Industries
Emerging Issues
- Challenging times ahead for the AER
- Understanding the difference between public and national interests
- Will the AER become a secondary carbon market regulator?
- Energy storage - will it power a renewable energy revolution?
- What opportunities arise in an emerging market for home-based energy management technology?
Electricity
Overview
In many jurisdictions the competitive segments of the electricity value chain face significant and continued uncertainty regarding the shape and impact of carbon and emissions regulations. Possible liability for emissions is an obstacle to much-needed generation investment, and the evolution of efficient, practical and liquid markets for carbon risk management has yet to occur.
Complicating matters further, in many countries 'energy poverty' is becoming a headline issue, placing pressure on utilities and regulators alike to deliver an efficiency and effective residential power supply at the lowest practical cost. Against this backdrop, retail competition continues to expand in scope and increase in intensity, raising the stakes for incumbents and opening niches to new entrants.
The challenges for infrastructure businesses are equally significant. In many Western economies changes in workforce demographics are combining with cyclical peaks in asset replacement activity to place stress on work delivery. Increasing demands are being placed on networks to accommodate intermittent and distributed generation, and public expectations of network support for renewables are not being matched by regulatory investment frameworks. New technologies for metering, network and load control are challenging network businesses' ability to reconcile technical, commercial and regulatory change.
Marchment Hill's consultants have a deep understanding of the electricity sector and its many intricacies, and provide invaluable support to clients across all the segments of the industry.
