Dr. Villadsen specializes in finance and accounting matters with an emphasis on the energy industry.
She is a frequent author and speaker on regulatory return and risk issues and has testified on rate of return and discount rate matters as well as accounting and damages in many jurisdictions including the FERC, state regulatory settings, U.S. and international arbitrations, and the U.S. federal court.
Her recent work has included the determination of the cost of capital for electric power, electric utilities, pipelines, and water companies in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and the United States. She has evaluated the appropriate recovery or value of asset retirement obligations for pipelines and the effect of power purchase agreements on the risk of both the power producer and buyer. In addition, Dr. Villadsen has been deeply involved in analyzed credit and capital structure issues, risk management and the prudence hereof, as well the impact of regulatory initiatives such as energy efficiency and de-coupling on credit, cost of capital, and earnings.
She has recently been involved in accounting disclosure issues and principles including impairment testing, fair value accounting, leases, accounting for hybrid securities, accounting for equity investments, consolidation issues, cash flow estimation, and overhead allocation. Dr. Villadsen has estimated damages in both the U.S and internationally for companies in the energy, construction, telecommunications, cement, and rail road industries. She has measured damages as lost profits, impact on stock price, or the impact of mis-allocated assets among investment opportunities.
Led a study on the applicability and weighting of cost of equity estimation methods for the Australian Pipeline Industry Association. The study emphasized the impact of economic or industry factors on which model(s) or method(s) are more appropriate resulted in two white papers filed with the Australian Energy Regulator.
In the Federal Court of Claims, provided expert testimony on the impact of discount rates on the economic value of alternative scenarios for a lease transaction pertaining to telecommunication and transit assets.
In an arbitration matter before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, provided expert reports and oral testimony on the allocation of corporate overhead costs and damages in the form of lost profit. Also reviewed internal book keeping records to assess how various inter-company transactions were handled.
In connection with regulatory reviews of electric and gas utilities hedging programs, studied whether forward prices, the volatility implied by the market, market conditions, or measures such as Value at Risk indicated that hedging policies were inappropriate. This work was used in connection with the utilities prudence review before state regulatory commission.
For the Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC), she filed testimony with the FERC regarding the use of regulatory assets, the return on regulatory assets, and the merits of including Construction Work in Progress in the allowed rate base for the AWC.
Supplemental Direct Testimony on cost of capital submitted to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska on behalf of Anchorage Water and Wastewater utilities, Docket U-13-202
September 2014
Rebuttal Testimony regarding Cost of Capital before the Oregon Public Utility Commission on behalf of Portland General Electric, Docket No. UE 283
July 2014
Direct Testimony on the rate impact of the pension re-allocation and other items for Upper Peninsula Power Company in connection with the acquisition by BBIP before the Michigan Public Service Commission in Docket No. U-17564
March 2014
Expert Report and hearing appearance on specific accrual and cash flow items in a Sales and Purchase Agreement in international arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce. Case No. 19651/TO
July and November 2014
Expert Report on cost of equity and recovery of asset retirement obligations on behalf of oil pipeline in Canadian arbitration
April 2013
Direct Testimony on the treatment of goodwill before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on behalf of ITC Holdings Corp and ITC Midwest, LLC in Docket No. PA10-13-000
February 2012
Direct Testimony, Rebuttal Testimony, and Hearing Appearance on cost of capital before the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on behalf of New Mexico-American Water in Case No. 11-00196-UT
May 2011, November 2011, and December 2011
Direct Testimony, Rebuttal Testimony, and Rejoinder Testimony on the cost of capital before the Arizona Corporation Commission on behalf of Arizona-American Water in Docket No. W-01303A-10-0448
November 2010, July 2011, and August 2011
Direct and Rebuttal Testimony on cost of capital before the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California on behalf of California-American Water in Application No. 11-05
May 2011
Expert Report and deposition in Civil Action No. 02-618 (GK/JMF) in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
November 2010, January 2011
Direct Testimony on regulatory assets and FERC accounting before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on behalf of AWC Companies, ER11-13-000/Eli-1-3-000
December 2010
Rebuttal Expert Report, Deposition and Oral Testimony re. the impact of alternative discount rate assumptions in tax litigation. United States Court of Federal Claims, Case No. 06-628 T (confidential)
January, February, April 2009
Expert Report, Supplemental Expert Report, and Hearing Appearance on the allocation of corporate overhead and damages from lost profit. The International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, Case No. ARB/03/29 (Confidential)
February, April, and June 2008
Expert Report, Rebuttal Expert Report, and Hearing Appearance regarding investing activities, impairment of assets, leases, shareholder’ equity under U.S. GAAP and valuation. International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Case No. 14144/CCO (Confidential)
May 2007, August 2007, September 2007
Expert Report on accounting information needed to assess income. United States District Court for the District of Maryland (Baltimore Division), Civil No. 1:06cv02046-JFM (confidential)
June 2007
Verified Statement and Verified Reply Statement on the cost of capital calculation for railroads submitted to the Surface Transportation Board on behalf of the Association of American Railroads, Docket No. EP 664 (Sub-No. 2)
September and November 2014
Born and raised in the Danish countryside, Bente has a keen interest in outdoor activities such as hiking, kayaking, skiing, gardening and caring for her rescue dogs. She also enjoys music and live performances.