Disband The Electricity CEO’s Forum For The Good Of The Market – MEUG

June 24th, 2009

The Major Electricity Users Group is using the Ministerial Review of the electricity market as an opportunity to poke the borax at the electricity industry’s CEO Forum, where the five generator-retailer CEO’s meet regularly to discuss common issues. While the Forum always meets with a lawyer present to advise against any anti-competitive discussions, and there is no evidence of collusion at the meetings, MEUG sees the Forum as ripe for such misuse. MEUG executive director Ralph Matthes says “prior CEO behaviour is no indicator that that forum will not be used for cartel purposes in the future.”

MEUG also recommends considering an asset reallocation among the SOE’s to improve wholesale market dynamics, although it is more convinced by the need for the long-desired creation of financial transmission rights and other more sophisticated hedge market instruments to be developed to allow better management of dry year risk. He also recommends considering splitting Transpower’s responsibilities, so that it is no long both the System Operator and Transmission Asset Owner. The full submission is at <www.meug.co.nz>.


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