Richard McQuain

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Mr. McQuain currently leads Arctas’ business development in Hawaii. He has been an independent consultant providing services to the power industry (major clients have included Hawaiian Electric, Winrock International and Stone & Webster). He has been in the power business for 28 years with extensive experience involving commercial, management, technical and policy matters. Mr. McQuain served 22 years with Hawaiian Electric in various senior management capacities, both domestically and internationally, from 1978 to 1991 and from 1995 to 2004.

In his last role at Hawaiian Electric, Mr. McQuain created and implemented a small scale combined heat and power (“CHP”) program whereby the utility would own, operate and maintain CHP systems on customer premises.

As Vice President -- Planning, he directed the preparation and filing of rate increase requests for Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) and its two subsidiaries, Maui Electric Company and Hawaii Electric Light Company which together serve about 97% of the electrical load in the state of Hawaii. He served as the key policy witness in numerous PUC proceedings including a generic docket establishing the ground rules for integrated resource planning in Hawaii and investigative dockets regarding major power outages. During his tenure at HECO, Mr. McQuain negotiated over 20 power purchase agreements for the company, including AES’ Barbers Point facility and the Kalaeloa Partners facility, each at 180MW. For both of those contracts, he represented the company in the bid process, the contract negotiations, the construction facilitation, and he also shepherded both contracts through the Hawaiian Public Utility approval process.

He was the President and CEO of HEI Power Corp. where he oversaw the development, acquisition, and management of independent power facilities and service contracts in the Asia-Pacific Region. Mr. McQuain successfully directed the company during eight years of business development and sales growth until the Board of Directors of the parent company decided to exit the international market and dissolve the company. During his tenure, he negotiated the acquisition of a 200MW coal-fired project in Inner Mongolia, a strategic partnering agreement with El Paso for a 50% interest in 220MW of generation in the Philippines, the acquisition of a 20% interest in Cagayan Electric Power & Light Company, creating a strategic partner in power development on the island of Mindanao, Philippines, and led the winning bid for the refurbishment and operational management of the Guam Power Authority Tanguisson Plant.

In the early 90s, he was Manager of Fossil Plant Betterment at Carolina Power & Light Co, responsible for identifying and implementing efficiency and capacity improvement projects for the company’s fossil and hydro facilities. He directed engineering and construction activities related to identified projects. Additional duties included (1) oversight of all major maintenance activities at the coal and hydro facilities as well as turbine maintenance at the company’s nuclear facilities; (2) negotiation of power purchase arrangements between the company and independent power producers; and (3) the development of a program to provide on-site cogeneration for large industrial customers.

He received his B.S. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Florida and his M.S. in Systems Management from the University of Southern California.

 

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