Back to business! 2018 will require all of our energy as we are running a schedule full of projects this year. Amongst other things, together with our members, we will be kicking off a new BEC scenario project, hosting a major international conference and shaping New Zealand's energy agenda.

We are delighted to announce the release of our post-election briefing, setting out key issues that need to be addressed by government and the energy sector. BEC members say they want to participate in active, competitive energy markets that encourage innovation and consumer choice and businesses. But what are the core elements for achieving such positive outcomes while solving the energy trilemma?

We are pleased to welcome Powerco as a new BusinessNZ Energy Council (BEC) member. Powerco is the second-largest gas and largest electricity distributor in NZ. Its network delivers electricity and natural gas to households around the North Island from the national electricity transmission network Transpower and the natural gas transmission system owned and operated by First Gas. The BEC is looking forward to working together with Powerco.

We are delighted to bring you the October edition of the World Energy Focus, this month including New Zealand's shift in its Energy Trilemma balance. Moving away from its traditional focus on energy security of supply, which remains important, New Zealand's key challenge is how to reduce energy sector-wide carbon emissions. BEC2050 Scenarios' work explains how the Kayak and Waka scenarios applied to transport could help define policies to achieve such targets in an uncertain political context following the national election.

AI our greatest existential threat? In an interview with Idealog, Stu Christie explains that he sees the biggest opportunities for Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies being in agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure and transportation. Stu is investment manager at NZ Venture Investment Fund and now Chair of the recently launched AI Forum. He says New Zealand has an open labour force, is easy to do business with, and is a heavily connected first world country but small enough to be able to collaborate together. The AI Forum sets out to raise the level of awareness and capabilities of AI in New Zealand.

Congratulations to all our award winning members Alison Andrew the CEO of Transpower and James Tipping the Manager Strategy and regulation at Trustpower. Transpower, Trustpower, Flick Electric, ChargeNet, LZ, STOS, GNS Science, Venture Southland, Active Refrigeration and Alan Jenkins were the winners of the 2017 Deloitte Energy Excellence Awards, announced last night. Over 600 people from the energy sector came together and celebrated with the Minister of Energy and Resources, the Hon Judith Collins.

Having previously reported on the usage of Blockchain we are excited to see the current development of NZ's peer-to-peer (P2P) power platform P2 Power. In an interview on Wednesday Stu Innes, the P2 Power's co-founder, said that the company is currently working with Lightning Lab to explore options, such as blockchain, to improve their data-driven platform.

We are pleased to welcome Vector as a new BusinessNZ Energy Council (BEC) Member. Vector is an electricity and gas distribution company based in Auckland. Vector also owns a fibre optic cable network and recently installed a network of 15 electric vehicle chargers across Auckland. The BEC is looking forward to workingi with Vector.

The recently released World Energy Issues Monitor 2017 shows NZ’s energy sector is not immune to growing global and domestic energy system uncertainty. It’s keeping our energy executives awake at night. Uncertainty now extends to issues which in previous years have traditionally been those that energy executives simply got on with – renewable energies and energy efficiency.

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