Dr. Kajal Kapur

Synopsis  

Dr. Kapur, Principal of KEEE, received a Ph.D. in Economics from Cornell University in 1990 with a major in Industrial Organization and a minor in International Economics.  She has worked on economic, policy, energy, and environmental issues for more than thirty years.  She has taught economic theory and international economics to graduate and undergraduate students at several U.S. universities. As part of her Ph.D. dissertation, she performed econometric analyses of manufacturing industries. She modeled changes in market structure and profit adjustments for these industries. She conducted a literature survey as part of this analysis to review empirical research in industrial organization related to the relationship between profitability and concentration.  She developed a bibliography based on the literature review.

Since that time, she has conducted research, published, and developed reports that have relied on literature surveys and analyses in energy, environment, and economics. She supervised the literature reviews, data collection and analysis, policy review and analysis, and the development of policy recommendations for the Small Business Administration/National Women's Business Council (SBA/NWBC) project. She has supported the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Air Quality and Planning Standards (OAQPS) with economic analyses of air pollution control regulations.   She supervised the literature reviews, data collection, including export data, industry and small business analyses, economic modeling, and report development, which KEEE performed as part of the OAQPS subcontract. In the past, Dr. Kapur conducted economic impact analyses of NASA’s Langley and Wallops field centers, DOE’s NNSS, and helped develop reports based on the analyses.   

She has helped Virginia localities and federal agencies with sustainability planning processes and energy conservation options.  Dr. Kapur has analyzed the benefits of energy efficiency, renewable energy, distributed generation, and other green programs in the restructured electric industry.  She has presented testimony on utility demand-side management, integrated resource planning (IRP), clean air compliance, and rate issues before state regulatory commissions and directed settlement processes for the approval of utility conservation and environmental compliance plans.  These processes included the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of utility demand-side management programs.  She has examined and testified on municipal utilities' power purchase arrangements, special incentive rates, and gas cost adjustment issues.   

Dr. Kapur has experience with stakeholder engagement and conducting in-depth interviews of stakeholders in her research and analysis work. Earlier this year, she conducted in-depth interviews with 20 stakeholders for the SBA Office of International Trade (OIT) Small Business Sustainability Study. These interviews covered all aspects of the impact of international sustainability requirements on US small businesses. She inquired about the awareness or experience of interviewees with global sustainability requirements and trade agreements, their impact on SMEs, the compliance challenge faced by SMEs, the capacities and resources they could access for compliance, government practices, policies, and programs that assist, and policy recommendations. In the past, she facilitated stakeholder interviews that included executives, experts, and community representatives for a City of Richmond Sustainability Study.

In addition to these responsibilities, she has served as a reviewer for a prestigious international energy journal on energy conservation issues and helped the EPA's Climate Protection Partnerships Division with reviewer comments on the Clean Energy-Environment Guide to Action.   She compiled comments on the institutional, regulatory, and market barriers that prevent the adoption of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and combined heat and power resources, and best practices to overcome these barriers at the state level. 

Dr. Kapur served as the Vice Chair and Chair of the Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board (SAPCB) and a member of its Public Engagement Committee.  She is currently serving as a Board Member and Vice Chair for the Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project, Inc. (SERCAP).

Dissertation
Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University, 1990:  "Are Market Adjustments Fast or Slow?  An empirical study of profit adjustments."  An econometric analysis of profit adjustments using data on one hundred six US manufacturing industries. 

Research Publications, Panels
1. Kapur, B. Kajal, “New York Deregulation model: Characteristics and success”, EnergyPulse, June 2004. 

2. Kapur, B. Kajal, “Energy Service Companies: New York Commission actions and market growth”, EnergyPulse, November 2005. 

3.  Panel Participant, "Sustainability and Resilience:  Capturing Missed Synergies in Program and Infrastructure Development", American Society for Public Administration Annual Conference, Governance and Sustainability:  Local Concerns, Global Challenges, March 2013.

