Senior Partner
Kush Patel

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Kush Patel has worked in the energy industry for over 20 years spanning from the deregulation and restructuring of the electric and gas sectors in the 1990s to today. He currently helps lead E3’s asset valuation and strategy practice, working with infrastructure funds, large institutional investors like pensions, technology companies, and project developers on valuing and assessing assets, projects, and technologies critical to the future of energy. His work has involved supporting clients making multi-billion-dollar investments into utilities, technology companies, and development platforms decisions around individual assets and portfolios consisting of renewables, energy storage, and/or distributed energy resources. He also helps lead E3’s strategy practice, working with clients on market, technology, and off-take strategy as well as general corporate strategy leveraging the best-in-class insights

Kush led our work on two recent groundbreaking projects for the New York State Energy Research Development Authority and New York State Department of Public Service. E3’s study on full value tariff design and retail rate choices proposed advanced dynamic tariffs to help implement New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision initiative, while the New York State Energy Storage Roadmap offered specific policy, regulatory, and programmatic recommendations to help the state attain its goal of installing 1,500 megawatts of energy storage by 2025. Kush also was the lead in a due diligence analysis for an equity investor to finance a $200 million energy storage project in the Los Angeles Basin, the first project of its kind to successfully attain financing.

With close to 20 years of energy sector experience, Kush brings a deep understanding of how energy markets and regulatory economics interact with on-the-ground experience in renewable energy development and finance. Prior to joining E3 in 2013, he served as director of corporate development and project finance for a solar installation company. Before that, he spent 10 years consulting with natural gas and electric utilities in New York City and in Washington, D.C., for the Oliver Wyman Group at NERA Economic Consulting.

Education: MS, engineering management, Dartmouth College; MS, accountancy, George Washington University School of Business; BA, engineering sciences and economics, and BE, materials science, Dartmouth College

Projects

Energy Storage Market Update and Long Duration Storage Study | Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, 2023

In collaboration with the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and Department of Energy Resources (DOER), E3 conducted a study that assesses the current state of energy storage in the Commonwealth, the market outlook for emerging mid- and long-duration storage (LDES) technologies, and potential applications of mid- and long-duration storage, all in the context of providing benefits to ratepayers and achieving the state’s ambitious decarbonization goals.

The study included several modeling and stakeholder engagement elements. Leveraging E3’s pro forma financial model of storage technology costs and a custom-built storage dispatch model, the project team analyzed several storage use cases to help the state understand impacts of current incentive programs. Assessment of future storage value involved loss-of-load probability modeling of the entire ISO-NE footprint using E3’s RECAP model. E3 engaged stakeholders throughout the study process through interviews with more than 50 key stakeholders and two public stakeholder workshops. In the study, E3 shows that the role of energy storage changes to suit grid needs, but that storage requires well-designed state support to encourage deployment and innovation that targets these needs. In addition to writing a report providing study findings, the team worked with DOER to translate findings into policy recommendations for the state.

Read the detailed project description.

Diligence and Investment Advisory Services for NIPSCO Equity Acquisition | Blackstone, 2023

E3 was retained to be a key advisor to Blackstone as part of their diligence and investment process for Blackstone’s acquisition of a 19.9% non-controlling equity interest in NIPSCO (Northern Indiana Public Service Company) for $2.15 Billion, with additional equity commitment of $250 million to fund ongoing capital requirements. E3 applied a custom bespoke approach to NIPSCO’s unique operations and jurisdiction to advise Blackstone during the investment process.

Read the detailed project description.

New York Electricity Grid Emission Factors | NYSERDA, 2020-22

E3 supported NYSERDA in developing a new methodology for calculating greenhouse gas emission factors for New York’s electricity grid. Greenhouse gas emission factors measure the emissions intensity of grid power (the amount of emissions produced per unit of energy generated, such as in metric tons per megawatt-hour). E3 calculated future marginal grid emission factors for carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) for New York State for 2023 through 2040, on a month-hour and annual basis. E3 worked together with NYSERDA to write a white paper describing the methodology, results, and recommended applications of the new emission factors, as well as an accompanying database of emission factors for use by stakeholders.

Read the detailed project description.

New York Distributed Solar Roadmap | NYSERDA, 2021

Working with the New York Department of Public Service (DPS) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), E3 supported the development of a new roadmap for New York to achieve the installation of at least 10 Gigawatts of distributed solar by 2030. The roadmap lays out a path that will expand renewable energy in New York, generating enough clean energy to power 700,000 additional homes, while also prioritizing an equitable expansion of New York’s distributed solar infrastructure. E3 contributed to the distributed solar framework by providing analysis that informed the plan’s policy recommendations. E3 developed a supply curve model for distributed solar projects in New York and used this model to evaluate program costs for different incentive program options. The analysis was used to inform the roadmap’s ultimate recommendation to extend the current NY-Sun Megawatt Block incentive program to help achieve the 10 GW target.

Read the detailed project description.

Study of Policies to Decarbonize Electric Sector in the Northwest I Public Generating Pool, 2017 – present

On behalf of the Public Generating Pool (PGP), a group of hydro-owning public power entities in Washington and Oregon, E3 completed a study exploring the effectiveness of a range of policy mechanisms to decarbonize the electric sector. This study used RESOLVE, E3’s optimal capacity expansion model, to develop optimized generation portfolios for the region through 2050 that capture […]

Publications

Innovative rate design for energy reform | NYSERDA, 2015–16

E3, working with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA),  developed an innovative retail electric rate design to encourage beneficial customer investment in distributed energy resources (DERs), a leading goal of the New York Public Service Commission’s Reforming the Energy Vision initiative. Our conceptual full-value tariff (FVT) has three components: a customer charge, a size-based network subscription charge, and a time-varying kWh price. The network subscription charge may vary by location to reflect local transmission and distribution costs. We modeled customer response to the FVT to assess its impact on the value proposition of DER technologies, such as energy storage, smart thermostats, and smart vehicle charging. The analysis showed that the FVT can yield savings from measures that are not encouraged under existing rates, while still compensating solar PV and energy-efficiency measures in high-value locations. The FVT conceptual framework underpins the Smart Home Rate demonstrations that New York’s investor-owned utilities filed with the commission in February 2017.

Publications

Residential rate design | Hawaiian Electric Company, 2005–present

E3 has supported electric rate design in Hawai‘i since 2005. Currently, E3 is assisting Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) on next-generation retail pricing strategy and rate designs that align with the state’s goal of meeting its 100 percent renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requirements in a way that encourages cost-effective deployment of customer-owned distributed energy resources. HECO first retained E3 to recommend a strategy for developing rates that would encourage conservation to mitigate the impact of high electricity supply costs on its customers. We recommended a three-tier inclining block structure, which is still in place, to minimize increases on small customers and provide conservation incentives to large customers. We also helped get the rate approved, preparing direct testimony and presenting to the utility’s board of directors.

Market and financial analysis for $200 million storage investment | Macquarie Capital, 2016

Macquarie Capital turned to E3 for analysis and strategic advice on a potential investment in a 50 MW distributed storage project developed by Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) in the Los Angeles Basin. We performed simulations to verify AMS’s internal modeling of the benefits, costs, and value proposition of behind-the-meter, customer-sited storage assets. To understand potential revenue streams over a 20-year period, E3 analyzed the storage project and the underlying business model, forecasting wholesale and retail electric markets. Our financial analysis for the investors and potential lenders was a key element of the due diligence leading to Macquarie’s $200 million financing arrangement with AMS to take ownership of the project.


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