertain Times 2
 Balanced, designed, and reconstructed individual portfolios based on weighted risk tolerance considerations, market factors, and investment horizon.
 Led a team of new representatives to analyze modern sales trends and the effect of keyword marketing on specific territories within several archetypal Maryland markets.

ALANNA DALEY
Consultant
Economics | Strategy | Stakeholders | Sustainability
www.newgenstrategies.net

CONTACT
225 Union Boulevard, Suite 450
Lakewood, CO 80228
[email protected]
www.newgenstrategies.net

EDUCATION
Bachelor of Business Administration in
Management Information Systems,
University of Texas at Austin

KEY EXPERTISE
Cost of Service & Rate Design
Financial Modeling
Python
SQL
C++
Ms. Alanna Daley joined NewGen as a Consultant in September 2024, applying financial modeling skills to a broad range of rate design projects for clients. Ms.

Daley has extensive experience analyzing utility billing data to project cash flow and financing scenarios as a part of utility rate studies.

PRIOR RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Indeed
Central Strategy & Operations Intern
US Finance Strategy & Operations Intern
▪ Partnered with a team of 5 Strategy Analysts to update 15+ Total Addressable Market Sizing models; results released publicly in the Recruit Holdings FY22 Annual Report.
▪ Designed an estimation model to size Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging opportunity providing a data basis to the company’s 2030 ESG commitments.
▪ Performed comprehensive research of the U.S labor force demographics to support a senior stakeholder campaign.
▪ Conducted competitive and pricing analysis to power the international share of wallet estimation for over 1,000 clients.
▪ Developed intricate snowflake query statements to carry out extract, transform, and load operations for revenue analysis.
▪ Examined distinct revenue forecasting methodologies to assess the accuracy of a software generated forecasting model.
▪ Researched average quarterly spend of 490 large clients and compiled data to help facilitate stakeholder decision-making.
▪ Employed skills in MS Excel and SQL to analyze vast amounts of data and systematize the summary of findings then constructed dynamic graphs and charts in Google Sheets to explain findings.

Financial and technical
education and training
University of California;
Riverside, CA – Master of
Science, Environmental
Economics & Natural
Resource Economics &
Policy
Reed College; Portland, OR –
Bachelor of Arts, Physics
Drew Atwater
Associate, Bell Burnett & Associates
Financial and Strategic Advisors
+1 818 935 0205
Professional experience summary
• Drew Atwater is an Associate with Bell Burnett & Associates, a management and strategic consulting company serving the general municipal, utility and transportation sectors.
• Drew is a finance expert with 15 years of public sector experience as a utility rate consultant and working within government. Drew spent 5 years in executive management positions in the utility industry. • As Deputy General Manager, oversaw comprehensive range of functions including financial planning and innovation, accounting operations, optimization of operational processes, warehousing and purchasing contracts, human resources and customer service, billing, water efficiency and resource planning, and IT operations.

Drove operational efficiency and strategic alignment by leading team of 50, including 6 direct reports.
• Built highly skilled team of top talent, focusing on recruiting mission-driven individuals who understand organization’s purpose, fostering culture of innovation and continuous improvement, and establishing feedback mechanisms to enhance employee support. Achieved recognition as top workplace in Orange County and US.
• Enhanced financial management operations by establishing streamlined flow of information across departments, building cross-functional relationships, and enabling cutting-edge modeling for forecasting purposes:
o Achieved AAA rating from Fitch and S&P, won numerous financial awards, and implemented financial best practices certified by various organizations.
o Secured high-value grant awards, including $10M Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), $2M grant for
operations and supportability implementation system (OASIS) ranking, $405K US Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) project, and water efficiency rebates of $500K.
• Led several high-impact capital projects for Moulton Niguel Water District (MNWD) that garnered awards for customer benefits and innovative technologies, including $8M transition to smart meters, replacement of outdated billing system, organization-wide Resiliency Action Plan with global utility best practices and implementation of new work order maintenance management system.
• Lead efforts to optimize metropolitan water district’s rate structure.

Oversaw stakeholder management, provided strategic policy recommendations, led development and implementation of key financial planning processes, studies, and policies, ensured compliance with government regulations, and supported organization’s strategic goals through financial forecasting and analysis.

