Update from Sarah Gillies

As we wind up our working year, I’m reflecting on the shift we’ve achieved over the last twelve months and the outlook for 2025, which I expect will be just as busy and challenging for all of us in the electricity sector.

We’re completing another quarter marked by enormous activity and rapid change in the sector and within the Authority. This is the ‘new normal’ that will continue into the New Year and beyond, and we’re reshaping our organisation and our approach to adapt to this.

You’ll recall that at our October update we shared our priority work programme  focused on rapidly delivering the work that will create the most value for electricity consumers. We’ve now also reviewed the way we’re organised to increase productivity, respond to continued changes in the system and deliver our priorities.

In the last quarter we’ve created some new roles – most notably I’ve elevated our focus on electricity consumers to the top table through a new senior management role. I’ve also shifted some leadership portfolios to better reflect our focus and priorities – so you will start to see some new job titles attached to familiar names. In particular we’re bringing all network related policy work together and strengthening the focus on security of supply and competition. We’re increasing capacity and capability across areas including risk and information management, stakeholder engagement and some key targeted changes in our policy team too. These changes will support us to regulate in a way that enables and supports our changing energy system.

We are very aware that, for some market participants, regulatory change is not happening fast or hard enough - while for others the scale and pace of change is challenging to engage with or to operationalise. Our challenge is to strike a balance that achieves better outcomes for electricity consumers while doing this in a way that enables all parties to contribute to the process.

We’re up for that challenge – and to keeping our doors open to feedback from all parties so we can continue to evolve and improve. This will ensure our work is informed by innovation in the market, electricity consumers’ changing needs and market participant insights.

I’m very grateful for the engagement we’ve had with so many of you this year, through our Quarterly Updates, industry events, our consultation processes and meetings. We look forward to continuing and further broadening our engagement with you in 2025. Further engagement and consultation to support the rapid delivery of Energy Competition Task Force outcomes begins early in the New Year – to enable new generators and independent retailers to enter and better compete in the market, and provide more options for electricity consumers.

If you have questions, concerns or are just keen to talk to us about electricity market issues or our work, please contact us.

In the meantime, we wish you, your family and whānau a very safe and happy Christmas and New Year holiday and look forward to connecting with you when we reopen on 6th January.

Ngā mihi nui and Meri Kirihimete