Conference Day One - Wednesday 23 October
08:30 Registration and welcome coffee
08:50 Opening remarks and welcome address from the Chair
Keith Orchison, Director, Coolibah Pty Ltd
Keynote presentations
09:00 The key priorities for developing the NEM
- Why we need to focus on long term strategic priorities that address the long term interests of consumers
- What do we need to do to ensure an efficient gas market in Australia?
- Encouraging demand-side participation to address peak demand concerns
- Creating transparent markets that encourage investment and what this means for all stakeholders in the NEM
John Pierce, Chairman, Australian Energy Market Commission
09:25 Alinta’s perspective on the critical challenges facing the NEM
- Assessing the cost to industry and consumers of policy uncertainty
- Why we need to deregulate the retail market across the NEM
- The damage of rent-seeking behaviour in the NEM and how it can be addressed
Michael Riches, Executive Director Corporate Services and General Counsel, Alinta Energy
09:50 Reviewing the progress being made to move towards a clean energy future
- How have various ‘green schemes’ collaborated to bring us closer to our emissions targets?
- Ensuring that consumers are aware of how clean energy policies work and how they affect them
Chloe Munro, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Clean Energy Regulator
10:15 KEYNOTE PANEL DISCUSSION
Examining the reform agenda for the new political cycle
- What are the critical challenges facing the east coast energy sector?
- How does industry need to respond to these challenges?
- What are the key areas needing attention from the federal government?
Moderator:
Keith Orchison, Director, Coolibah Pty Ltd
Panellists:
John Pierce, Chairman, Australian Energy Market Commission
Michael Riches, Executive Director Corporate Services and General Counsel, Alinta Energy
Chloe Munro, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Clean Energy Regulator
10:45 Morning tea
11:15 INTERNATIONAL KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
The sudden rise of distributed self-generation and its impact on revenues - evidence from key overseas markets
- What is driving the rapid uptake in customer self-generation?
- Why the industry may be fighting an unwinnable battle
- The experiences of regulators internationally, why they haven’t coped with this change and how Australia can learn from these experiences
Fereidoon Sioshansi, President, Menlo Energy Economics (United States)
Navigating the complexities of east coast gas markets
11:45 Why a transparent and liquid market for east coast gas is crucial to meeting Australia’s gas needs
- How LNG exports will deliver a step change to the gas industry
- Why the structures that have served us well in the past, are not up to the challenges of the future
- How a transparent and liquid gas market will provide the signals investors need for production, transmission and storage and ensure consumers receive a competitive price
Clare Savage, Group Executive Manager Strategy & Corporate Affairs, EnergyAustralia
12:10 Natural gas: the future of Australia’s eastern energy market
- Australia has significant additional gas resources, both onshore and offshore
- The cost for developing these resources is increasing as the industry looks to develop new, more technically and logistically complex resources
- The challenge for Governments will be to encourage development of new resources by removing regulatory barriers and providing the optimal investment environment to bring this gas to the market
Kerrie-Anne Lanigan, Gas and Power Marketing Director, ExxonMobil
12:35 Networking lunch
13:35 Why we need an effective gas market to foster economic development on the east coast
- Outlining the short and long term concerns of large users regarding gas supply
- Identifying the shortcomings of the current market in developing desirable supply contracts
- How a gas supply shortfall will impact east coast businesses – a short term problem with long term implications
- Why we can’t leave this issue to the market
Peter Bury, Director, Strategy and Innovation, Plastics and Chemicals Industry Association (PACIA)
14:00 Meeting the challenges for flexible energy supply needs - Epic’s role as the swing gas transporter in the unique SA energy market
- History of Epic and its historic yet continuing role in the transformation of SA Energy supply
- Unique nature of SA energy balance with peakiest demand profile reliant on the highest concentration of wind, solar pv and gas generation
- Competition and the changing gas market dynamics and Epics role in developing efficient solutions for all industry stakeholders
- Epic’s vision on adding value to customers through a focus on growth and innovation
Jonathan Teubner, Manager, Commercial, Epic Energy
14:25 ACCC’s approach to mergers in the energy industry
- The ACCC’s role in merger regulation
- How the ACCC has assessed energy mergers in the past-likely future issues in energy merger review
Jennifer Barron, Special Counsel Competition and Regulation, Gilbert + Tobin
14:50 Afternoon tea
How might our clean energy policies evolve in the new political cycle?
15:20 Direct action and carbon policy – how our clean energy policies might look going forward
Senator Nick Xenophon, Independent Senator for South Australia
15:45 Minimising the cost of the RET to Australia’s businesses and economy
- Balancing energy export opportunities and domestic competitiveness -- why Australia needs affordable energy to ensure a competitive economy
- Analysing whether the RET helps Australia achieve its emissions targets in the lowest-cost way
- Assessing whether the RET has created an inefficient market that has excessively inflated electricity prices
- The importance of technology neutrality in government decisions
- The challenges of unwinding the RET -- investment uncertainty
Burchell Wilson, Senior Economist, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI)
16:05 POWER PANEL
Reviewing the RET – what we need to consider
- What is the impact on investment uncertainty of once again changing the RET target?
- What will be the actual costs to consumers and business of maintaining a fixed target?
- Do consumers understand the true cost of delivering a lower carbon economy?
- Can we deliver approximately 27% renewable energy at an affordable price by 2020 given the market structure we have?
- What are the benefits of maintaining present targets?
Moderator:
Keith Orchison, Director, Coolibah Pty Ltd
Panellists;
Alex Gosman, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Industry Greenhouse Network (AIGN)
Burchell Wilson, Senior Economist, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI)
David Green, Chief Executive Officer, Clean Energy Council
John Connor, Chief Executive Officer, The Climate Institute
What are the critical challenges facing energy retailers on the east coast?
16:35 POWER PANEL
How are energy retailers are responding to evolving energy markets
- What is the outlook for deregulation of remaining east coast markets?
- How can we ensure more transparent pricing systems?
- What is the outlook for a smart meter roll out and how could this drive innovation in the retail market?
- How can we better educate consumers about their energy options?
Moderator:
Keith Orchison, Director, Coolibah Pty Ltd
Panellists:
Cameron O’Reilly, Chief Executive Officer, Energy Retailers Association of Australia (ERAA)
Kate Farrar, Managing Director, QEnergy
Tony Sennit, Managing Director, Diamond Energy
17:15 Closing remarks from the Chair
17:25 End of day one and networking drinks