4.  Kapur, B. Kajal, "Sustainable Financial Management through Citizen Engagement", American Society for Public Administration Annual Conference, Governance and Sustainability:  Local Concerns, Global Challenges, March 2013.

Projects, skills, and professional participation   

Projects 

 Conducted in-depth interviews with 20 stakeholders for the SBA OIT Small Business Sustainability Study, covering all aspects of the impact of international sustainability requirements on US small businesses, including compliance challenges, capacities and resources, best practices, and government policies and programs.

Program Manager for Small Business Administration (SBA)/National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) contract. Supervising and directing all personnel conducting “Research of Women’s Entrepreneurial Participation in High-Yield and High-Growth Industries”.

Managed five- and a half year U.S. Army, Water Wise and Energy Smart (WWES) Program Support Contract to support the Director of Public Works (DPW), Fort Huachuca Garrison, in meeting the goals and requirements set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS”) Biological Opinion, and the Energy Independence Security Act (“EISA”) 2007.

Supervised Indian Health Service (IHS) energy assessment of Parker Indian Health Center (PIHC, Parker, Hospital) and helped develop energy conservation measure (ECM) recommendations.

Contract Manager (CM) for the Ohio Army National Guard (OHARNG) Energy Audits project. Supervised site visits, energy audit analyses, and draft/final reports of sixteen (16) OHARNG sites.

Technical and management lead on four-year ARNG Sustainability Program Support contract to assist in the development of a comprehensive program to effectively and efficiently implement federal Executive Orders (EOs) such as EO 13514 and EO 13693, DOD, Army, and ARNG sustainability policies and guidance.

Helped the City of Richmond develop a Sustainability Plan through engagement with City experts and the community as a whole. Assisted in identifying focus areas for the Plan, goals, actions, and metrics to measure progress on goals. Facilitated input from Richmond stakeholders, community members, and City executives to identify goals and initiatives. Helped develop a methodology to rank these initiatives and an implementation strategy, and write the Plan for City review and comments.

Conducted Economic Impact Analyses of NASA’s Langley Research Center, located in Hampton, Virginia, and Wallops’ Flight Facility located on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

Supervised Energy Audit Analyses of USDA’s Sequoia National Forest, Inyo National Forest, and Eldorado National Forest.

Conducted an Economic Impact Analysis of DOE’s NNSS over ten fiscal years.     

Conducted an Economic Impact Study (EIS) for Paul D. Camp Community College (PDCCC) with campuses in Franklin and Suffolk and a Center in Smithfield, Virginia. The EIS assessed the economic importance, leakages, and ripple effects of the College on its service region.

Assisted EPA’s OAQPS with economic analyses of air pollution control regulations from 2011 to 2020. Supervised updates and development of profiles of industries impacted by EPA rulemaking, including assisting with the economic modeling of impacts and the development of economic impact analysis (EIA) and regulatory impact analysis (RIA) reports.                                                                         

Provided support to the EPA's Combined Heat and Power Partnership (CHPP) for meetings, workshops, and conferences as a subcontractor under EPA's Program Support Activities for Global Climate Change for the Energy Supply and Industry Branch contract.  Identified conferences to publicize CHPP and its utility sector work, evaluated interest in CHP, and refined CHPP strategies to promote CHP in the sector.  Helped CHPP develop reports and technical papers to reach target audiences in the utilities sector.

Analyzed favorable utility policies and programs that have resulted in the installation of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems by utility customers for EPA's CHPP. Researched utility actions for the promotion of CHP systems and case studies of successful utility support of CHP technologies.  Recommended tools, services, and resources that CHPP can develop to help utilities with the promotion of CHP systems.

Provided economics and financial expertise for an Integrated Energy Management Feasibility Study funded by the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).  Used state-of-the-art models to conduct economic assessments of small hydro power plants. Estimated emissions reductions from the KTDA hydro projects by modeling carbon emissions from the base case and proposed hydro options.  Used spreadsheet models to evaluate emission reductions and carbon credit potential of these options.   

Provided support to the District of Columbia, Office of People's Counsel (OPC) in the development of the case against Potomac Electric Power Company’s requested rate increase. Evaluated the conceptual justification and quantification of a revenue adjustment for the elasticity response to increased electric rates.  Presented written and oral testimony on behalf of the OPC before the District of Columbia Public Service Commission.  

Helped the Attorney General of Kentucky evaluate the Integrated Resource Plan of a Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Cooperative.  Reviewed the utility’s load forecasting, demand and supply side planning, and environmental compliance efforts.

Provided consulting services to the Attorney General of Michigan in connection with an evaluation of the demand and energy forecasts submitted by a utility.  Prepared a written analysis of the utility's forecasting program, including the identification of problematic aspects.  

Helped EPA, Office of Air and Radiation (OAR), Climate Protection Partnership Division (CPPD) with reviewer comments on Clean Energy-Environment Guide to Action. Compiled comments on the institutional, regulatory, and market barriers that prevent the adoption of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and CHP resources, and best practices to overcome these barriers at the state level.

Provided economics and financial expertise for the Kenya Tea Development Agency's (KTDA) Integrated Energy Management Feasibility Study funded by USTDA. Conducted economic and financial analyses of nine small hydropower plants. Researched the United Nations Environment Program/Global Environment Facility UNEP/GEF Greening Projects to understand the financing available for these plants.

Wrote a report for a private consulting firm to inform a Japanese utility about gas deregulation issues in the United States (US).  Helped the utility understand the effects of FERC Order 636 on the business practices of US gas pipeline companies.  Advised the company on pipeline ownership, market domination, business model, and characteristics for success.

Trained South Korean management personnel on topics related to customer satisfaction, education strategies, product differentiation, and pricing of services.  Trained South Korean utility management on important market reform issues in the United States electric power industry.  Lectured management on regulated versus competitive pricing, new pricing mechanisms used in competitive markets, and the differences in pricing methods.  Discussed the implications of competitive pricing, including economic development rates, green pricing, and distributed power. 

Participated in a settlement process for the approval of Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company’s conservation plan on behalf of the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC).  The process included the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of residential, commercial, and industrial conservation programs.   

Participated in a settlement process for the approval of Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company’s Clean Air Compliance Plan on behalf of the OUCC. Analyzed the impact of Clean Air Act Amendments on resource planning.  Studied Indiana requirements for the approval of an environmental compliance plan to determine whether the utility’s plan met those requirements.

Evaluated power generation and emission control technologies. Analyzed Indiana utility's Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) repowering project.  The project used an independent producer's two-stage coal gasification process and utilized clean coal technology to reduce emissions at the generating station. 

Reviewed the demand side management implementation and evaluation activities of PSI Energy.  
 
Participated in a joint effort by the OUCC and Indiana Industrial Electric Consumers’ Council (INDIEC) to prepare Integrated Resource Planning guidelines for the State of Indiana. 

Directed a settlement process for the approval of    Indianapolis Power and Light’s (IPL) conservation plan on behalf of the OUCC.  The goal of the settlement process was to understand IPL’s residential, commercial, and industrial programs to reach a reasonable agreement.  The process included the planning, design, implementation, and marketing of these programs.

Analyzed PSI Energy’s proposed merger with Cincinnati Gas and Electric.  Modeled the individual and joint resource plans of the two companies to determine the benefits of the merger. 

Studied Indianapolis Power and Light’s (IPL) Integrated Resource Plan.  Examined the company’s demand and energy forecasting process.  Analyzed the utility’s treatment of environmental externalities in its planning process, described methods for incorporating externalities in planning, and recommended a feasible method. 

Special Skills

Knowledge of Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi.
Experience with Clean Energy pre-feasibility and feasibility study tools such as ProForm and RETScreen.
Worked with statistical/econometrics analysis software such as SAS, RATS, and SPSS.

Professional Participation

U.S. Association of Energy Economists

Asian American Business Assistance Center

Ad-hoc reviewer for the International Journal of Power and Energy Systems.