HoustonKemp in Sydney, Australia | Consultation agency

HoustonKemp

Locality: Sydney, Australia

Phone: +61 2 8880 4800

Address: Level 40, 161 Castlereagh Street 2000 Sydney, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.houstonkemp.com

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25.01.2022 Oliver Nunn and Ann Whitfield prepared an expert report for TransGrid in January. The report responds to the AERs transmission network benchmarking study and its application to setting TransGrids opex rate of change for the upcoming regulatory period.http://static1.squarespace.com//HoustonKemp_Review-AER-Ben

24.01.2022 Ann Whitfield will be part of a session on Innovating Regulatory Frameworks at Energy Networks 2016. Ann will be speaking on the topic Electricity Micro-grids into the Void?. The conference, organised by the Energy Networks Association, is being held in Adelaide 18-20 May 2016. More information on the session and the conference can be found here:

24.01.2022 $1 MILLION BLOCKCHAIN SOLUTION FOR MANAGING INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION HoustonKemp is delighted to announce its selection to spearhead an innovative blockchain solution to the Australian governments efforts to track and manage financial and criminal intelligence information.

22.01.2022 Adrian Kemp is pleased to announce his appointment as a council member to the Economic Society of Singapores 60th Council. The ESS was established in 1956 as a non-profit organisation, aimed at encouraging like-minded parties to collaborate on economic issues. More information about the ESS can be found here:

21.01.2022 HoustonKemp is pleased to be sponsoring the launch of Women In Economics (NSW) on Thursday 23 March. To register for this event or to find out more about Women In Economics, head to:

20.01.2022 Looking for economic consultants

20.01.2022 This month, Luke Wainscoat gave two lectures on an introduction to competition economics to students at the Sydney University Law School as part of its undergraduate course on competition law. The topics Luke discussed were: - the demand and supply model; - perfect competition vs. monopoly; - economic welfare and market power;... - game theory; - price and quantity setting competition; and - collusion and predatory pricing. To see Luke's slides visit our What's New page: http://www.houstonkemp.com/whats-new/

20.01.2022 A summary of an article Tom Graham co-authored in 2014 on incorporating marginal costs in water supply tariffs appears in the March 2015 issue of the ACCC quarterly publication, 'Network'. The summary appears in the section titled From the Journals that contains summaries of articles, reports and books on subjects relating to the economic regulation of infrastructure. The March 2015 issue of Network can be found here: https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/network

19.01.2022 Adrian Kemp, Luke Wainscoat and Richard Grice prepared a report for Jemena Gas Networks (JGN) that examined the extent to which there is an increased opportunity for substitution from gas to electricity, and the implications for the incentives that JGN faces in operating its natural gas network in NSW. Our report can be found here: http://jemena.com.au//appendix-01-01-jgn-s-competitive-en/

18.01.2022 Luke Wainscoat and Sarah Turner have used data provided by Nick de Roos at the University of Sydney to depict the pattern of price changes for retail petrol in Perth, over the decade from 2003 to 2013. This video summarises that dynamic, in the form of a chart. For more information, please visit http://www.houstonkemp.com/whats-new/

17.01.2022 Greg Houston, Jennifer Fish, Luke Wainscoat and Richard Grice prepared a report on the effects of the proposed Qantas/China Eastern Joint Coordination Agreement in the context of their application to the ACCC for authorisation of the agreement. Our report can be found beginning at page 113 here: http://static1.squarespace.com//1430808608/D15%2B55545.pdf

17.01.2022 Greg Houston and Carol Osborne assisted New Zealand electricity lines and gas pipelines business, Powerco, in relation to the Commerce Commissions review of its input methodologies for setting price and revenue caps. In a report on the methodology for determining the regulatory WACC, we identified elements with the potential to improve the incentives on businesses for prudent and efficient decision-making. In a second, supplementary report, we responded to submissions by the Major Energy Users Group and Sustainable Electricity Association New Zealand. These reports can be found here: http://www.comcom.govt.nz//inp/input-methodologies-review/

17.01.2022 The Australian Competition Tribunal handed down its decision on the appeals brought by electricity and gas network businesses in New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory against decisions made by the Australian Energy Regulator. This is the Tribunals first review of decisions made under new regulatory rules introduced in 2012, as well as the first under the new arrangements for limited merits review. HoustonKemp's (6 page) take on the decision is here: http://www.houstonkemp.com/whats-new/

