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At La Capra Associates, our services are provided by a
team of experienced energy industry professionals.

Our experts draw from their interdisciplinary backgrounds in economics, finance, law, management, and engineering to provide a range of professional services for the energy industry and associated sectors.

Executive Group / Board of Directors
Daniel Peaco leads the company's operations, guided by a five-member Board of Directors. La Capra Associates Staff
Executive Team Bios

Dan Peaco
Daniel Peaco, our President & COO, has 25 years of experience involving electric resource planning, regulation, and resource procurement. Dan regularly advises clients on wholesale and retail power markets, generation asset evaluation, pricing and price forecasting, power procurement and contracts, power systems planning, and electric industry restructuring policy. Dan is an experienced expert witness. He has testified on numerous occasions before regulatory commissions and in civil litigation on topics including power supply planning, power contract economics, utility procurement prudency, avoided costs and market prices, stranded costs, market power, provider of last resort service, and resource adequacy. Clients who rely on Dan for advisory services include utilities, merchant generation companies, energy policy agencies, and energy consumer organizations. Prior to joining La Capra Associates in 1996, Dan directed power supply planning at Central Maine Power, and held positions with CMP International Consultants, Pacific Gas & Electric, and the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Council. He holds a B.S. in civil engineering from M.I.T and an M.S. in engineering sciences from the Thayer School at Dartmouth College.

Richard La Capra
Richard La Capra, our Founder and one of our Principal Consultants, has over 30 years experience in the electric and gas industries. His expertise encompasses financial matters, ratemaking, load research, and power system planning. He has testified before federal agencies, regulatory commissions in 25 states, and in civil litigation on topics including industry restructuring, pricing and ratemaking policy, cost of service, cost of capital, load and customer research, financial feasibility, and power supply. He is an experienced strategic advisor and negotiator, including work on public utility restructurings and refinancings, and power and transmission contracts. Prior to founding La Capra Associates 25 years ago, Richard was a utility consulting manager for a major engineering and consulting firm. He also formerly held positions at American Electric Power and the PJM Power Pool. Richard holds a degree in engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, an M.B.A and Economics degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and a Certificate in Advanced Finance from New York University.

Richard Hahn
Richard Hahn, one of our Managing Consultants, is an electrical engineer with extensive electric industry experience regarding power systems planning, power contracting, and cogeneration. Dick joined La Capra Associates in 2004 following a 30 year career at NSTAR (formerly Boston Edison Company), which included senior executive responsibilities in both regulated utility and unregulated subsidiary operations. Dick's experience includes management of integrated resource planning, competitive power procurement, demand-side planning and load forecasting, and transmission planning. He also has been responsible for rates and cost-of-service studies. Dick managed a complex, merchant cogeneration facility that provided steam, chilled water, and electricity to large commercial customers in the greater Boston Area. Dick is an experienced expert witness having testified on resource planning and related issues on numerous occasions. He holds both a B.S. and an M.S. in electrical engineering from Northeastern University and an M.B.A. from Boston College.

John Athas
John Athas, one of our Managing Consultants and our Treasurer, joined La Capra Associates in 2006, and is an expert in resource planning and wholesale and retail markets. John brings nearly 30 years of diverse electric industry experience having worked for an electric utility, a competitive retail electric services provider, a power technology manufacturer, and an energy industry consulting firm. He has established strengths in electric resource planning, analysis of competitive wholesale and retail markets, financial and risk analysis, strategic planning, and contracts and transactions, with much of his experience based in the Northeastern U.S. markets. He also provides a combination of strategic, technical, regulatory, and practical implementation skills. John served as the Associate Director, North American Electric Power with Cambridge Energy Research Associates from 2001-2005. Prior to that, he worked for nearly twenty years in the Northeast Utilities (NU) corporate family. In his most recent post with NU, John was the Managing Director of Retail Business Strategy for Select Energy where he helped launch this competitive retail subsidiary. His experience at NU included a variety of responsibilities pertaining to strategic planning, market analysis, resource planning, rates and regulation and retail services. John is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Connecticut. He received his M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Connecticut; and has an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Staff Bios

