2024 Deloitte Power & Utilities Conference

Deloitte’s Deputy Chief Accountant James Baker works in the Accounting and Reporting Services group in Deloitte’s National Office and oversees industry matters as well as technical communications. He also focuses on digital asset issues, ESG accounting and reporting, lease accounting, regulated operations, and financial instrument accounting. He interacts regularly with members of the Securities and Exchange Commission on industry and accounting matters. Prior to assuming his current role, James led Deloitte’s digital asset and lease and real estate subject matter specialist teams. He participated in AICPA Digital Asset Working Group initiatives and served as the firm’s representative on the Financial Accounting Committee of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association and the Financial Executives International Committee on Corporate Reporting Lease Working Group. James also serves as an Industry Professional Practice Director (IPPD) for Deloitte’s Energy and Resources attest practice, and he works closely with the Edison Electric Institute on accounting and reporting matters affecting the energy sector. He served as the co-chair of the AICPA Power and Utilities Industry Revenue Recognition Task Force.

Prior to joining Deloitte’s National Office, James was a partner in Deloitte’s Capital Markets practice where he focused primarily on the energy industry and served as a subject matter specialist for derivatives and hedging activities. Prior to joining Deloitte, James worked in the audit division of Arthur Andersen where he served a variety of energy companies both domestically and abroad. He has also served clients in the fintech, airline, and health care industries.

James is a graduate of Wake Forest University and is a licensed CPA in North Carolina and Connecticut. He serves on the Accounting Advisory Council for the Wake Forest University School of Business.

Brian Boufarah is an accounting and deal management partner in Deloitte Advisory’s Mergers, Acquisitions, and Divestitures practice. He has more than 30 years of experience at Deloitte & Touche LLP, including a vast range of services such as M&A transaction advisory services, audit, 144A/IPO, and other special projects.

Brian is our lead US partner on two clients within our Global Top 27 PEI relationships. His client service and deal execution efforts focus on advising financial (private equity and infrastructure) and large strategic buyer clients on transactions in the energy, resources, and industrial products industry sectors, as well as across other infrastructure investments (transport and digital). He is our senior cross-energy M&A partner with deep renewable, utility, and oil and gas industry experience. His experience includes more than 11 years of providing attest services to a large mix of audit clients, including Fortune 500 power and utility companies and almost 20 years dedicated to M&A services.

Brian is currently a licensed CPA in New York and New Jersey. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants. Brian graduated cum laude from Rider University in 1993 and earned his MBA with Beta Gamma Sigma distinction in 2003 from Columbia University. He is a frequent speaker at power, utility, and renewable sector events and conferences.

Natalie Cunningham is an audit and assurance senior manager with more than eight years of experience at Deloitte, primarily working in the power, utilities, and renewables (PU&R) industry. She is also currently serving in the PU&R Industry Professional Practice Director (IPPD) Management Development Program supporting the PU&R IPPDs. She has experience in public and private debt offerings, internal controls, SEC reporting, and AICPA and FERC audits.

Chris Eibl is a managing director in the Business Tax Services group in the Chicago office of Deloitte. He has more than 16 years of experience providing partnership tax compliance and consulting services for operating partnerships with a focus on the renewables industry. He specializes in tiered pass-through structures and partnership allocations, modeling of partnership allocations and tax benefits, including forecasting of tax and 704(b) capital accounts and HLBV. Chris has also assisted renewable energy clients with consultations related to credit transferability, the investment tax credit and the production tax credit.

Michael is a managing director in the Minneapolis office of Deloitte Tax LLP and has more than 22 years of experience assisting clients in all areas of corporate taxation. He specializes in advising on tax provision matters (ASC740) as well as transactional planning, including the structuring of acquisitions and disposition, corporate restructurings, and consolidated return matters.

During his career with Deloitte, Michael spent two years in the National Tax office of Deloitte, located in Washington, D.C., as part of a Management Development Program assignment in the Subchapter C Group, where he was responsible for the legal research for and the drafting of numerous technical memorandums, opinion letters, and private letter ruling requests in the area of corporate taxation.

