Carolyn A. Berry, PhD

Carolyn Berry is an energy economist with the Energy Practice. She specializes in market design and analysis, policy formation, and regulatory issues in the energy industry, including collaborating and advising on electric and gas market initiatives and strategy. She has a proven track record as an expert witness in litigated proceedings and in achieving settlement with adverse parties. Dr. Berry has extensive experience leading and collaborating with key players in the California electricity and gas markets. She has achieved resolution of energy litigation in federal courts.

Dr. Berry has prepared testimony, directed and performed technical analyses, and provided policy recommendations particularly to California energy companies on a wide array of issues: electricity market bidding and scheduling practices and market design, natural gas markets and costs, cost-allocation mechanisms, and refund and overcharge calculations. Additionally, she has worked with domestic and international clients on energy market issues such as decoupling, uplift costs, avoided costs, virtual bidding, gaming strategies in centralized auctions, transmission pricing, optimal allocation of transmission rights, and retail electricity markets. She also has extensive experience with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, having worked on a wide variety of topics, including mergers, deregulation, cost recovery, rate determination, auction markets, congestion management, and market monitoring.

PhD, Economics, Northwestern University

BS, Economics, University of Minnesota

BA, Spanish, University of Minnesota

• On behalf of a group of investor-owned utilities and state agencies, led teams responsible for developing settlement valuations.
• Determined just and reasonable rates for electric energy and ancillary services sales in California centralized markets.
• Submitted written testimony and presented at FERC hearings on analysis of market power and market manipulation in the California and WECC electric markets through bidding strategies, energy and transmission scheduling practices, and trading strategies.
• Submitted expert testimony at FERC concerning the exercise of market power using exports and hydro storage in the Pacific Northwest bilateral and California organized electricity markets.
• For a US client, prepared independent report on uplift costs associated with virtual bidding in US organized electricity markets and analyzed alternative costs allocation methodologies.
• Analyzed the removal of electric transmission capacity in the Pacific Northwest from the California ISO-controlled grid. Identified various inefficiencies and gaming opportunities that arise when electric transmission is governed by different sets of rules.
• Provided analysis of but-for pricing for international client to determine the allocation of costs for transmission investment in the PJM markets.
• Prepared expert declaration and reply declaration in support of client petition to intervene and protest application of renewal of US Department of Energy electric export license.
• Prepared export testimony and declaration concerning proposed short run avoided cost energy prices for qualifying facilities in California Public Utilities Commission Rulemaking Nos. 04-04-003, 04-04-025, and R.99-11-022.
• Worked in the Office of Economic Policy at FERC during the crafting of FERC Order 888, the formation of the eastern and California ISOs, and the revision of merger policy.