“New Energy Economics (NEE) is entering state-based regulatory proceedings and policy discussions with a clear economic message – that clean energy is now fundamentally cheaper than running existing coal plants, provides more positive economic development, and improves state business investment and jobs opportunities.”
– Ron Lehr
NEE Board Chair
and former Chair of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission
New Energy Economics assists policy makers, utilities, and stakeholders in making informed energy decisions through non-partisan analysis within state regulatory arenas. We aim to move beyond divisive energy policy debates by fostering collaboration and consensus-building. By evaluating all energy options, we seek to identify the most cost-effective solutions that lower utility costs and rates, maintain reliability, and promote economic development in the states where we work.
Michelle brings valuable experience from her background in business ownership, grant writing, and not-for-profit administration. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and exploring new travel destinations.
Ivan Urlaub is an impact entrepreneur who brings over 25 years of domestic and international experience to his role as Director, Energy & Infrastructure with New Energy Economics. Serving in a fractional role, Ivan is focused on iteratively improving energy affordability, equity, and economic competitiveness. Ivan works with NEE’s growing team and expert Board members to lead programmatic strategy, helping to build out NEE’s regulatory, market, and econometric research and analysis capacity, managing projects, and providing expert testimony and analysis.
Ivan is a former SAFE Energy Security Fellow, US EPA NNEMS Fellow, recipient of multiple business journal, state-level, and non-profit clean energy awards, an Eagle Scout, and he holds Master of Public Policy and Master of Environmental Management degrees from Duke University. He is Principal and founder of Urlaub Strategies, LLC where he also helps clients devise strategic roadmaps supported with research and analysis to realize their vision in the global clean energy and climate transition.
Outside of work, Ivan is based in the Southeast and enjoys baseball, soccer, scouting, travel, and family activities.
Select relevant accomplishments include:
Founded or helped grow several national and state-level not-for-profit organizations
Advised hundreds of clean energy sector, digital infrastructure, and transmission infrastructure firms, state and local governments, not-for-profits, and large energy consumers, helping them successfully navigate energy policy challenges
Co-developed North Carolina’s first clean energy consumer adopter surveys, ratepayer bill impact analysis and reporting, and the nation’s first state-level survey of clean energy jobs and investment
Collaboratively led and supported diverse coalitions that have secured the adoption of dozens of laws and more than one hundred beneficial regulatory outcomes
Supported design and iterative improvement of inclusive utility investment programs and related financial mechanisms
Advised on energy market and policy development in 20 U.S. states
As a senior analyst, Nick Jones brings several years of experience in analyzing natural gas markets, power markets, and emerging decarbonization technologies. His previous role involved providing data and market commentary to some of the largest energy producers and investors in the world. He is currently working to build NEE’s data strategy and expand our analytical capabilities. Nick is an alum of University of Michigan and Deep Springs College.
2023 Biennial Consolidated Carbon Plan and Integrated Resource Plans
Board Members, Dr. Jennifer Chen and R. Brent Alderfer and NEE Director Energy & Infrastructure, Ivan Urlaub
Link to Testimony and Exhibits
Conclusions and Recommendations
New Energy Economics’ objectives align with and help corporate consumer priorities of addressing market barriers to low-cost clean energy and meet carbon related goals:
Together, with strategic partners, provide reliable, lower-cost clean energy for all utility customers.
Rulemaking Proceeding Related to Biennial Consolidated Carbon Plan
NEE presented four general priorities for the CPIRP Rule:
Intervener in the 2025 Triennial IRP
Evergy is on a trajectory to reduce its baseline emissions 70% by 2030. In the current Evergy 2024-25 Triennial IRP, NEE will:
Intervener in the 2022 Evergy Triennial IRP
NEE was an intervener in the 2022 Evergy Triennial IRP and filed an alternative energy plan with the Missouri and Kansas utility commissions. Our alternative plan showed substantial cost savings and economic benefits that would save $600-700 million over the planning period to 2040, compared to Evergy’s plan. The NEE plan retired more coal, sooner, and added more wind, solar, storage, and efficiency.
The NEE model showed how early retirement of Evergy coal units provides significant customer savings: $661 million in present value savings to Evergy Metro customers, and $724 million to Evergy Missouri West customers. The model showed how these savings could be increased by several hundred million dollars through low-cost refinancing of coal debt and could be increased further by additional energy efficiency investments.
OUR WIN:
As a result of NEE’s filing, Evergy met with NEE’s modeling team resulting in the utility committing to use Capacity Expansion Modeling beginning with the 2025 Triennial IRP. NEE is an intervener in the 2025 IRP, ensuring full use and transparency of the modeling and applied economics.
NEE Press Release from 2022 IRP Filing:
[USE TITLE WITH HYPERLINK)(Word document in emails) ENERGY PLAN FILED WITH STATE COMMISSION: MILLIONS IN SAVINGS, LOWER CONSUMER RATES, SAME RELIABILTY STANDARD, DRAMATIC REDUCTION IN POLLUTION (HYPERLINK]
Title and hyperlink to NEE’s filings Kanases/Missouri – Both are linked in press release.