Financial and technical
education and training
BA — Princeton University,
Politics and East Asian Studies
R. Alexander Burnett
Principal, Bell Burnett & Associates
Financial and Strategic Advisors
+1 415 994 6750
[email protected]
Professional experience summary
• Alex Burnett is a Principal with Bell Burnett & Associates, a management and strategic consulting company serving the general municipal, utility and transportation sectors.
• Alex is a finance expert with 34 years of public sector utility and transportation experience as both a banker and financial advisor having served as Head of the West Coast for Public Finance at JP Morgan, a Managing Director at Citigroup and as a Managing Director at Public Financial Management, the nation’s largest independent financial advisory firm serving the public sector, where he spent 15 years.
• Alex has served as senior manager, co-manager or financial advisor on infrastructure transactions in excess of $50 billion.
• Representative experience includes: financial and strategic planning, cashflow modeling and management, balance sheet strategy, rate design, credit strategy and negotiation, contract negotiation and project financing and delivery. • Municipal clients include: State of California, City of San Diego, City and County of San Francisco, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, City of San Jose, Bonneville Power Administration, Energy Northwest, Southern California Public Power Authority, Anaheim Public Utilities, Burbank Water and Power, City of Vernon, Northern California Power Agency, Silicon Valley Power, Transmission Agency of Northern California, Bay Area Rapid Transit District, County of Alameda.

Select engagement experience
• City of San Diego – Led by Alex Burnett, BB&A is serving as a subcontractor on the Public Power Feasibility Study of creating a new municipal electric utility. BB&A’s responsibilities include all of the detailed and financial feasibility modeling. In this capacity, BB&A has built a robust financial proforma to assess the revenue streams, costs, and economic feasibility and affordability of a new municipal utility for transmission and distribution assets compared to SDG&E. • San Francisco Public Utilities Commission – Served as Engagement Leader for three different enterprise funds of the SFPUC. In this capacity, responsible for the development of a cost optimization model for the City’s Sewer System Improvement Program (SSIP), a 20-year city-wide infrastructure program with an overall cost in excess of $4 billion. Evaluated both capital and operating forecasts over a 50-year period to assess the impacts of different assumptions on financial health, rates and charges, financial feasibility, customer affordability, and compliance with SFPUC policies. Currently working with the SFPUC on potential project development for the Power Enterprise.

City of San Jose – Served as the lead working with the City in the comprehensive restructuring of their redevelopment debt portfolio. In leading the efforts on financial structuring and alternative analysis, credit strategy and institutional investor outreach, was able to help the City to refinance 25 different series of Tax Allocation Bonds through the issuance of $1.7 billion in taxable and tax-exempt bonds for the City’s Successor Agency.

Financial and technical
education and training
Harvard University Program
for Senior Executives in State
and Local Government
Pepperdine University
Masters of Business
Administration
St. Louis University Bachelor
of Science
Michael A. Bell
Principal, Bell Burnett & Associates
Financial and Strategic Advisors
+1 209 217 6358
[email protected]
Professional experience summary
• Mike Bell is a Principal with Bell Burnett & Associates, a management and strategic consulting company serving the general municipal, utility and transportation sectors. • Mike is a finance expert with 45 years of public sector experience as a financial advisor and working within government. Mike spent 20 years in executive management positions in city government and the utility industry.
• Mike founded Michael Bell Management Consulting (MBMC), a strategic and financial consulting firm, and managed the engineering, design, and management consulting services for RW Beck, a nationally recognized consulting engineering company serving the electric, water, wastewater, and solid waste businesses in California. Mike served as Assistant General Manager and Economic Planning Manager for 20 years, working for both the Anaheim Public Utilities and City Water, Light and Power in Springfield (IL). • Representative experience includes: strategic planning, organizational reviews, operational and financial planning, and program and service development to cities, counties, utilities and special districts.
• Mike has detailed knowledge of both long- and short-term financing strategies and has acted as the key decision-maker in more than $9.0 billion project financings. He has prepared numerous analyses and feasibility reports used to finance infrastructure, including major water, wastewater, telecommunications, and electric generation, transmission and distribution system projects. Mike has provided expert testimony before various public bodies such as city councils, utility boards, and participating organizations in multifaceted business concerns.

Select engagement experience
• Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) – Mr. Bell provided professional expertise and advice in the development of long term financial and strategic plans for the BPA. The plans included targets for financial health, including cash balances, leveraging, secondary revenue risk management and capital deployment efficiency. Mr. Bell continued service to assist BPA with implementation of the plans with an emphasis on operational and program reviews, cost containment and efficiency studies. • Glendale Water and Power (GWP) – Developed a comprehensive update of GWP’s Water and Electric Department financial plans including the development of a 5-year financial plan. During this assignment annual audits and budgets were completed and adopted; cost of service analysis updated; new water, and electric rates implemented, and two bond issues completed, including document development and review, discussions with rating agencies, and interaction with the City’s advisors, attorneys, and bankers.
• Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) – Assisted RPU with the development of guidelines and goals that provide direction for the financial management of RPU. Policies and guidelines include revenue, debt, investment, risk management, accounting and reporting, budget, and reserves.

APPENDIX B:

AFFIDAVIT OF NONCOLLUSION

UTILITY COST OF SERVICE, RATE

DESIGN, AND FINANCIAL PLANNING

SERVICES

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

THANK YOU!
225 Union Boulevard, Suite 450, Lakewood, CO 80228
Phone: (720) 633-9496
Email: [email protected]
www.newgenstrategies.net