Harvey Salgo
Harvey Salgo, one of our Principal Consultants, is an economist and attorney with over 25 years’ experience in the energy industry, including power sector legislation and regulation, privatization and finance, supply- and demand-side planning, procurement, competitive bidding, and contracts. He has substantial international experience as a long-term advisor to the World Bank and others in developing countries such as India, Montenegro, Zimbabwe, and the Ukraine regarding power sector reform, privatization, and market transformation. Harvey's experience also includes energy asset evaluation, regulation of utility rates and practices, energy efficiency planning, and procurement. Harvey is an experienced expert witness, and, during his prior law practice, he represented energy clients. Prior to joining La Capra Associates in 1992, Harvey was an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Vermont (1969-74), an economist/attorney at the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (1977-79), an attorney and consultant in private practice with the firm of Salgo and Lee (1979-87), and an international energy industry consultant. Harvey has a B.A. in economics from Hunter College, an M.A. in economics from the University of Wisconsin, and a J.D. from Northeastern University.

Lee Smith
Lee Smith, our Managing Consultant and Senior Economist, has more than 20 years of experience in utility economics and regulation. She has focused on client needs including electric, gas, and water utility rate regulation policy, pricing, cost analysis, cost allocation and rate design, and planning. Lee is an experienced expert witness, having testified on numerous occasions before regulatory commissions on topics including rate unbundling, stranded costs, cost of service, provider of last resort service, transmission pricing, and revenue requirements. Prior to joining La Capra Associates in 1984, Lee was employed as the Director of Rates and Research at the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. Lee holds degrees in economics from Brown University and Tufts University.

Stan Faryniarz
Stan Faryniarz, one of our Managing Consultants, has over twenty years of experience in electric utility economics, power supply procurement and management, and ratemaking. Stan has consulted on power procurement and transactions, integrated resource planning, economic and rate analyses, and strategic matters for a wide variety of energy industry and other clients in the U.S. and Canada. Stan has expertise in the New England, New York and PJM power markets, particularly in matters related to wholesale and retail power procurement and transactions. Stan has substantial experience in structuring, evaluating and costing forward contract-based and other power purchasing and hedging options. He also specializes in operational and economic analyses for utilities, industrial and aggregated commercial customers, and regulators. He evaluates, prepares and defends load forecasts, power cost and allocated cost of service analyses, rate design studies and tariffs, integrated resource plans, market studies, special contracts, asset valuations and other components of successful utility and power purchasing programs and operations. Stan holds a B.A. in economics and an M.P.A both from the University of Vermont.

Mon-Fen Hong
Mon-Fen Hong, one of our Senior Consultants, joined La Capra in 2004, bringing five years’ experience in modeling and market analysis, renewable energy issues, project analysis, and power market policy development. Mon has conducted long-term forecasting of power prices in the WECC, Midwest, PJM, ISO-NE, and NYISO using proprietary models. Clients seek Mon’s advice concerning renewable energy policy, emissions markets, project analysis, and power markets and policy in various regions of the U.S. Mon has prior consulting experience with the management consulting firm, A.T. Kearney. She holds three degrees from M.I.T., a B.S. and an M.S. in materials science and engineering and an M.S in technology and policy. Her graduate work at M.I.T. included CO2 life-cycle modeling, system dynamics modeling and cost analysis of new materials technologies, including fuel cells and hydrogen storage.

Alvaro E. Pereira
Alvaro Pereira is an accomplished energy professional with over 15 years of experience in economic, technical, and policy analysis. Al joined La Capra Associates in 2008, following nearly a decade with the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources (DOER) as the head of a group responsible for economic and technical analyses of policies, programs, and regulatory filings. His most recent work at DOER involved the development of regulations and market monitoring procedures for the RGGI carbon allowance auctions. Al is an experienced expert witness, having testified on numerous occasions before regulatory commissions, and he has provided expert-witness research to support winning arguments in cases involving environmental quality and demand resources. Al has expertise in rate design and analysis, energy procurement, demand side management programs, and economic impact modeling and forecasting. He has an M.S. in Transportation and a doctorate in Urban and Regional Economics and Studies, both from M.I.T.; and two bachelor degrees in Economics and Finance from UMass Amherst.

