About Tom

Thomas (Tom) M. Adams

Summary Bio

Tom Adams is an independent energy and environmental advisor and researcher focused on energy consumer concerns, mostly in Eastern Canada. He has worked for several environmental organizations and served on the Ontario Independent Electricity Market Operator Board of Directors. He has published peer-reviewed papers in a range of fields and presented expert testimony before many legislative committees and regulatory tribunals in Canada.

Consulting, Instruction and Research

2019-present: VP of operations, Poteck Power Corporation

2012-2023: Research Fellow, Frontier Centre for Public Policy

2007-present: Tom Adams Energy: Environmental and energy consulting in private practice

2007: Sessional Lecturer, University of Toronto Faculty of Arts and Science, Department of Geography, Course taught: GGR333 Energy and Society

2005-2007: Member, Ontario Centre of Excellence for Energy Board of Management

2001-2010: Director, REAP Canada

1997-2001: Investigator, Environmental Bureau of Investigation

1996-September 2007: Executive Director, Energy Probe

1991-October 2007: Senior Consultant, Borealis Energy Research Association

1999-2001: Independent Director, Ontario Independent Electricity Market Operator (IMO)

1998-1999: Member, Ontario Electricity Market Design Committee (MDC)

1989-1996: Utility Analyst, Energy Probe

1988: Research Assistant, Electricity Planning Technical Advisory Panel (Reviewing Ontario Hydro’s Demand/Supply Planning Strategy for Ontario Cabinet Office)

Administrative Law Experience

2007-2012: Interventions on behalf of consumer organizations before the Ontario Energy Board on LDC rates, the IPSP, and OPG regulated assets

1989-2007: Interventions on behalf of Energy Probe before the Ontario Energy Board, New Brunswick Public Utilities Board, Manitoba Public Utilities Board, Ontario Joint Board, Ontario Environmental Assessment Board. Expert witness appearances or evidence presentations before the Ontario Energy Board, New Brunswick Public Utilities Board, and the Manitoba Public Utilities Board on matters related to benchmarking gas utility meter reading costs, gas DSM economics, pricing mechanisms to guide gas transmission system expansion and related market design issues, system gas pricing and contracting, statistical modeling of nuclear power output, electric LDC PBR, benchmarking electric LDC transition costs associated with commodity liberalization, and nuclear refurbishment economics.

Civil Law Experience

1997: New Brunswick Power Corporation and James F. Hankinson vs. Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, Thomas Adams, et. al. (successfully defended defamation action)

1989-1996: Energy Probe, Rosalie Bertell and the Corporation of the City of Toronto vs. the Attorney General of Canada, Ontario Hydro and New Brunswick Power Corporation (unsuccessful constitutional challenge of the federal Nuclear Liability Act)

Prosecution Law Experience

1997-2002: J. Fletcher v. Canada, Province of Ontario, Kingston Region (City’s conviction on related pollution charges)

1998-2001: T. Adams v. Canada, Province of Ontario (Ontario government acquitted on pollution charges related to the Deloro Mine site)

1997-2001: J. Fletcher v. Canada, Province of Ontario (Ontario government acquitted on pollution charges)

Academic Publications

2009: (coauthored with Francois Cadieux) Wind Power in Ontario: Quantifying the Benefits of Geographic Diversity, Engineering Institute of Canada, 2nd Canadian Climate Change Technology Conference May 12-13, 2009 McMaster University

2001: Changing the Energy Climate: Clean and Green Heat from Grass Biofuel Pellets, R. Jannasch, R. Samson, A. de Maio, T. Adams, and C. Ho Lem, Presented at “Climate Change 2: Canadian Technology Development Conference, Canadian Nuclear Society

1996: Comments on “The Future of Ontario Hydro: A Review of Structural and Regulatory Options,” by R. J. Daniels and M. J. Trebilcock, in Ontario Hydro at the Millennium: Has the Monopoly’s Moment Passed? edited by R. J. Daniels

1995: Comment on: ‘Changing Canadian Electricity Markets and the Future Role of Government’, in Energy Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 1

1993: Ontario Hydro’s Fatal Condition: Implications for Canadian Public Policy, in Canadian Business Economics, Vol. 1, No. 3

1989: Review of: Nucleus: A History of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, in Energy Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 1

Selected Publications

1998-present: Guest Columnist, National Post

2000: Coauthor with Mark Mattson and Myriam Beaulne, The Citizen’s Guide to Environmental Investigation and Private Prosecution, published by the Environmental Bureau of Investigation.

1996: “New Brunswick’s Power Failure, Choosing a Competitive Alternative” presented to the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, sponsored by Atlantic Institute for Market Studies

1995-1999: Guest Columnist, Energy Analects

Education

1990: Master of Environmental Studies, York University

1984: Bachelor of Science, University of Guelph

Other Distinctions

2002-present: Canadian Who’s Who

Numerous presentations to Legislative Committees in Ontario and New Brunswick, CAMPUT conferences, trade conferences, academic events, the Atomic Energy Control Board, and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.