17.01.2022 Greg Houston prepared an expert report in February for ActewAGL Distribution, evaluating the Australian Energy Regulators draft distribution determination for the 201519 regulatory control period. Gregs report, prepared with the assistance of Ann Whitfield and Dale Yeats, provides an opinion on whether the AERs determination is likely to contribute to the achievement of the National Electricity Objective (NEO) and to represent a materially preferable NEO decision. http://static1.squarespace.com//HoustonKemp+Report_13+Febr

17.01.2022 Our Partners, Ann Whitfield and Greg Houston, were pleased to join Paul Kenny, Prof Graeme Samuel and Geoff Swier in a pro bono submission to the COAG Energy Council's review of the limited merits review arrangements for energy sector regulatory decisions. Our collective call for patience can be found here:

15.01.2022 Tom Graham and Oliver Nunn undertook a discrete case study in February looking at the historical coordination of transmission and generation investment in South Australia, paying particular attention to the locational decisions of wind farms, as part of the AEMCs wider consideration of the Optional Firm Access (OFA) model. http://static1.squarespace.com//Final+Report+%282+February

14.01.2022 We are now recruiting for 2016 Graduate positions. Go to www.houstonkemp.com/careers for more information. Applications close 16 May.

14.01.2022 Our submission to the Harper Review was published recently. We caution that the proposed changes to section 46 of the CCA offer few, if any, economic benefits, and would give rise to a long and costly period of uncertainty as to how the revised law may be applied. In contrast, the panels focus on road transport and human services has the potential to unlock the kind of productivity gains that followed the 1990s reforms in the electricity, gas and water infrastructure sectors. Our submission makes suggestions to guide productivity-enhancing reform in both human services and road transport. Our submission can be found here: http://static.squarespace.com//Submission+to+the+Competiti

14.01.2022 Greg Houston prepared an expert report that was submitted to the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) at the end of January in support of ActewAGL Distributions revised regulatory proposal for the period commencing on 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2019. Gregs report assesses the implications of the AERs draft decision on the Efficiency Benefit Sharing Scheme and the incentives on ActewAGL to efficiently incur operating expenditure. Gregs expert report finds that the AERs draft dec...ision imposes a retrospective change to the regulatory framework that has a material negative financial impact on ActewAGL and undermines the incentive for ActewAGL to efficiently incur operating expenditure. Consequently, Gregs expert report concludes that the draft decision promotes short term efficiency objectives at the expense of long term efficiency objectives and so does not promote the long term interests of consumers in accordance with the national electricity objective. Gregs expert report can be found in Attachment C1 to ActewAGLs revised regulatory proposal here: http://www.aer.gov.au/node/11482

14.01.2022 Carol Osborne spoke at The Future of Competition Law and Policy in the ASEAN Countries: Issues and Challenges conference in Singapore, which was hosted by ESSEC Business School, Sorbonne-ASSAS, and Concurrences. She presented a paper on The Role of ASEAN Guidelines on Competition Policy and the Economic Integration of the ASEAN Countries. The paper can be found here: http://static1.squarespace.com//Competition+Guidelines+and

13.01.2022 Great to be part of a 22 strong HoustonKemp staff off-site in the Blue Mountains. Our two days was spent learning new and better ways of presenting our work, reviewing what we want to be known for (integrity in developing insights into complex economic questions, and conveying them to decision-makers in a clear and compelling manner) and how we can achieve that more effectively. And we finished things off by either abseiling or taking a trip through River Caves canyon, all under the careful guidance of BMAC (https://bmac.com.au/).

13.01.2022 We are now recruiting for Internship positions starting in November 2015. Go to www.houstonkemp.com/careers for more information. Applications close 16 May.

13.01.2022 Greg Houston will be participating in a panel discussion on Economics: Hot tub on hot tubbing at the 5th Annual Asia-Pacific Law Leaders Forum in Singapore, 3-4 March 2016. More information on the panel and the conference can be found here:

11.01.2022 HoustonKemp are pleased to announce the launch of our 2017 Graduate Programme and Summer Internship recruitment drives. Our Sydney-based team is seeking candidates with a strong academic record, excellent written and quantitative skills, the right to work in Australia and a passion for using economics to solve problems. Further details can be found on our careers page here: http://www.houstonkemp.com/careers

10.01.2022 We are pleased to announce the relocation of our Singaporean office to Asia Square Tower 1. The move to a new, permanent location reflects our ongoing commitment to expanding our presence in Singapore and the wider southeast Asian region. We hope to welcome you to our offices in the near future.

