Rate/Financial Analyst III: DORA/Utility Consumer Advocate

The Rate/Financial Analyst III position provides expert analysis, advocacy and testimony, both written and oral, at administrative hearings in proceedings before the PUC and/or Administrative Law Judges (“ALJs”) in support of advocacy positions of the UCA regarding financial matters relating to regulated utilities which matters are used to determine rates, and/or system planning and analysis. The position coordinates regarding rate development, system planning and/or financial matters of regulated utilities with other UCA staff and stakeholders, such as PUC staff, policy professionals, public regulatory officials, academics, engineers, economists, and other administrative and managerial personnel. The position consults and confers with UCA legal staff from the Office of the Attorney General regarding financial matters of regulated utilities to apply consistent rate and financial advocacy in line with legislative direction and statutory considerations as derived from SB21-103.

This position’s purpose is to review and evaluate the financial and/or planning aspects of utility filings, in particular as used in the development of rates and/or system planning, in conjunction with office leadership, to provide financial advocacy support to the UCA at large, and to formulate recommendations and testimony or comments resulting from this review. Financial topics to be analyzed may include impacts to consumer bills, cost recovery methodologies, rate recovery riders, rate design, and cost causation principles. Planning topics to be analyzed may include renewable energy integration, electric distribution and transmission planning, demand-side management, transportation planning, The financial matters performed by this position may include assisting in the development of recommendations regarding capital structure (debt to equity ratios), cost of capital, return on equity (ROE), cost of debt (short-term and long-term), and cost recovery mechanisms. The planning topics to be analyzed may include the appropriateness of resource, distribution, or transmission acquisition, programmatic development, and other policy driven utility decision-making.  The position will perform financial and/or planning studies, and assist in the performance of such studies, in support of UCA advocacy. The position will assist in the development of statistical, financial, and planning modeling and analyses related to public interest advocacy. This position provides specific recommendations to office leadership, and team supervisors and works with other office staff and legal counsel from the Office of the Attorney General.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

Focusing on utility cost recovery in rate cases, rider recovery, cost analysis, and other accounting and financial matters;

Analyzing utility planning proposals in electric resource planning, clean-heat planning, distribution system planning and other related programming;

Inspecting utility financial data and information and analyzing impacts on Colorado consumers;

Inspecting utility engineering proposals and analyzing impacts on Colorado consumers;

Planning and facilitating internal and external informational presentations to exchange pertinent utility financial information and conduct robust discussions of possible strategies;

Analyzing, evaluating, and formulating recommendations for Division policy on PUC proposed rules, utility applications, and advice letters, as well as complaints, specifically the financial matters presented by those filings and cases;

Preparing cross-examination financial questions for attorneys in hearings in addition to preparing responses to cross-answer testimony;

Documenting utility filings financial data and evidence by tracking and monitoring monthly or yearly compliance filings as well as publicly available information from the investment community (Wall Street).