Impact Analysis
Economic impact, fiscal impact, regional and distributional effects
Impact studies for projects, programs, and policy changes, built to withstand technical review, public comment, and legal challenge.
Resource, Environmental & Applied Economics
Sound economics for decisions that shape land, water, energy, and communities.
Western Economics LLC delivers independent, defensible analysis on the impacts, costs, benefits, and tradeoffs behind resource, utility, and infrastructure decisions — built to hold up under technical review, public scrutiny, and regulatory or legal challenge.
What We Do
Independent analysis for questions where the answer has consequences.
We bring disciplined economic and quantitative methods to problems where the evidence needs to survive contact with regulators, ratepayers, courts, and the public. Clients bring us a decision to make — the evidence, not the client, determines the answer.
Expertise
Focused support where economic evidence matters.
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Benefit-cost analysis, valuation, scenario and sensitivity testing
Structured, transparent CBA for public and private investment decisions, with assumptions and tradeoffs documented clearly enough for a skeptical audience.
Utilities Economics
Rate design, cost-of-service, resource planning, demand forecasting
Applied economics for utility pricing, infrastructure investment, conservation programs, and regulatory proceedings.
Environmental & Resource Economics
Water rights and markets, natural resource valuation, ecosystem services
Analysis for water, land, and energy decisions, including climate adaptation, mitigation, and natural resource damage questions.
Representative Work
A sample of the work behind the résumé.
A cross-section of the questions we've been brought in on — not an exhaustive list, but representative of the kind of technical, high-stakes work we take on.
Voluntary carbon market due diligence
Information reports and technical review supporting due diligence on voluntary carbon credit projects and market participation.
Dam removal & management economics
Cost-benefit analysis weighing removal, retrofit, and continued-operation scenarios for aging dam infrastructure.
Water valuation studies
Economic valuation of water rights, transfers, and instream flows for agencies, utilities, and private water users.
Expert witness, water rights litigation
Expert testimony and technical reports in water rights adjudications and disputes.
Approach
Analysis built for the room it has to survive.
Every engagement starts with the audience and the decision, not the technique. We scope the question, agree on assumptions, and choose methods that fit the evidence available — then write findings that hold up whether the audience is a city council, a rate case, a courtroom, or a boardroom.
Independent findings
We work for the client, not for a predetermined outcome — the evidence drives the conclusion.
Transparent methods
Data, models, and assumptions documented well enough for a skeptical reviewer to check our work.
Decision-ready delivery
Findings written for technical peer review and the public meeting where the decision gets made.
Contact
Bring us the decision, not just the data.
Tell us what's being decided, who needs to be convinced, and the timeline you're working against. We'll tell you what it takes to get defensible answers in time to matter.