Day one: Session Decarbonisation pathways: policy and regulation

Bruce Mountain Director, Victoria Energy Policy Centre

The national electricity market 25 years on: outcomes and prospects

Bruce is a well-known Australian energy economist whose research and advisory work has focused on the economic regulation of network monopolies, the analysis of retail energy markets, and the design of emission reduction and renewable energy policies. Bruce has been a long-standing advisor to governments, regulators, market participants and interest groups in Australia and internationally. His PhD from Victoria University was on the political economy of energy regulation in Australia, and he has a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cape Town and qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant in England.

Lyndal Bubke Acting Director, Energy Innovation Toolkit, Australian

Energy Regulator

The Australian Energy Regulator’s new Energy Innovation Toolkit and how the regulatory environment can support the energy transition

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) exists to ensure energy consumers are better off, now and in the future. The AER’s new Energy Innovation Toolkit (EIT) supports energy innovators and start-ups navigate complex regulatory frameworks, and trial new products and services that will deliver greater choice and cheaper energy options for consumers. The EIT is delivered by the AER with the AEMC, AEMO, ESC and ARENA. Lyndal Bubke is the Acting Director of the Regulatory Sandbox team responsible for the delivery of the EIT.

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Chris Dunstan

Adjunct Associate Professor, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney

Least cost strategies for a customer-focused clean energy transition

Chris Dunstan is an economist and policy specialist with 30 years’ experience in clean energy, climate, strategic management and sustainability. Chris has facilitated major policy and program initiatives, including the NSW Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme (the world’s first carbon emissions trading scheme), the NSW Energy Savings Scheme, the NSW Climate Change Fund and the AER’s $1 billion Demand Management Incentive Scheme for electricity distribution networks. Chris has led the development of many key research initiatives, including the Australian Decentralised Energy Roadmap, the national Network Opportunity Maps, the Electric Driveway and the $350 million RACE for 2030 CRC.

Dani Alexander

Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, Program Lead RACE for Business, RACE for 2030

Dani’s experience in the energy sector spans policy, program management, governance and engagement, all towards promoting Australia’s transition to a low-carbon economy. Dani’s research specialises in energy system flexibility with a focus on distributed energy resources (DER), both on the demand and supply side. Dani has led numerous major DER projects at ISF and initiated ISF’s work on renewable energy and load management (REALM. Dani managed ISF’s award-winning DER demonstration project Networks Renewed, which tested the network support potential of batteries and solar PV owned by residential customers. Other DER projects Dani has led include Solar Optimisation Upgrades for C&I Customers funded by the Victorian Government, the DM Incentives Review funded by ARENA, and an Evaluation of Non-Network Alternatives for Essential Energy.