10.01.2022 On 25 February 2015, Greg Houston presented at the AEMC Public Forum in Sydney as part of the East Coast Wholesale Gas Market and Pipeline Frameworks Review. Greg provided insight to the current Council of Australian Governments' gas market vision, an overview of an appropriate assessment framework for the review and some candidate focus areas for consideration. Greg's presentation (along with the presentations of all other speakers) can be found on the AEMC website: http://www.aemc.gov.au//East-Coast-Wholesale-Gas-Market-an

07.01.2022 Luke Wainscoat gave a presentation to Baker and McKenzie in Sydney on the economics of market power. It provided an introduction to the topic, including setting out what market power is, and explaining how it is affected by potential entrants and firms already in the market. Lukes presentation can be found below.

07.01.2022 Greg Houston was interviewed by Matt Peacock for the ABC. The recent falls in oil prices appears to be a simple good news story for Australia, a substantial importer of oil. But interconnected global markets for all forms of energy mean things are not so straightforward. The ABC 7.30s Matt Peacock recently investigated the linkages, including the adverse implications for Australias newly emerging status as a leading global LNG exporter.

06.01.2022 CCS Competition Economics Roundtable 2015: On Wednesday 21 January, Carol Osborne spoke at the Competition Commission of Singapores roundtable event on the topic of vertical restraints in regulated industries. Her presentation considered why regulatory arrangements may be more suitable than general competition laws for addressing anti-competitive vertical leveraging of market power in these industries, and the ways in which regulatory regimes address the risk of such conduct. http://www.houstonkemp.com/whats-new/

05.01.2022 Virginia Wheway has been invited to participate as a community ambassador in the World Smart Citys online platform. The online discussion will culminate at the World Smart City Forum in Singapore on 13 July 2016. Further information on the online discussion and details of the event can be found here:

04.01.2022 Oliver Nunn presented at a workshop hosted by the Centre for Policy and Market Design at the University of Technology Sydney. Entitled Is there a future for economists in the age of renewable energy?, Olivers presentation described the challenges that the advent of renewable energy sources present for the design and operation of wholesale electricity markets and can be viewed below.

04.01.2022 My colleagues are not only clever at interpreting and presenting data but also put in a collectively impressive 5.6k performance at this weeks JP Morgan Corporate Challenge.

03.01.2022 Ann Whitfield, Brendan Quach and Ehson Shirazi prepared a report in Februrary for ActewAGL Distribution illustrating Efficiency Benefit Sharing Schemes that could be applied where the network business operating expenditure allowance in the following regulatory period is set on the basis of either the networks revealed opex costs or by reference to comparative efficiency. http://static1.squarespace.com//ActewAGL+Illustrative+EBSS

02.01.2022 Adrian Kemp presented a paper on the role that renewable generation and energy storage might have in a diversified power system at the Renewable Energy World Asia conference held in Bangkok. The paper examines the role that renewable generation plays as a hedge against future rises in thermal generation fuel prices, and the value that large-scale energy storage creates when combined with large-scale renewable generation. Adrians paper can be found below. http://static1.squarespace.com//Value+of+Renewable+Energy+

01.01.2022 HoustonKemp is pleased to announce that two of our economists have been named in the Whos Who Legal: Consulting Experts 2016. Congratulations to Greg Houston and Carol Osborne, who were both recognised as leading economic consultants in relation to competition economics. The publication can be accessed online here:

01.01.2022 Greg Houston testified in late February 2016 Federal Court proceedings seeking to determine the appropriate compensation for various Northern Territory government acts that extinguished native held by the Ngaliwurru and Nungali peoples. The acts took place in the 1980s and 1990s, in the process of forming what is now the NT town of Timber Creek (2015 population: 231), and form a 'test case' that will establish legal and economic principles to be applied in many other such native title compensation claims. More information can be found here:

01.01.2022 Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth airports are each engaged in planning and executing capacity expansions on a scale that, amongst privately-owned airports not subject to formal price control, is without precedent, globally. See below for an address Greg Houston recently delivered to the Singapore Aviation Academy on the economic and financial challenges arising.