Michael’s clients range from large, privately held corporations and portfolio entities owned by private equity to publicly traded corporations. From an industry perspective, he specializes in energy, alternative energy, and electric cooperatives. In addition to his client responsibilities, Michael is the Minneapolis tax practice campus recruiting leader and also leads Deloitte-sponsored training seminars in the area of corporate taxation, reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, ASC740, and tax accounting periods and methods at the local, regional, and national level on a regular basis.

Michael is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Advisory Council for the University of South Dakota Accounting Department, and he is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in Minnesota and South Dakota. Michael holds an MS in taxation from American University (Washington, D.C.) and a Master of Professional Accountancy degree and BS in business administration from the University of South Dakota.

Chris Forsytheis a 1993 graduate of Baylor University, where he received BBA degrees in accounting and information systems from the Hankamer School of Business. After graduating from Baylor, Chris joined Price Waterhouse (later PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP) in Dallas, Texas. During his 10-year career in public accounting, Chris served clients in the oil and gas, manufacturing, and distribution sectors.

In 2003, Chris joined Atmos Energy Corporation in the company’s financial reporting department. In May 2009, he was promoted to Vice President and Controller, and in February 2017, he was named Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Howard Friedman is a managing director with more than 25 years of experience in the energy industry. He is a thought leader on risk management, compliance, and assurance practices and operating models. His experience includes leading transformations related to corporate and regulatory compliance, risk management, strategic planning, and change management companies operating and/or invested in the energy sector. In addition to his enterprise-level risk and compliance advisory support, he has worked with dozens of clients on targeted federal- and state-level regulatory compliance matters, with particular focus on the power and natural gas industries. This work has included compliance program development, enterprise/regulatory risk assessments, M&A&D due diligence, operating model design and deployment, and eGRC system selection and implementation.

For the past 12 years, Howard has also led an industry benchmarking survey of corporate and regulatory compliance programs, and for the last seven years has led a utility industry-focused Chief Compliance Officer Roundtable of 40 of the largest utilities in North America. Howard began his career with a state energy regulator focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy programs; spent time working in the energy industry with a natural gas and power company in commercial and regulatory roles; and then joined Deloitte 16 years ago and has been leading compliance and integrated assurance services for energy sector clients.

Wendy Friese is a partner in Deloitte Tax’s Washington National Tax (WNT) practice in the Federal Tax Accounting, Periods, Methods and Credits group. She serves as a subject matter specialist on revenue recognition, capitalization versus deduction, depreciation and amortization of property, lease accounting, accounting periods, estimated taxes, corporate alternative minimum tax, and small business taxpayer provisions. She consults with clients on planning opportunities to generate cash flow or utilize tax attributes by reviewing available accounting methods and facilitating the approval of the use of such methods with the IRS. She also assists clients with private letter rulings and relief requests for extension of time for making elections or for other relief under Reg. §301.9100.

Prior to joining Deloitte, Wendy was a tax policy advisor in the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy where she worked under two different White House administration leadership teams. She developed federal income tax accounting regulatory and sub-regulatory guidance for tax law changes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act; Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act; American Rescue Plan Act; and Inflation Reduction Act. She also worked with interested stakeholders to understand the potential impact of tax policies on industries and taxpayers, and coordinated with economists to quantify impact to taxpayers. Lastly, she provided technical advice to congressional staff in developing legislative proposals. Wendy is a speaker in various professional tax conferences, including the American Bar Association (ABA), AICPA, and the Tax Executives Institute.

Wendy received her BS in business administration from University of California at Berkeley. She is a certified public accountant in California and Washington, D.C., and she is a member of the AICPA.

Katie Gibson is a manager specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) in PU&R. She has almost 20 years of experience working throughout the utility industry including HR, org transformation, nuclear generation and operations, continuous improvement, and strategy and transformation. She is passionate about developing AI solutions for the changing operations and priorities that power and utilities are experiencing.

Katie holds an MBA from Tulane University and a bachelor’s degree from University of Texas at Austin.

Patrick Gilmore is a partner with Deloitte in the National Office where he specializes in matters pertaining to SEC rules and regulations related to financial reporting.

