Update from Sarah Gillies

It’s been a busy quarter and there’s more to come.

Last Thursday we had the pleasure of hosting 156 people online for our latest Quarterly Update, which generated the highest level of engagement since we started these events in October 2023.

Our Quarterly Updates are just one initiative underway to increase our engagement across the sector, and it’s great that this has been so well-received. It’s already proving beneficial, as the feedback and input we’re getting from the sector is helping us shape the work we’re doing to enable and support our changing energy system.

We had a full Quarterly Update agenda, reflecting the significant developments over the last few months – stress on the wholesale market, the Energy Competition Task Force and the Northland review.

We presented two new pieces of work at the Update - our priority work programme and a programme calendar for the Task Force work. You’ll see from looking at these that we have a lot to work through between now and the end of the year.

Like any organisation operating in a rapidly changing environment, we have to be smart about how we prioritise the work we’re doing. In our case, that means focusing in on the work that will most quickly and effectively deliver the largest benefit to electricity consumers.

The result is a new priority work programme aligned with our vision and strategic outcomes, with projects grouped under six critical work streams. We’ve designed the work streams to be flexible, so we can remain responsive to industry developments and new information, and challenges and opportunities as they emerge.

We’ve also released an Energy Competition Task Force work programme calendar to support active engagement and input into the workstreams and clearly indicate when decisions will land – I trust this will prove useful. Both the priority work programme and Energy Competition Task Force work programme are available on our website – I encourage you to take a look.

Also at the Quarterly Update, we formally introduced Electricity Authority Advisory Group Chair Jamie Silk and shared the names of the amazing cohort of members contributing to this group’s mahi. Alongside our technical working groups, the Electricity Authority Advisory Group brings new and diverse perspectives into our work, including consumer voices and technical expertise. I think it’s incredibly valuable to balance industry perspectives with fresh, innovative thinking and a strong focus on improving outcomes for electricity consumers – thank you to all involved.

We’ve also received some high-quality feedback and input from market participants via meetings, correspondence and the conversations we have with people at industry events. These less formal engagements are equally valuable – so please know that our door is open to anyone with feedback or ideas that sit outside our formal consultation processes.

In the wake of the wholesale price spikes, our Chair and I had some really useful conversations with both gentailers and independent generators. And we’ve heard very consistent messages, including a desire for consistent, long-term regulatory certainty so longer-term investments can be completed with confidence. We’ve also received useful input that’s fed into our policy work – thank you – and please keep it coming as we progress through our current policy reviews and beyond.

We want and need you to engage with us so we can shape a system that supports investment, innovation and economic growth, while also providing more affordable energy and services for consumers.

If you didn’t join us last week, you can watch the Quarterly Update below or read the presentation slides.