¾ way down in press release that is in attached word doc there are
Links in Press release, each need own link/box
Missouri Public Service Commission and Kansas Corporation Commission.
NEE is actively working to delay and reduce by half Ameren’s proposed 800 MW natural gas project, advocating for its replacement with increased energy efficiency measures and accelerated deployment of renewable energy, including batteries, wind, and solar. Through Ameren’s 2025 IRP update process and related regulatory dockets, NEE will focus on ensuring the utility accurately accounts for gas price risks, improves its clean energy procurement process, and incorporates more renewable energy, particularly from wind resources in neighboring states. Additionally, NEE will collaborate with stakeholders to enhance Ameren’s resource modeling with improved All Source Procurement (ISP) of competitive and reliable clean energy options, and advocate for improved customer programs to alleviate increasing energy demand from tech and industrial customers, while also pushing for public accountability on fossil fuel cost-sharing to reduce cost risk to all consumers related to the cost volatility of natural gas that can lead to hirer customer rates.
NEE Link to IRP filing and summary bullet points.
Ameren Missouri 2023 IRP Joint Filing Resolution with NEE
Council for New Energy Economics (NEE) Alleged Deficiencies/Concerns
NEE Deficiency 1 – Resolved: Ameren does not adequately account for risk in its natural gas price forecasts.
Resolution: Ameren Missouri contended that it has accounted for the risks cited by NEE. Ameren Missouri will describe how it accounts for the risks cited by NEE in future annual updates and IRP filings.
NEE Deficiency 2 – Resolved: Ameren should move towards capacity expansion modeling, which provides greater flexibility and efficacy in evaluating potential resource plans.
Resolution: Ameren Missouri will evaluate EnCompass, PLEXOS and Aurora against the criteria provided in the comments.
Deficiency 3 – Unresolved: Ameren’s elimination of Grain Belt Express from its analysis of candidate resource options constitutes a supply-side deficiency.
NEE Concern 1 – Resolved: Ameren should pursue aggressive demand-side management strategies.
Resolution: Ameren Missouri has evaluated both MAP and RAP level demand-side management (DSM) resources in its IRP and has a current MEEIA application in front of the Commission to continue its DSM offerings to its customers.
In addition to resolutions from the 2023 IRP, NEE is engaging in the following:
2022 Integrated Resource Plan
Board Member, Ron Binz expert testimony
Conclusions and recommendations
2022 Rate Case
2023 Fuel Cost Recovery
Board member, Brent Alderfer expert testimony
Conclusions and recommendations
2024 Integrated Resource Plan Update
Board member, Ron Lehr expert testimony
Media Statement (Link)
Conclusions and recommendations
Letter to The Honorable Jennifer M. Granholm
Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy
New Energy Economics and Clean Energy Buyers Alliance coauthor guest column to inform how regional energy markets can lower costs for all customers and inefficiencies for companies that want access to reliable, affordable, clean energy.
Opinion: The West can plug into lower-cost electricity with regional energy markets
For Immediate Release New Energy Economics
Plan Summary Evergy KS | Plan Summary Evergy MO
UPDATE — Evergy adjusts future resource planning as a result of NEE modeling:
NEE secured Evergy’s agreement to replace its outdated modeling with software capable of capacity expansion modeling, which is a critical capability for achieving reliable modeling results that reflect the new energy economics, including the affordability and availability of renewable energy resources.
Georgia has been very successful in the development of solar generation, currently fifth in the country in total solar installed. Ron’s testimony addressed why the Georgia Power bid process resulted in recommendation for only new gas production. He summarized the following conclusions and recommendations:
Anna Sommer, with Energy Futures Group (EFG), has more than 15 years’ experience working on a wide variety of energy planning related issues, with a primary focus on integrated resource planning (IRP). Along with Chelsea Hotaling at EFG and the transmission and grid reliability experts at Telos Energy, she is providing capacity expansion and system dispatch modeling consulting support to New Energy Economics. More information about Anna and her team is available at: https://energyfuturesgroup.com/team/anna-sommer/
Dan Bruer leads New Energy Economics’ organizational development and operations, external strategic partnerships, and advocacy in support of state initiatives and policy objectives. He has more than 25 years of experience serving people, communities, and causes through philanthropy, public policy initiatives, and political campaigns.
With professional and nonprofit board experience in the areas of conservation and clean energy, his career highlights include strategies and programs in support of:
Sonny Popowsky served as the consumer advocate of Pennsylvania for twenty-two years from 1990 to 2012, starting his career as an assistant consumer advocate in 1979. He served as the President of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) from 1996 to 1998, and also served on the Board of Trustees of the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) from 1997 to 2001, as Vice Chair of the United States Department of Energy Electricity Advisory Council from 2012 to 2016, and on the Advisory Council of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) from 2014 to 2019. He currently serves as Chair of the City of Philadelphia Water, Sewer and Storm Water Rate Board and as a member of the Advisory Board of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, and on the Boards of Directors of the Energy Coordinating Agency, the Sustainable Energy Fund, and Regional Housing Legal Services. Mr. Popowsky graduated Cum Laude from Yale University and received his J.D. Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania.