Patrick joined Deloitte in 2021 after 17 years on the staff of the SEC in the Division of Corporation Finance. Prior to joining Deloitte, from 2017 until his departure, Patrick served as the deputy chief accountant in the Division of Corporation Finance’s Office of the Chief Accountant at the SEC where he led the staff in providing technical accounting and reporting support for the Division’s disclosure review program, led various rulemaking efforts, and answered interpretive questions and waiver requests related to the form and content of financial statements to be included in SEC filings. During 2020, Patrick also served as the acting director of the disclosure review program where he oversaw the Division’s selective review of transactional and periodic filings. Patrick spent the earlier part of his career with the SEC in various management and staff positions in the Division of Corporation Finance’s Office of the Chief Accountant and the disclosure review program in the computer and software industry group.

Patrick earned a bachelor of science degree from Towson University, is a CPA, and is a member of the AICPA.

Nate Harrison is a managing director in the Business Tax Services group of Deloitte Tax LLP. He is based in Deloitte’s Charlotte office and serves as lead tax partner, primarily on the audit side, for a large number of utilities (both regulated and unregulated) throughout the United States. He serves as lead tax partner on a variety of audit, compliance, and consulting engagements for tax equity partnerships in the renewable energy space.

Nate has a broad background in federal, international, and multistate tax with extensive experience providing consulting and compliance services to large multinational corporations. He provides a wide variety of tax advisory services around accounting methods, credit and incentive planning, ASC 740 preparation and consulting, and merger and acquisition considerations.

Nate holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in accounting from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a licensed CPA in North Carolina and is a member of the AICPA.

Jason Jacobs is a partner in Deloitte’s Business Tax Services group in Houston and has nearly 25 years of tax experience. He also serves as the leader for Deloitte Tax LLP’s Power, Utilities & Renewables practice.

Jason has led teams serving large domestic and multinational entities primarily in the energy industry (including utilities, upstream oil and gas, oilfield services, and engineering and construction) and has also served clients in the chemicals and financial services industries. He has worked with both attest and non-attest clients leading large federal compliance, consulting, and income tax provision engagements.

Additionally, Jason has served as the National Tax Talent Acquisition leader where he led the recruiting strategy (including supporting the firm’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion) and previously served as a leader of Deloitte’s commitment to Making Accounting Diverse and Equitable (MADE) program.

As vice chair and US Power, Utilities & Renewable sector leader, Tom Keefe has a keen understanding of the trends affecting this sector with a focus on utility generation and distribution, gas transmission midstream activities and storage as well as nuclear generation, independent power production, and renewable energy.

Tom is a partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP, leading several large energy clients from across the industry. His experience includes external audit, internal control audits, rate case filing reviews, and purchase accounting. He also has expertise in SEC requirements, including those associated with initial public offerings, and in rate-making and other areas of regulatory accounting.

Tom is a proud graduate of the University of Notre Dame.

Mike Kohler is a member of the Deloitte Tax’s Washington National Tax (WNT) – Passthroughs group specializing in the federal taxation of partnerships. He has 16 years of experience providing legal, consulting, compliance, and accounting for income tax services to a variety of clients.

Mike advises clients primarily on questions arising in the formation and operation of various infrastructure and investment funds, including with respect to complicated profit and loss allocations, compensation arrangements, entry and exit of partners, cross-border investments, fund restructuring, and tax deferral and planning, as well as transactions involving the acquisition and disposition of portfolio companies. In particular, he has considerable experience representing clients in renewable energy, carbon sequestration, and other areas of sustainable infrastructure development, counseling sponsors, utilities, tax equity investors, equipment suppliers, and multinationals working toward their ESG goals.

In addition to his work advising on technical and compliance tax issues, Mike develops and consults on models in Microsoft Excel and other platforms that are used for tax planning, business valuation, and tax compliance purposes. Mike also speaks and publishes on various issues relating to the taxation of partnerships.

Mike received his JD from Columbia University School of Law, where he also was a member of the Columbia Law Review. Mike also has a PhD from Johns Hopkins University and an AB from Princeton University.

