The Law and Economics Association of New Zealand (LEANZ) and Buddle Findlay invite you to the LEANZ AGM and a seminar on the NZ electricity market by Carl Hansen.

Title: New Zealand’s electricity market: past, present and future

Speaker: Carl Hansen

Date: Thursday 24 June 2021

Time: 5:30pm to 7pm

Videoconference (Zoom): from 5:30pm onwards -- click here

• Webinar ID: 863 2889 4194

• Passcode: 520557

Topic:

The New Zealand electricity market is under pressure from various angles – independent retailers are frustrated with high wholesale prices; major users worry about their international competitiveness and some have scaled back operations; the Electricity Authority has recently investigated complaints about undesirable trading conduct by generators; the government is assessing the merits of large-scale storage through the NZ battery project, with some alerting of potential crowding out of commercial new entry. All of this at a time when the Climate Change Commission has placed the electricity sector at the heart of decarbonising New Zealand’s economy. Is our electricity market up to the challenge?

In this seminar, Carl Hansen will address these challenges by outlining the key aspects of the present (and past) regulatory regimes for the electricity sector, touching on incentives, behaviours and outcomes.

Speaker Details:

Carl is an independent consultant based in Wellington. He has expertise in market design, regulation, tax, infrastructure, productivity and economic growth policies.

He has been a member of the National Infrastructure Advisory Board, chief executive of the NZ Electricity Authority, chaired several electricity industry advisory groups, and advised clients on water sector reform, taxation, and a range of electricity industry performance and structural issues. He has previously worked for electricity market services company M-co, the Law and Economics Consulting Group, the New Zealand Treasury, the New Zealand Reserve Bank and the New Zealand Business Roundtable.

Please direct any queries about the AGM to Sophie Harker (LEANZ Secretary) sophie.harker@chapmantripp.com or about the seminar to Diego Villalobos (LEANZ Vice President) diego.villalobos@comcom.govt.nz

Lawyers may note that if this seminar is part of your learning objectives in your CPDPR, then the seminar can count for one hour of your 10 CPD hours. Please contact a LEANZ representative at the seminar to confirm your attendance.