The Young Energy Professionals Network aims to have an autonomous chapter in Auckland by September as it looks to grow its membership in 2018. The group has about 120 members. Most of these are based in Wellington but YEPN co-chair and Powerco gas asset strategy manager Nicolas Vessiot says the group wants to reach those outside of the capital city.

The ‘3Ds’ – the global energy sector is being transformed by three trends that are impacting demand and supply at an unprecedented pace: decarbonisation, digitisation and decentralisation. The energy system is in transition. New technologies and systems are set to revolutionise the way we produce and consume energy. These new technologies will lead to unprecedented levels of efficiency and require new ways of thinking. What are the key elements to achieve this transformation? What new skills are required across the energy sector to support the change?

The BusinessNZ Energy Council (BEC) welcomes the announcement of a winter energy payment, which will help those Kiwis who find it difficult to pay their electricity bills.

The BusinessNZ Energy Council (BEC) has released its post-election briefing setting out the conditions required to unlock a positive energy future for New Zealand. BEC Chair David Caygill says New Zealand’s energy systems have provided a sound foundation so far, but the new challenges we face will require new and innovative responses from regulators, energy businesses and consumers.

The rapidly emerging trends of decarbonisation, digitisation and decentralisation require fundamental changes in regulatory approaches and prompts a rethink of who can participate in the energy market. But at the moment, the global energy sector is uncertain whether regulations can keep pace with the changes.

Ranking ninth in the World Energy Council’s Energy Trilemma Index, New Zealand is the only non-European country in a top ten led by Denmark and including Germany and the UK. According to BusinessNZ Energy Council Chair, David Caygill, this high ranking demonstrates "a consistent approach to the pursuit of balanced energy polices” making New Zealand “well-placed to keep up the pace”.

China’s energy strategy and its global implications. John Mathews, Professor of Strategy at Macquarie Graduate School of Management in Sydney, spoke about the current developments with China's energy strategy. He presented evidence of a global green transition under way – but contrary to popular perception – one that is not driven by the United States, the European Union or Japan. He argued that China is driving the green transition, very much for its own reasons of enhancing its energy security and cleaning up its deteriorating urban environment.

The rapid "greening" of the Chinese economy may continue to help drive down the manufacturing costs of renewable energy technologies, a visiting academic says. Wind, solar, battery and electric vehicle technology have seen cost reductions "because, as the market expands, so the efficiencies improve and the costs come down and the more the costs come down the more the market expands and this is a virtuous circle," professor John Mathews told a Business NZ Energy Council meeting in Wellington last Friday...

Tariff reform has evolved through five waves since the late 1970s. While 300+ pilots have shown that customers respond to time-varying rates, there is a reluctance among policy makers, regulators, and utilities to move ahead with new tariffs because of strongly-held misperceptions about how they may raise customer bills.

The legislated low-user fixed charge has become a “middle-class subsidy” for electricity and needs to be scrapped or replaced, the country's political parties agree. Labour Party energy spokesperson Dr Megan Woods says the most vulnerable families in terms of energy poverty in her Wigram electorate office are not small households with solar panels, but “very large families”.“They are probably living in uninsulated rental accommodation and they're the ones not getting the benefit, so I absolutely don’t think it meets the needs that I think it needs to.”“It can be seen as a middle-class subsidy now.”