Olive Lau is a senior manager in Deloitte Tax LLP’s Global Investment & Innovation Incentives (Gi3) practice. She specializes in federal and state government tax credits and incentives, including research and development tax credit and Inflation Reduction Act initiatives like prevailing wage and apprenticeship compliance. Olive has experience representing clients to defend IRS credit claims and serves clients from various industries including financial services, energy, engineering and construction, manufacturing, paper and packaging, software, and insurance.

As a senior partner at Deloitte, Chris Lee has deep experience working with public and private companies, mergers and acquisitions, and complex accounting matters. Chris has served as the lead partner on a number of public companies in the energy and telecommunications industries. He has helped these companies through all phases of their life cycle from mergers and complex transactions to initial public offerings.

Chris has more than 30 years of experience in public accounting, servicing a variety of public company and private clients in a diverse group of industries. His areas of specialization include accounting for rate regulation, stock-based compensation, structured transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and ESG reporting. He has served as engagement partner on seven initial public offerings.

Aaron Leroy has more than 16 years of professional experience in state and local taxation. Aaron is currently in Deloitte’s National Multistate Tax Services group where he manages engagements focused on aligning client’s business objectives and strategies through multistate tax planning and identifying state and local tax exposure and opportunities. This includes comprehensive refund reviews, restructuring planning and modeling of tax impact, preparation of technical tax memoranda and preparation arguments in connection with client tax positions for administrative review, including audit proceedings.

Aaron received his BS in accounting from Robert Morris University.

Eileen Little is an audit partner with more than 25 years of experience serving public and private companies in a variety of capacities and disciplines, including auditing and professional practice. Eileen currently serves or has served as the lead client service partner, advisory partner, audit partner, or engagement quality review partner on some of our largest clients. She has extensive experience auditing large, complex public companies and successfully leading large engagement teams. Her background has given her a well-rounded perspective on how to resolve complex matters such as technical accounting issues, SEC reporting requirements including periodic filings and debt and equity offerings, internal control matters, and regulatory reporting matters. Eileen’s approach to client service includes obtaining an in-depth understanding of the expectations of the audit committee and management and efficiently identifying and addressing key issues and concerns. She is known for her hands-on, collaborative style and her proactive and efficient communication. Her strong experience in serving complex organizations enables her to respond quickly to emerging developments and bring unique perspectives to clients.

Eileen also serves as the US Firm’s National Professional Practice Director for Deloitte’s Power, Utilities & Renewables Industry. In this role, she has helped numerous clients and engagement teams resolve complex auditing and accounting issues, address regulatory and rate-making challenges, and analyze potential transactions. She is the one of the primary technical resources for energy-specific accounting and reporting issues in the United States.

Eileen has significant experience in both regulated and unregulated utility operations. Her clients have included regulated electric and gas utilities and pipelines, independent power producers and other merchant generation, and renewable energy companies. She has experience auditing in a variety of regulatory jurisdictions with different rate-making principles. She is a frequent speaker at a variety of Deloitte seminars focused broadly on utility and public company financial reporting matters.

Tom is a Partner in Deloitte’s Energy, Resources & Industrials practice with over fourteen years of consulting and accounting experience. Tom focuses on helping clients achieve their strategic finance initiatives and successfully assess and operationalize accounting and regulatory reporting matters. Tom works exclusively within the Power & Utilities sector, where he primarily focuses on enabling and optimizing GAAP and FERC reporting. Tom has spent the last nine years working with large Power & Utility clients on a number of finance transformation initiatives enabled by leading technologies. This work has included the enablement of regulatory reporting, adoption of accounting principles, process optimization, master data design, and merger integration.

Chris Makris is a managing director in Deloitte’s Global Investment & Innovation Incentives (Gi3) practice, based in Detroit, with a focus on research and development (R&D) tax credits, Section 41, Section 174, and Inflation Reduction Act credits such as Section 48C and Prevailing Wage and Apprenticeship compliance.

Chris is also the business strategy leader for IncentivesHub, which is Deloitte’s propriety claim management system that helps to drive new insight into client data and ease the data collection process of client organizations. He was a leading factor in the development of Deloitte’s IncentivesHub PWA Compliance Tool with input on calculation logic, user interface, and data import template design.

