CEG is one of the leading advisors on competition and regulatory issues across the energy sector. Our particular areas of expertise include market definition, cost modeling, competition assessments, analysis of alleged anti-competitive pricing, access arrangements, regulatory design and overall regulatory reform.

Representative cases on which CEG economists have recently advised include: 

• Advice on Areva/Urenco joint venture. Client: confidential.
• Benchmarking of efficient costs for energy businesses:  Clients: Multiple. 
• Estimation of appropriate retail margin (including the cost of hedging).  Clients:  Multiple.
• Expert advice and modelling of the economic impacts of proposed mergers between generators in the Australian national energy market (NEM).  Client: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
• Expert statement on the economic reasonableness of alleged related party contracts for outsourcing of the management of gas distribution assets.  Client: Envestra. 
• Expert advice on the economic impact of vertical integration between transmission and generation owners in the Australian national energy market (NEM).  Client: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
• Advice on the efficient recovery of costs incurred by the independent system operator in Australia (NEMMCO).  Client:  NEMMCO.
• Advice on efficient tariff design in electricity distribution, including analysis of: time of use, critical peak, interruptible load and other tariff options.  Clients: Multiple.
• Expert advice on the appropriate cost of capital for regulated energy businesses. Clients: Multiple. 
• Development of regulatory cost models for energy businesses; Clients:  Multiple.
• Advice on the appropriate economic interpretation of a legal requirement for 'fair sharing' of efficiency gains. Client: Gilbert and Tobin.
• Five year forecasts of labour and material (transformers, copper cable, switch gear etc) prices for electricity transport businesses.  Client: five Australian distribution and transmission businesses. 
• Expert advice on whether pricing by a dominant gas transmission pipeline owner constituted the exploitation of market power and, consequently, whether regulation should be imposed.  Client: National Competition Council.
• Expert advice on the appropriate valuation of existing gas pipelines newly subject to regulation.  Clients: multiple owners and regulators.
• Advice on the design of electricity markets, the role of unregulated "merchant" transmission, and the implications for efficient investment in generation and transmission assets.  Client: TransGrid.
• Submission to the US energy regulator (FERC) on market design:  Client: TransGrid.
• Advice on efficient tariff reform for the vertically integrated generation and network provider in Macau.  This involved estimating the LRMC on maximum demand and translating this into efficient tariff designs given relevant constraints (eg, metering constraints). Client: the Macau regulator (GDSE).
• Development of a price index to reflect movements in the unit costs of inputs for electricity transmission.  Client: TransGrid.
• Expert report on the appropriate mechanism to provide ETSA Utilities with an incentive to achieve cost reductions in operating and capital expenditure.  Client Essential Services Commission of South Austra