Dr. Kathleen Spees is a principal at The Brattle Group with expertise in wholesale electricity and environmental policy design and analysis.
Her work for market operators, regulators, regulated utilities, and market participants focuses on:
- Wholesale Power Market Reform
- Capacity Market Design
- Wholesale Energy and Ancillary Service Market Design
- Carbon and Environmental Policy
- Generation and Transmission Asset Valuation
- Analysis of Emerging Technologies and Specialized Products
Dr. Spees has worked in more than a dozen international jurisdictions supporting the design and enhancement of environmental policies and wholesale power markets. Her clients include electricity system operators in PJM, Midcontinent, New England, Ontario, New York, Alberta, Texas, Italy, and Australia. Electricity market design assignments involve ensuring adequacy of capacity and energy market investment incentives to achieve reliability objectives at least cost; designing carbon and clean energy policies that effectively interact with wholesale electricity markets; enhancing operational reliability and efficiency through energy market, scarcity pricing, and ancillary service market improvements; effectively integrating intermittent renewables, storage, demand response, and other emerging technologies; evaluating benefits and costs of industry reform initiatives; and enhancing efficiency at market interties.
For system operators and regulators, Dr. Spees provides expert support through stakeholder forums, independent public reports, and testimony in regulatory proceedings. For utilities and market participants, her assignments support business strategy, investment decisions, asset transactions, contract negotiation, regulatory proceedings, and litigation. Dr. Spees has developed and applied a wide range of analytical and modeling tools to inform these policy, market design, and business decisions.
Dr. Spees earned her PhD in Engineering and Public Policy within the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center and her MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. She earned her BS in Physics and Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University.
Written testimony of Kathleen Spees and Samuel Newell before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on behalf of the Natural Resource Defense Council, the Sustainable FERC Project, Earthjustice, Sierra Club, American Wind Energy Association, Alliance for Clean Energy New York, and Advanced Energy Economy, regarding the economic impacts of buyer side mitigation in the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) capacity market, Docket No. EL21-7-000
November 18, 2020
Direct testimony of Kathleen Spees and Samuel Newell before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on behalf of Dominion Energy Services, regarding the need for a self-supply exemption from minimum offer price and other policy-supported resource rules, Docket Nos. EL16-49-000, ER18-1314-000, ER18-1314-001, and ER18-178-000
October 2018
Before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Docket No. ER17-284-000, Response of Dr. Samuel A. Newell, Dr. Kathleen Spees, and Dr. David Luke Oates on Behalf of Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) regarding the Competitive Retail Solution.
January 13, 2017
Before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Docket No. ER17-284-000, Testimony of Dr. Samuel A. Newell, Dr. Kathleen Spees, and Dr. David Luke Oates on Behalf of Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) regarding the Competitive Retail Solution.
November 1, 2016
Before the Environmental Protection Agency, Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0199. Comments of Judy Chang, Kathleen Spees, and David Luke Oates on the Clean Power Plan Federal Implementation Plan Proposal. Sponsored by Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative, Inc.
January 21, 2016
Before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Docket No. ER14-2940-000, Response of Dr. Samuel A. Newell and Dr. Kathleen Spees on Behalf of PJM Interconnection, LLC, regarding variable resource requirement curve, for use in PJM’s capacity market.
November 5, 2014
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Docket ER14-2940-000. Affidavit of Dr. Samuel A. Newell and Dr. Kathleen Spees on behalf of PJM Interconnection, LLC regarding periodic review of variable resource requirement curve shape and key parameters.
September 25, 2014
Before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Docket No. ER14-1639-000, Testimony of Dr. Samuel A. Newell and Dr. Kathleen Spees on Behalf of ISO New England Inc. regarding a Forward Capacity Market Demand Curve
April 1, 2014
Before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Docket No. ER12-13-000, Response of Dr. Samuel A. Newell and Dr. Kathleen Spees on Behalf of PJM Interconnection, LLC, re: the Cost of New Entry Estimates for Delivery Year 2015/16 in PJM’s Reliability Pricing Model
January 13, 2012 (filed)
Before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Docket Nos. RM10-17-000 and EL09-68-00, Filed Comments re: Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and September 13, 2010 Technical Conference
October 4, 2010
Before the Maryland Public Service Commission, Administrative Docket PC22, Filed Comments In the Matter of the Reliability Pricing Model and the 2013/2014 Delivery Year Base Residual Auction Results
October 1, 2010
Before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Docket No. RM10-17-000 and EL09-68-00, Filed Comments re: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding wholesale compensation of demand response
May 13, 2010