Chris brings more than 17 years of experience in leading research credit analyses and successfully represents his clients in audits performed by the IRS and state tax authorities at the field and appeals levels. He has experience in the manufacturing, automotive, food and beverage, packaging, engineering and design, biotechnology, and computer science industries. Chris has presented at numerous firmwide technical training sessions, the Tax Executives Institute, and other industry seminars related to R&D incentives and Inflation Reduction Act credits.

Mike Pangborn is a senior manager in Deloitte Tax’s National Multistate Credits & Incentives practice. He has 13 years of industry, consulting, and government relations experience, securing more than $7 billion in grants, credits, and incentives in at least 25 states.

Mike’s industry experience includes automotive, health care, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, food processing, consumer products and retail, agriculture, telecommunications, energy, and hospitality.Mike works closely with states and local municipalities in negotiating multistate incentive packages, including financing, grants, job credits, training grants, sales and use tax benefits, property tax abatements, infrastructure support, and other development assistance. He also leads efforts to secure infrastructure grant and loan support from various US agencies including the Department of Transportation, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Energy.

Mike graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School and the University of Wisconsin. He is a licensed attorney in Minnesota.

Amy Parker is an audit and assurance partner in the San Francisco office of Deloitte and is the leader of the West Coast Audit & Assurance Energy & Climate Tech market segment. She has been with the firm for more than 20 years and primarily serves the energy industry’s large public power, utility, and renewable clients, which include regulated utilities and merchant generation operations, in addition to large-scale renewable developers and emerging growth climate technology entities. She has spent the majority of her career serving SEC entities including Fortune 500 companies.

Amy has also served clients in the banking, real estate investment, and finance industries and has previously served in the New Orleans, Houston, Charlotte, Dallas, Miami, and Denver offices.

In addition to serving audit clients, Amy is charged with leading market development activity of the Energy & Climate Tech audit and assurance space in the Bay Area and broader West Coast as well as leading trainings for the firm both nationally and in her local practice office. She is a regular speaker at various internal and external events for the national power, utilities, and renewables practice.

Prior to joining Deloitte, Amy attended the University of Montana where she earned a BS in business administration with a concentration in accounting and a master’s in accountancy. She is a CPA in California and Colorado and is also a member of the AICPA.

Tricia Pemberton has more than 25 years of experience providing audit and related services to a wide range of clients in the energy industry. She has worked with several publicly held energy clients across the electric and gas distribution service, electric and gas transmission, gas storage, and independent power production sectors. Her experience includes external audit, internal control audits, and purchase accounting related to the acquisition and disposition of plants and businesses. In addition, she has served several alternative-energy clients.

Tricia has significant skills and knowledge in SEC requirements and has been the lead contact working with clients and their advisers on several IPOs and public financings. She also has significant experience in rate-making and other areas of regulatory accounting.

Tricia serves as deputy US professional practice director for the Power, Utilities, & Renewables sector. She has presented and written on numerous topics relevant to the industry.

Tricia has recent experience in transitioning large, multinational clients. She has a record of bringing Deloitte’s best resources to her engagements, and she works closely with her clients’ audit committees and senior management to confirm the quality of Deloitte’s service to their companies.

Tricia holds a BS in accounting from Indiana University and is a member of the AICPA.

Brad Poole has more than 30 years of experience providing audit and advisory services for energy clients, with a focus on regulated utility operations, renewable energy, gas trading and marketing, pipeline transportation, and refining and marketing operations.

Brad has focused on clients in a regulated environment for the past 25 years and has extensive experience in regulatory accounting, the rate-making environment, external reporting, and financing matters. He also has deep experience with renewable energy developers and energy technology companies.

He has served as an audit subject matter resource for several large engagement teams in the Public Utilities practice.

Brad is the US audit leader for the renewables sector and has strong solar and wind knowledge and experience. Additionally, from 2013 to 2020, he led Deloitte’s Energy practice and talent organization in the Bay Area. He has a demonstrated record of leadership and bringing our organization’s top resources to his engagements, and he works effectively with his clients’ audit committees and members of management to keep them apprised of issues and developments.

