What an expert thinks

I’m talking to Jim Bushnell, an Associate Professor at the University of California, Davis – who was in New Zealand in August as the S.T. Lee fellow at the New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation.

Last week, Jim explained the problems that Single Buyer proposals faced in the US 10 years ago – useful input to the debate over NZ Power. This week I get to talk about Enron again: Jim lives in California and was there when they were – he gives us his perspectives.

In August, Bushnell gave a lecture in Wellington asking If Electricity Liberalisation is So Great, why does everybody hate it?.

Not again?

I’m taking to Jim Bushnell, an Associate Professor at the University of California, Davis – who was in New Zealand in 2013. This is from a series of podcasts I recorded back then which remain relevant today as we ask questions again around electricity market reform.

Last week, I asked Jim about the Labour-Green Power NZ proposals – it rang a few bells. This week he explains the problems that similar proposals faced in the US 10 years ago.

In August, Bushnell gave a lecture in Wellington asking If Electricity Liberalisation is So Great, why does everybody hate it?.

Surprisingly familiar

I’m talking to Jim Bushnell, an Associate Professor at the University of California, Davis – who was in New Zealand in 2013. This is from a series of podcasts I recorded back then which remain relevant today as we ask questions again around electricity market reform.

Last week, Jim talked us through the reform process the US followed and reflected on the results in 2006: higher prices in the states that had deregulated. This week I ask him about the Labour-Green NZ Power proposals – it rang a few bells.

In August, Bushnell gave a lecture in Wellington asking If Electricity Liberalisation is So Great, why does everybody hate it?

...and increasing. Not a great scorecard

I’m taking to Jim Bushnell, an Associate Professor at the University of California, Davis – who was in New Zealand in 2013. This is from a series of podcasts I recorded back then which remain relevant today as we ask questions again around electricity market reform.

Last week, Jim talked us through the reform process the US followed. This week he reflects on how successful it had been by 2006: not very by all accounts.

Topically enough, we’ve had another US Professor visiting us at the time and contrasting the evolution of our electricity market (including the Labour-Green NZ Power proposal) with those in the States. Next week Jim gets to the same territory. Surprisingly they’ve already been there.

Bushnell is the 2013 S T Lee visiting fellow at the New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation. Before joining UC Davis he spent 15 years as the director of research at the University of California Energy Institute in Berkeley.

In August, Bushnell gave a lecture in Wellington asking If Electricity Liberalisation is So Great, why does everybody hate it?

A story of many paths

This is the third of a podcast series I recorded back in 2013 on Energy News that I am now releasing. It remains relevant today as we embark on another review of the New Zealand electricity market.

I’m talking to Jim Bushnell, an Associate Professor at the University of California, Davis, who was in New Zealand in 2013.

Last week, Jim looked back at the US electric industry before liberalisation and what was wrong with it. This week, he talks us through the reform process they followed. It was quite a bit more complex than in New Zealand!

Bushnell is the 2013 S T Lee visiting fellow at the New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation. Before joining UC Davis he spent 15 years as the director of research at the University of California Energy Institute in Berkeley.

In August, Bushnell gave a lecture in Wellington asking If Electricity Liberalisation is So Great, why does everybody hate it?

I’m talking to Jim Bushnell, an Associate Professor at the University of California, Davis. I'm releasing a podcast series recorded back in 2013 that is still very relevant today as we explore market reform in New Zealand.

Last week, Jim explained what motivated him to write the lecture he gave in Wellington in 2013 - If Electricity Liberalisation is So Great, why does everybody hate it?

This week, he looks back at the US electric industry before liberalisation, what was wrong with it, and who pushed for change.

A Californian perspective from someone who ought to know

This is the first of a podcast series I recorded back in 2013 on Energy News that I am now releasing. It remains relevant today as we embark on another review of the New Zealand electricity market.

Jim Bushnell is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Davis. He was in New Zealand in August 2013 as the ST Lee Visiting Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation. He gave a lecture in Wellington asking If Electricity Liberalisation is So Great, why does everybody hate it? Topical stuff in the light of the Labour-Green Power NZ proposals, but the audience was about 100 of the usual suspects and I thought it deserved a wider airing.

Over the next few months we’ll retrace the journey from an American perspective – from why they liberalised electricity in California, to Enron and the recent cases of price manipulation against JP Morgan and others. Bushnell starts by explaining what motivated him to write the lecture – and it wasn’t Power NZ.

Might need to take a few risks?

For the past few weeks, Sophie has been talking to Deanna Anderson who’s the Kaitohu of the Energy Academy  which is working to grow our talent pool in support of a sustainable energy system.

Last week Deanna’s challenge was that our working environment was designed by men to enhance the productivity, well, of men – and whether that’s going to be ok?

This week, John throws the challenge of showing us what good looks like back to her …

Or will we attract and retain our future workforce as it is?

For the next few weeks, Sophie is talking to Deanna Anderson who’s the Kaitohu of the Energy Academy  which is working to grow our talent pool in support of a sustainable energy system.

Last week Deanna and Sophie talked about the importance of reverse mentoring where younger workers may need to coach those who’ve been in the workforce for a while and how technology could change the way we pursue and manage productivity.

This week, Deanna’s challenge is that our working environment was designed by men to enhance the productivity, well, of men – and whether that’s going to be ok?

Who’s coaching who in the future?

For the next few weeks, Sophie is talking to Deanna Anderson who’s the Kaitohu of the Energy Academy  which is working to grow our talent pool in support of a sustainable energy system.

Last week Deanna considered who our future role models might need to be and the need to be kind to those who find themselves leading organisations that look pretty different from the ones they started their careers in.

This week she and Sophie talk about the importance of reverse mentoring where younger workers may need to coach those who’ve been in the workforce for a while and how technology could change the way we pursue and manage productivity.