Senior Consulting Economists

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 Hamish Fraser established Easter Bay in 2009. He is a leading international expert on the subjects of electricity sector reform and electricity market design.

His experience in these subjects dates to 1992, when he supported the implementation of the electricity market in New Zealand. He was then an advisor to the New York Power Pool from 1994-1996 on the development and implementation of the first electricity market in the United States. He subsequently participated in the development of other electricity markets in the United States. From there he went on to lead a number of electricity sector market reform and electricity market design assignments internationally, and particularly in developing countries. For example, he was the advisor to RAO UESR and the Market Council in Russia on a number of key aspects of Russia’s electricity sector restructuring and development of electricity markets. In 1999 and again in 2015-2016 he advised the Ministry of Energy in Mexico on the establishment of their new electricity market, ranging from the reform strategy itself to the detailed rules of electricity trade. He has advised on the transition towards electricity markets throughout the Middle East. More generally, he has advised governments and national regulators in jurisdictions spanning Asia, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East on electricity sector reform and electricity market design. 

Aside from sector reform and market design, Hamish is also a leading expert on the procurement of renewable generation. He has designed and implemented clean energy procurement strategies for Government clients that have delivered over 10,000 MW of renewable capacity and set consecutive world records for the lowest long-term PPA price for any technology.

Hamish has also led many investment analyses, cost-benefit analyses, electricity market due diligence, modelling, regulatory strategy and valuation assignments, and has provided market and regulatory strategy advice to numerous utilities in the electricity industry. 

He has supported regulators, market councils, electric utilities and their investors and lenders, Government ministries, system operators, market operators, single buyers, transmission companies, utilities, investors, the IFC/ World Bank and other electricity industry organizations in more than forty countries and in approximately twenty-five states of the US. 

 Dennis Colenutt is a specialist in energy sector economics. Since starting his energy sector career in 1987 his work has focussed primarily on two areas (i) the institutions and mechanisms that are necessary for the development of effective energy sector regulatory arrangements; and (ii) the development of market structures that promote the development of competition and facilitation of private sector participation in the energy industries. 

Dennis’ clients have included utilities and their investment banking advisers, single buyers, governments, and regulators. His work in the UK has included advising one of the major generators in the run up to electricity privatisation, advising British distribution companies in connection with price regulation, and advice in connection with the restructuring of the gas sector. He has also worked extensively overseas on energy transactions and advisory projects.  This has included wide-ranging work on energy liberalisation, market development, and regulation in many countries in the EU, Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East, China, Central, South and South East Asia, including Singapore and Thailand, and in Latin America.

His energy advisory work in Asia specifically has included projects in a number of different provinces in China, four different states in India, and extensive project work in Singapore. He has also carried out a range of projects in Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Bangladesh. In Central Asia, he has carried out projects in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

Gene Meehan has over thirty-five years of experience consulting with electric and gas utilities and has testified in the US as an expert witness before numerous state and federal regulatory agencies, as well as appeared in federal court and arbitration proceedings.  He has also undertaken many advisory assignments outside of the United States.

Gene’s practice concentrates on serving energy industry clients, with a focus on helping clients manage the transition from regulatory to more competitive environments. He has performed consulting assignments for over fifty large electric, gas, and combination utilities, as well as Governmental entities such as regulators and Ministries of Energy, in the areas of retail access, regulatory strategy, strategic planning, financial and economic analysis, merger and acquisition advisory services, power contract analysis, market power and market definition, stranded cost analysis, power pooling, power markets and risk management, ISO and PX development, and costing and pricing.  

Gene has in-depth working knowledge of the operating, accounting, and settlement processes of all United States power pools and representative international power pools. For example, he has provided consulting services for New York Power Pool members on a continuous basis since 1980, advising the Pool and its members on production cost modelling, transmission expansion, competitive bidding and reliability, and marginal generating capacity cost quantification. In NEPOOL, he has quantified the benefits of continued utility membership in the Pool and the impact of the Pool settlement process on marginal cost. He has worked with a major PJM utility to explore the impact of PJM restructuring proposals upon generating asset valuation and examine the implications of alternative restructuring proposals. He has consulted for Central and Southwest Corporation, Entergy, and Southern Company on issues that involved the internal pooling arrangements of the utility operating companies of those holding companies, as well as for various utilities on the impact of pooling arrangements on strategic alternatives.  Outside of the United States he has advised on the transition from vertically integrated Government-owned power sectors to competitive electricity markets in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, Oman, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

In addition to his expertise on power pooling issues, Gene has significant experience with assignments related to the settlement process. He has focused on the issues of credit management as new entrants appear in retail and wholesale markets and has designed efficient specifications for retail settlement systems, including the use of load profiling, and examined the risk and cost allocation issues of alternative settlement systems.

Gene has advised numerous utilities on power procurement issues and administered power procurements on behalf of utilities and regulators and has advised regulators and governments on power market establishment.  

Regarding restructuring and stranded cost recovery, Gene has directed several multi-year projects that involved facilitating the development of an integrated regulatory and business strategy and formulating regulatory filings to accomplish the strategy. As part of these assignments, Gene facilitated sessions with senior management to set and track the strategy. 

Gene also has extensive experience with power contracts and power contract issues. He has reviewed and testified on the three principal types of power contracts: integrated utility to integrated utility contracts, IPP to utility contract, and integrated or wholesale utility to distribution utility contracts.