Snowden Rives is a senior manager in the Multistate group within Deloitte Tax’s Washington National Tax (WNT) practice. As a member of WNT, he advises the firm’s multistate and multinational clients on the state tax implications of federal tax legislation, corporate mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and restructurings; the state tax implications of various business models and contractual relationships; matters of apportionment and filing methodologies; and providing controversy representation services. His controversy experience includes representing clients before state tax agencies in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. He also serves as a member of the firm’s Jurisdictional Technical Lead program for California where he advises clients on the proper application of California tax laws.

Snowden has co-authored numerous articles published in Tax Analysts’ State Tax Notes and in Bloomberg BNA’s Daily Tax Report. Topics have included, among others, US Constitutional state tax issues, the state tax impact of recently issued US Supreme Court opinions, state income tax conformity to federal provisions, and state income tax considerations for foreign entity taxpayers.

Todd Samson is a partner at Deloitte Tax LLP with more than 20 years of experience. His focus is federal income tax matters, and he is responsible for the coordination of tax services provided by Deloitte Tax specialists to the clients he serves. Todd’s clients are corporations and entities taxed at partnerships in a variety of industries, including renewable energy, real estate, and infrastructure more broadly. He is a frequent speaker on renewable energy and partnership tax topics.

Todd has significant experience with tax planning, domestic and foreign structuring, tax benefit modeling, IRS examinations, and tax compliance matters. He has assisted renewable energy companies with structuring, M&A, complex tax allocation reviews, tax compliance, planning, domestic and international structuring, and state credits and incentives.

Todd holds an MBA and a BS in accounting from Indiana University. He is a member of the AICPA.

Darshit Shah is a senior manager in the Strategy & Analytics OP with experience in data, analytics, and AI strategy. He brings 10 years of consulting experience in digital transformation, change management, formulating AI/GenAI and data strategy, data platform analysis, data monetization and business operating models. He is an expert in engaging with C-suite executives.

Anna Taylor joined Deloitte’s Washington National Tax (WNT) practice in 2023 as deputy managing principal of the Tax Policy Group. She brings nearly two decades of Capitol Hill experience that will inform insights regarding tax and trade policy and legislative priorities and strategies. She works with a team that monitors US tax legislative and regulatory developments and produces articles for Deloitte Tax’s weekly newsletter, Tax News & Views, and in-depth publications on issues such as the US deficit and US tax reformAnna joined WNT from the Office of the Senate Democratic Leader, where she was the director of economic policy as well as tax and trade counsel. During her time in this role, she was the principal tax negotiator on legislation such as the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. Anna developed, implemented, and managed the Senate Democratic Caucus economic policy agenda and acted as its primary floor advisor for tax, trade, financial services, retirement security, and unemployment insurance legislation. She regularly interacted with the professional staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, as well as with minority and majority staff of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Anna earned her BA in political science from Arkansas State University and her JD from University of Arkansas School of Law.

Troy Teschke is a tax partner within Deloitte Tax’s National Multistate practice and the Multistate Power, Utility and Renewable industry leader. He is responsible for management, administration, quality, and delivery of Client Indirect Tax projects and deliverables.

Troy has more than 15 years of experience providing indirect and federal tax consulting services to clients in the oil and gas, public utilities, manufacturing, retail, and telecommunications sectors. His indirect tax experiences include working on behalf of complex, high-tech, and multi-jurisdictional businesses; reverse audits (including sales and use tax, telecommunication tax, and excise tax); indirect tax controversy including audit management, audit defense, audit appeal, and audit settlement national. He also has significant experience implementing federal capitalization and accounting methods, and research and development credits.

Troy advises clients on transaction tax issues, including large transaction tax refunds, and has provided audit defense services to numerous clients that have significantly reduced audit assessments. He has helped clients with managing audits and has advised on audit defense strategies for these transactions. He also has extensive experience evaluating transaction tax compliance functions for multistate clients and recommending design improvements to enhance overall compliance.