Elizabeth Quinlan
Elizabeth Quinlan, one of our Consultants, joined La Capra Associates in 2007 with more than 25 years of business and writing experience. Beth’s work experience includes six years with Central Maine Power and ten years working with public benefit energy efficiency programs in Wisconsin and Maine. She holds a Masters degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and a B.A. in history and political science from Wellesley College.

Douglas A. Smith
Douglas A. Smith, one of our Senior Specialists, is a financial and information systems professional with more than 10 years of experience in financial analysis and software systems development. Doug brings diverse strengths to our project teams, applying his background in analysis, finance and accounting, database and software development, and project management to a variety of projects involving economic and financial models, data analysis, and financial accounting research. Doug holds an accounting degree from Syracuse University.

Carrie Gilbert
Carrie Gilbert joined La Capra Associates in 2007, bringing over nine years of experience in renewable energy and environmental business strategy, policy and engineering consulting. Carrie’s recent work includes wind turbine logistics analysis and a US wind turbine market sizing analysis. As an environmental engineer, she created facilities plans for water utilities and guided her clients through the regulatory process. Carrie holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Arthur Freitas
Arthur Freitas, our Senior Regulatory & Markets Specialist, is an economist with nine years of experience… in power systems modeling, electric and natural gas rate design and cost of service, retail energy planning and procurement, rate unbundling analysis, natural gas and electric market price forecasting, and retail market analysis. Since joining La Capra Associates in 2000, Art has assisted clients in a number of regulatory proceedings, including electric and natural gas utility rate cases, electric restructuring hearings, and utility prudency reviews. Art holds both a B.A. in economics and an M.S. in applied economics from Marquette University.

Abigail Tinker
Abigail Tinker, one of our Analysts, joined La Capra in 2006, bringing experience in renewable energy policy, carbon markets and the effect of economic growth on environmental quality. Ms. Tinker holds a degree from Wellesley College and a M.S. in Climate and Society from Columbia University . Her graduate work at Columbia included Energy Policy, Alternative Energy Resources, Quantitative Modeling, Economics of Sustainable Development, Environmental Finance, Climate Dynamics, and Managing and Adapting to Climate Variability.

Melissa Lowitz
Melissa Lowitz, one of our Analysts, recently joined La Capra Associates bringing research experience related to energy regulations and policies associated with climate change. Her recent projects included contributing to an online energy portal which provides information on significant energy related issues. Ms. Lowitz holds a degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont and an M.A. in Energy and Environmental Analysis from Boston University. Her work at La Capra Associates includes being an integral part of our analyst team supporting renewable energy and energy market modeling initiatives in the firm.

Bonnie McDonald
Bonnie McDonald, our Manager of Marketing and Business Development, has over 20 years of experience in marketing, writing, project management, research, and event coordination. She leads the firm’s marketing activities and provides editorial and informational services to our clients. Her prior experience includes work in energy services, information technology, health, and philanthropic organizations. She was the editor of a local publication in southeastern New England for several years; and has also managed and responded to RFPs and other large-scale documents and reports.

Jeanne Gorman
Jeanne Gorman, one of our Office Administrators, joined La Capra Associates in 2007 to support our day-to-day operations and provide support to our finance department. Her extensive experience in office administration includes the technology, land development and advisory services industries. Jeanne holds a B.A. in history from the UMass Amherst.

Laura Freedman
Laura Freedman, one of our Office Administrators, supports our office management operations. Laura joined us in 2006 and provides industry research, information management, and project support to our team of consultants. Laura holds a degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst .