Directory

Tom Unke, partner and team leader for the energy and utilities team, has been with Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP since 1991. He specializes in serving the financial and operational needs of the utility industry. Specific focus areas include renewable energy development, financial due diligence, litigation support, audit and accounting, strategic planning and joint-costing analyses.

• Involved with emerging market issues relative to contract or litigation support
• Involved with the electric energy markets including Midcontinent Independent System Operator, New York Independent System Operator, Electric Reliability Council of Texas and others
• Develops cost sharing methodologies for cities, townships and villages in order to price joint services including wastewater treatment and water distribution services
• Develops cost-of-service models and rate design concepts used to attract and retain large industrial customers and send proper price signals necessary to enhance the customer’s effectiveness and efficiency
• Prepares econometric forecasts of sales, revenues, expenses and other operational components necessary to predict the timing of rate adjustments, project financing and cash flow
• Completes financial evaluations to determine effect upon utility and city earnings, cash flow and levy needed when assessing options to construct, retire, replace or abandon utility infrastructure
• Develops activity-based models used to price utility services including marginal, embedded, incremental and fully loaded recovery of cost pricing strategies
• Facilitates focus group discussions regarding strategic and operational initiatives including new business ventures and process change or development
• Provides expert testimony before state regulatory agencies on electric, water and wastewater utility revenue requirements, cost of service and rate design issues

• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
• American Public Power Association
• Edison Electric Institute
• Wisconsin Institute of Certified Public Accountants

• Frequent speaker regionally and nationally on pricing of utility services, financial planning for utilities, creative and innovative financial reporting tools, rate unbundling, budgeting and various accounting topics
• Authors articles on topics related to the utility industry

University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire
Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting and business finance

• AICPA, Fundamentals of governmental accounting and reporting
• AICPA, Audit sampling
• Baker Tilly, Accounting for governmental assets and liabilities
• Baker Tilly, Detection and prevention of fraud in financial statements
• Baker Tilly, Internal control and fraud in governmental and not-for-profit entities
• Baker Tilly, Public sector accounting and auditing planning webinar
• Baker Tilly, Trends in governmental accounting
• Baker Tilly, IFRS and U.S. GAAP