Troy is a licensed CPA in Michigan and Illinois and is a member of the AICPA. Troy received his BS in accounting and MS in accounting for information systems from Michigan State University.

Rick Tiwald has more than 30 years of public accounting experience serving clients in the energy industry, including electric, gas distribution, gas transmission, power generation, renewable energy, and alternative fuels companies, as well as electric generation, transmission, and distribution cooperatives. He leads several tax electric and gas utility engagement teams and plays an industry advisory role on several others throughout the country as well as provides Power & Utilities industry support to Deloitte’s M&A Transaction Services group. He has significant experience in a variety of tax matters, including mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures; entity structuring; tax accounting methods; capital recovery; accounting for income taxes; consolidated returns; and international tax. Rick serves as marketplace leader for the Des Moines office and leads Deloitte’s Tax practice in Iowa. He is a member of Deloitte’s Energy, Resources, and Industrials tax group and the Central Region Sub C Competency Team.

Rick earned a bachelor of science in business administration (accounting) from Creighton University. He is a member of the AICPA (Tax Division member) and both the Iowa Society of CPAs and the Nebraska Society of CPAs.

Don Williams is a managing director and data scientist in Deloitte’s Regulatory & Legal Support practice. As a leader of Deloitte’s Trustworthy AI offering, Don helps organizations establish AI governance structures and manage the risks that come with adoption of artificial intelligence adoption and deployment, including the management of transparency, bias, effectiveness, and privacy in algorithms. He has helped clients across industries plan and manage their AI risk programs, supporting them along their AI journeys, from establishing enterprise AI policies and articulating operating models to implementing automated controls for specific model risks.

Don also helps organizations design, implement, and tune AI systems that monitor for risk, with a focus on generating value from machine learning programs. He also advises Deloitte’s own AI programs when it comes to questions of accuracy, fairness, and algorithmic explainability.

Don regularly speaks on AI governance topics, focusing on how organizations can derive increased benefits from data science-driven programs by addressing the associated risks. He was a contributor to the NIST AI Risk Management Framework and a participant in the US AI Safety Institute consortium.

Dave Yankee is a managing director in the Credits & Incentives group of the Washington National Tax practice of Deloitte Tax LLP. He serves in an industry advisory role on several gas and electric utilities throughout the United States and as a specialist as needed to engagement teams in other Deloitte offices. In prior years, Dave was Deloitte’s lead tax partner on several rate-regulated utilities and two unregulated power generation companies as well as the US Power, Utilities & Renewables Tax leader for the firm.

Dave regularly advises clients in the areas of planning, evaluating, and supporting federal income tax reporting positions and by reviewing client-prepared tax returns. His work with power, gas, and water utilities has also included consultation and representation with respect to IRS controversies; drafting/reviewing Form 3115s (Application for Change in Accounting Method); participation in accounting method reviews; and serving as a tax specialist on financial statement audits by Deloitte & Touche LLP.

Dave has assisted regulated public utilities model the rate-making effects of tax benefits, compute the tax-related components of rate base and cost of service, draft/review pre-filed rate case testimony, draft/review IRS private letter ruling requests including participation with related meetings with public utility commission staff and IRS National Office personnel, and draft/review comment letters submitted to the IRS/Treasury regarding forthcoming federal income tax guidance on a variety of issues.

Matt Zalewski is a senior manager in Deloitte & Touche LLP’s Audit & Assurance practice. He serves clients in the Energy, Resources, and Industrials practice with eight years of experience in the power, utilities, and renewables industry. Matt has extensive experience providing audit and assurance services to power, utility, and renewable energy clients, including regulated electric, gas, and water utilities; energy trading companies; and offshore wind joint ventures. His experience includes navigating current and emerging industry accounting matters, such as regulatory accounting, performance-based rate-making, investment tax credits, business combinations, and securitizations. Matt regularly facilitates learning and development through his participation in Deloitte’s National Audit & Assurance Faculty Program. He is the current Accounting Fellow for the Edison Electric Institute and the American Gas Association.

Matt received a bachelor of science in accounting and a master of science in accounting from the University of Connecticut and is a licensed CPA in Connecticut.