Chad Wilcox
Project Manager | Orlando, FL
Chad Wilcox with his family.
Chad Wilcox joined GDS in December 2018 as a Project Manager in the Orlando office. Chad has been working in the energy and utility industry for eight years and specializes in utility financing and rate making. He joined the industry in 2011 working as a tax analyst for a large multinational utility organization. In that role, Chad was responsible for analyzing utility tax issues and performing regulatory accounting. More recently, he managed an electric utility’s Sales and Revenues Department, where his team focused on revenue analysis and rate making. As part of that role, he spent a lot of time manipulating and analyzing the utility’s transmission formula rates, and he benefited from working along-side some extraordinarily talented rates and regulatory professionals.
Transitioning from his former role as a Utility Manager to his new role as a Consultant has been very rewarding from a professional growth perspective for Chad. Beyond working with an incredibly strong team of utility rates consultants and engineers, Chad loves working with clients and learning each client’s perspective on utility finance and regulatory strategy. He has particularly enjoyed learning the “ins and outs” of the various formula transmission rate models used in different regions around the country.
Since joining the Rates and Regulatory department, Chad has been busy providing technical consulting services to cooperative and municipal organizations participating in rate proceedings at FERC. “I found a great fit at GDS!” – Chad Wilcox.
What are your interests in your field of work?
While I am generally eager to dig into any and all aspects of utility finance and/or utility rate regulation, I always enjoy going back to my “roots” and assisting clients with utility income tax accounting issues (dealing with those 190s, 282s, and 283s). Also, I really enjoy helping clients navigate finance and rate issues raised in the context of grid modernization and the implementation of evolving technologies such as grid-scale battery storage.
Do you have a favorite quote?
“It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.” – John Templeton
Any career lessons you have learned thus far?
Be flexible.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself?
I grew up in a farming community in Aroostook County, Maine, and my childhood was largely influenced by agriculture. Each September, my 17 or so classmates and I were released from school during a three-week “harvest break” so we could work for local farmers harvesting potatoes. I was first employed as a potato picker at age 9, and I recall how the crisp fall air nipped at my skin during early morning rides to the field on the back of the farmer’s pickup truck. In the field, potatoes were unearthed by the “digger,” a ground shaking piece of farm equipment hauled behind a tractor, and then hand-picked by us potato pickers. I was picking around 40 barrels per day and getting handsomely rewarded to the tune of 50 cents per barrel! My ag-life continued through high school, during which time I was a member of the Future Farmers of America (“FFA”), competed on a state-championship dairy cow judging team, and earned the Maine FFA State Degree.
What is your favorite food?
Two things come to mind:
- Beef Burrito at Verve in Orono, Maine
- Chicken Salad Club with “hots” at Market Street Eats in Portland, Maine.
Is there anything you would like to say about your family?
My wife, Chrissy, and I are both from Maine. We grew up on separate ends of the state and met as accounting students at Husson University. In addition to bonding over balance sheets, we share a common love for travel and exploring new places, and we always love hanging out with our friends and family. Our biggest adventure together has been growing a family with our two sons (Ages 4 and six months) and our cat (Miss Kitty is about nine 😊).