Mark Newton Lowry, PhD
President
Mark Newton Lowry is the President of Pacific Economics Group Research LLC. He is best known for his research and expert witness testimony on energy utility performance and alternatives to traditional rate regulation (Altreg) such as performance-based ratemaking (PBR). A leading proponent of multiyear rate plans (MRPs) for energy utilities, he has done numerous studies to design the rate and revenue cap indexes that are popular in these plans. His statistical benchmarking studies are the state of the art in North American ratemaking. A current focus of his work is how PBR for electric and natural gas utilities can facilitate a cost-effective energy transition that includes rapid growth in data centers.
His practice is multinational in scope and has included dozens of projects in Canada, where MRPs are used to regulate energy utilities in all four populous provinces. Work for diverse clients has given him a reputation for objective empirical research and dedication to good regulation. He for many years advised the Edison Electric Institute on Altreg, preparing several authoritative surveys. Recent clients have included Avangrid, Duke Energy, Puget Sound Energy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the Ontario Energy Board.
A northeast Ohio native, Dr. Lowry earned a Ph.D. in applied economics from the University of Wisconsin. He has authored numerous professional publications and speaks frequently on PBR at national conferences and ratemaking courses. He lives in Shorewood Hills, Wisconsin near Madison.
Contact Dr. Lowry by e-mail at mnlowry@pacificeconomicsgroup.com
Dave is a Vice President at Pacific Economics Group Research LLC. He has more than twenty years of experience in the study of energy utility cost and productivity issues.
He has also taught economics courses at Carroll University and Madison Area Technical College. Before joining PEG, he worked as a Senior Economist at Christensen Associates.
He holds a BA in Economics, International Relations, and Political Science, and an MS in Economics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He currently resides in Oconomowoc, WI.
Rebecca Kavan is an Economist II at PEG and is a key member of our empirical research team. She holds an undergraduate degree in economics (mathematics emphasis) and a master's degree in resource and energy demand management analysis from the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A Nebraska native, she now lives in Oregon WI near Madison.
Matt is a Consultant II at PEG Research. He plays a leading role in the gathering, appraisal, and documentation of Altreg precedents and maintains the company's Altreg library.
A native of Darlington, WI, Matt holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin and currently resides in Stoughton, WI.
Gretchen is the Madison office manager for PEG Research and is also active in our empirical research.
Prior to joining PEG Research, Gretchen was a branch manager for a major Midwestern bank.
A native of West Bend, WI, she holds an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from UW and an MBA from Edgewood College here in Madison. She currently resides in Verona, WI.
Scott Brockett is a Senior Advisor to PEG Research. He is an experienced energy economist with extensive background in energy policy and economic regulation of electric, gas, and thermal utilities. He has worked in both the public and private sectors.
Scott most recently held various positions in 14 years in the Regulatory Department of Public Service Company of Colorado. He testified on policy and technical issues in diverse matters that included gas and electric pricing, distributed generation, multiyear rate plans, forward test years, net metering, qualifying facility buyback rates, service quality, interruptible electric rates, distributed generation, revenue decoupling, demand side management ("DSM") incentives, and cost recovery issues involving the implementation of the Clean Air - Clean Jobs Act, cost trackers for gas safety capex, and the acquisition of various generating units.
Prior to that Scott was employed by Consumers Energy, an investor-owned utility providing natural-gas and electric service in Michigan, as Supervisor of Pricing and Revenue Forecasting. His primary responsibilities were developing rates for electric and natural gas services, conducting economic analyses of various service options, evaluating the impact of Michigan's electric open-access program, estimating customer bills, and forecasting natural gas and electric revenue. He also managed their voluntary Green Power Pilot Program.
Scott's public sector experience was with the Minnesota Department of Public Service, a state agency charged with developing energy policy and representing all customers in utility matters before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. As an analyst, expert witness, and manager there he addressed diverse issues including DSM, rate design, integrated resource plans, the marginal cost of service, and environmental costs of electric generation. He rose to the position of Manager of Energy Planning and Advocacy.
Scott holds an MA from Miami University in Ohio and a BA in English and Economics from Otterbein College. An Ohio native, he now lives in the Denver, Colorado area.
Jeffrey Dubin is an expert on damages in intellectual property, antitrust, mergers, and other matters involving econometric, statistical, sampling, and survey analysis. He has extensive experience providing testimony before courts and regulatory bodies, including U.S. district courts, the U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, state utilities and transportation commissions, and state superior courts. Professor Dubin has testified at trial and depositions.
His research focuses on microeconomic modeling. Professor Dubin's current work concerns energy economics, sampling and survey methods, the valuation of intangible assets, and tax compliance.
He has written five books and has authored many articles on econometric and statistical analysis on a variety of topics, including consumer choice, energy markets, and tax avoidance. Professor Dubin has received the Econometric Society's prestigious Frisch Medal for coauthoring the best applied paper published in the previous two years in the journal Econometrica.
He has taught courses on applied economics, antitrust, and competition. Prior to becoming an adjunct professor at USC, he was a professor of economics at the California Institute of Technology for twenty-five years. He is also the cofounder and a partner of the Pacific Economics Group.
Dr. Dubin is an Adjunct Professor of Economics and Statistics, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern California. He received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and A.B. (highest honors) from the University of California, Berkeley. His practices include Antitrust and Competition, Consumer Fraud and Product Liability, Energy and Commodities, Intellectual Property, and Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare.
Blaine Gilles is a Senior Advisor at PEG Research. His career has spanned more than two decades in which he has been a business leader, government regulator, and economic researcher focused on the issues of network-based businesses. Issues that arise with the development of competition in regulated industries are a specialty. He is also an expert in formulating strategies to deal with challenges posed by developing and pricing capital-intensive services and effectively managing profitability amid challenging and rapidly changing regulatory and market conditions. Blaine has served as an expert witness in a variety of regulatory and legal proceedings.
Dr. Gilles played a significant role in the transformation of the U.S. telecommunications industry from regulated monopoly to competition. Between 1999 and 2006, he led the voice services business of WilTel Communications, previously a subsidiary of the Williams Companies, to achieve annual revenues of over $1.3 billion. He held a variety of positions in the regulatory department of Ameritech in metropolitan Chicago. He has also led product management, marketing and sales, and business and technical operations, at Level 3 Communications, NewCross Technologies, and WorldCom. Blaine earlier served as an economist for the Policy Analysis and Research Division of the Illinois Commerce Commission and was an Assistant Professor of Economics at Kalamazoo College.
Prior to joining PEG Research, Dr. Gilles operated a private consultancy where he supported a variety of network-based firms and private equity companies, as well as the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. He has been a key advisor to clients on mergers and acquisitions, competitive strategy, and pricing. At PEG Research, Blaine will participate in the Company's energy utility consulting as well as opening a practice in the field of telecommunications.
Dr. Gilles received his PhD and MA in Economics from Michigan State University where he studied regulatory economics with Harry Trebing of Michigan State's Public Utilities Institute. He also earned a BS in Economics and a BA in International Relations from the University of Minnesota.
Jennie is the Marketing Manager for PEG Research and also assists with our precedent research.
Prior to joining PEG Research, Jennie was an attorney. She has also served as a girl scout leader, a school tutor, volunteer, and chair of family-school programs.
A native of Brookfield, WI, she holds an undergraduate degree in Hispanic Studies from Vassar College and a J.D. from UW-Madison. She currently resides in Sun Prairie, WI.
