Energy Matters 2023

Twenty five years ago the “National Electricity Market” promised a shift away from administrative control and towards market-based prices for the supply of electricity in Australia’s south and eastern States. The claim was that such a market would shift operational and investment risk towards shareholders and away from tax payers.

While operational risk does seem to have been “privatised”, closer inspection of investment suggests that consumers and tax-payers have continued to bear most investment risk. This seems to be increasingly accepted by the community. For this reason in part, reversion to government ownership and control of electricity production, distribution and retailing is finding popular support. Popular demand for very rapid decarbonisation is grist to this mill.

Once again it has become topical to ask if and how to involve private capital in electricity production, distribution and supply, and how important it is that customers should be free to choose their suppliers.

Date: Thursday, 11 May 2023

Time: 6-7:45pm

Venue: The University of Auckland Business School, Lecture Theatre OGGB5, Level 0, Sir Owen G Glenn Building, 12 Grafton Road, Auckland.

Please register/RSVP by: 4 May 2023

Parking: Is available under the Sir Owen G Glenn Building. Information on car park pricing can be found here.

Bruce Mountain is an energy economist with a specialism in energy regulation, policy and strategy. He is the Director of the Victoria Energy Policy Centre at Victoria University.

Bruce started his career in the electricity industry in South Africa and subsequently undertook secondments and long-term consultancies to market participants and to economic regulators in France and England. Before emigrating to Australia in 2002, he lived in London and worked as a consulting economist on various electricity deregulation projects in various countries.

His PhD was on the political economy of energy regulation in Australia and he has degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Cape Town and professional qualification as an accountant in England. He is currently advising the Government of Victoria on the re-establishment of the State Electricity Commission.

For more information, please phone Dinah Towle on (09) 923 1636 or email d.towle@auckland.ac.nz

Proudly supported by the Energy Education Trust of New Zealand.The University of Auckland Business School gratefully acknowledges the Energy Education Trust of New Zealand for their support of tertiary education and research in disciplines relevant to New Zealand’s present and emerging energy needs. The largest provider of philanthropic support for Energy Education in New Zealand, the Trust funds:

• The Energy Education Trust Chair in Energy and Resource Economics• The Business School’s Energy Centre• The “Energy Matters Speaker Series”• Postgraduate research scholarships and research scholarships

For more information, please visit the EETNZ website.