Mike O’Boyle, Director of Electricity Policy at Energy Innovation, directs the firm’s Power Sector Transformation program, working with policymakers, advocates, and others on policy and technology solutions for a clean, reliable, and affordable U.S. electricity system. Mike has co-authored foundational reports including Coal Cost Crossover 2.0, 2030 Report: Powering America’s Clean Economy, and A National Clean Electricity Standard to Benefit All Americans. Mike graduated cum laude from Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, where he focused on energy and international law. He also has a B.A from Vanderbilt University.
Steve Levitas is Senior VP for Regulatory and Government Affairs at Pine Gate Renewables and a nationally respected authority on energy policy. Steve devotes much of his time to expanding the offtake opportunities for independently owned solar generation resources through competitive procurement program design, voluntary customer programs, PURPA implementation, and market reform. He worked extensively on the development and passage of landmark clean energy legislation in North Carolina in both 2017 and 2021, as well as in the initial proceeding before the North Carolina Utilities Commission in 2022 leading to the adoption of a plan to reduce Duke Energy’s carbon emissions by 70%. He has also been heavily involved in matters relating to transmission and interconnection policies and procedures. From 1993 through 1996, Steve served as Deputy Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources. In 1998 he opened the North Carolina office of the Environmental Defense Fund, serving as Director and Senior Attorney. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Harvard Law School.
Ron Lehr currently practices law and consults for clients about energy regulation and business matters. His work focuses on clean energy, market structure reform, new electric utility business models and various other regulatory policies to promote an environmentally-sustainable energy system. He has represented private firms, non-profit advocacy groups, national energy laboratories, trade groups, and foundations on renewable energy policies and commercialization strategies. He served for seven years from 1984 to 1991 as Commissioner and Chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission and later as President of the Denver Board of Water Commissioners, the water utility for the metro Denver area. Ron is a graduate cum laude of Dartmouth College and the University of Colorado School of Law
Paula Connelly is retired from Xcel Energy, where for 19 years she was Xcel Energy’s Colorado lead regulatory counsel, representing Xcel Energy before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission and the Colorado General Assembly. Prior to joining Xcel Energy, Paula was a partner with the Denver law firm of Gorsuch Kirgis LLC, where she practiced public utility law, representing independent power producers, municipal electric utilities, rural electric cooperatives and large consumers of gas and electricity. Before Gorsuch Kirgis, she was in private practice representing utilities and independent power producers before the New York Public Service Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Paula is a graduate of the University of Colorado School of Law.
Jennifer Chen consults with clients to shape electricity, transmission and governance policies with an eye toward modernizing grid infrastructure and scaling up clean energy. She has testified on these issues before the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Prior to consulting, Jennifer led federal energy policy work at the Nicholas Institute at Duke University. She was an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, leading a coalition of stakeholders to advocate for an efficient and flexible power system. Jennifer holds a J.D. from New York University and a Physics Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She is a member of the California Bar and the District of Columbia Bar and is admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She is a Senior Fellow in electricity policy at R Street, Senior Policy Counsel to CO2Efficient, and a member of the U.S. Department of Energy Electricity Advisory Committee.
Ron Binz served as the Chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission from January 2007 until April 2011, where he led the Colorado PUC in implementing the many policy changes championed by the Governor and Legislature to bring forward Colorado’s “New Energy Economy.” Both before and after his PUC appointment, Ron specialized in policy, regulatory, and competitive issues in the telecommunications and energy industries from both consulting and non-profit perspectives. From 1984 to 1995, Ron directed the Colorado Office of Consumer Counsel, the state’s utility consumer advocate, representing residential, small business and agricultural utility consumers before the Colorado PUC, federal agencies, and the courts. While Consumer Counsel, Ron served as President of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA). Ron received a B.A. in Philosophy from St. Louis University in 1971 and an M.A. in Mathematics from the University of Colorado in 1977.
Brent Alderfer is an energy entrepreneur who cofounded Community Energy, Inc., and led the company as CEO from start-up. Alderfer was an early champion of clean energy and climate response as an engine for economic growth and job creation. He has led on regional modeling and market design of decarbonized utility grids and is active in energy policy nationally. Brent previously served as a Colorado Public Utility Commissioner and holds an electrical engineering degree from Northeastern University and a law degree from Georgetown University.
D.R. Richardson is a clean energy entrepreneur, having spent over a decade building, investing in, analyzing, and advising cutting-edge companies regarding sustainable assets. D.R. is the founder of Elephant Energy, a clean energy retailer with a mission to deliver low-cost, low-carbon energy to consumers. D.R. was previously a Partner at Vision Ridge Partners, a Boulder-based private equity firm with over $2B in assets, investing in sustainable real assets and asset-backed companies. Before that, he was a consultant at Altman Vilandrie, a boutique tech and telecom strategy consulting firm in Boston, MA. D.R. holds a BA from Brown University.