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CONFERENCE DAY
Monday 24th October 2011
8.30 Registration and coffee
8.50 Welcome from the chair
EXAMINING THE CHANGING REGULATORY LANDSCAPE
9.00 Findings and recommendations from the National Water Commission's review of pricing reform in the Australian water sector
- Examining Australia's history of water pricing reform, with a focus on the National Water Initiative, outcomes, impacts and effectiveness
- Recommendations for future reform - promoting economic efficiency, independence of economic regulation and innovation in price and service offerings
- Opportunities for enhancing environmental outcomes and improving water management and planning in the rural sector
Chloe Munro, Chair, National Water Commission
9.40 ACCC perspectives on water price regulation
- Intervention and enforcement of water price regulations
- Monitoring compliance – examining compliance requirements of market sectors
- Fair trade requirements in water price determination
Sebastian Roberts, General Manager – Water Branch, Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
10.20 Regulation in an uncertain climate - A new look at the pricing regulation of water utilities
- Examining models for economic regulation that promote more stable outcomes for regulators and for consumers and promote efficient pricing
- Options to enable future flexibility
- Examining the challenges around water restrictions and other factors blunting consumer price signals
- Moving towards a pricing structure that is responsive to short term availability and moderates long term increases
Richard Tooth, Director, Sapere Research Group
11.00 Morning refreshments and networking break
INFRASTRUCTURE EXPANSION AND UPGRADES
11.30 Examining real option pricing and the value of holding off infrastructure planning decisions in conditions of uncertainty
As price is tied to infrastructure purchases, one of the core challenges around moderating water price increases is making more appropriate infrastructure planning decisions. In an environment of increasing unpredictability due to factors such as climate change this becomes incredibly challenging.
- What if the best decision is not to build anything? Valuing the suspension of judgement
- Stochastic programming and decision trees
- Examining the use of decision trees in the productivity commission's review of urban water
Harry Clarke, Professor of Economics, School of Economics and Finance, La Trobe University
12.10 Exploring methodologies for value of life cost benefit analysis in water storage infrastructure spending
Examining the social, economic and environmental impacts of water infrastructure development
Daniel Masters, Infrastructure Economist, Bulk Water Transport, State Water Corporation
12.50 Luncheon
URBAN AND REGIONAL WATER STREAMS
Urban Water | Regional Water | |
1.50 South East Queensland water reforms - finding a collaborative solution to the pricing challenge > Examining the SE QLD water authority and pros and cons of consolidation vs organised distribution Andrew Foley, General Manager Strategy and Development, Allconnex | Examining the efforts of the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship in assessing the multiple costs, benefits and tradeoffs involved in setting new water sharing plans for the Murray Darling Basin Integrating hydrology and multiple sector water economics to identify strategic opportunities to enhance social benefit of adaption to reduced and more variable water supplies, considering: > Hydrology scenario analysis Dr Jeff Connor, Group Leader, Natural Resource Economics, CSIRO | |
2.30 Contemporary pricing challenges in Australian urban water This presentation will examine the benefits so far of independent pricing regulation the NSW water industry and discuss the some of the next steps for reform. The session will address: > The challenge of designing pricing approach suitable for Australia's largest water utility and for much smaller utilities Amanda Chadwick, Director - Water, Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal | Water property rights reform and water trading in the Murray Darling Basin > Trends in water allocation and water entitlement trade in the MDB Dr R J (Bob) O'Brien, Chairman, Australian Water Investments | |
| 3.10 Afternoon refreshments and networking break | ||
3.40 A market approach for valuing water outlining an approach for valuing urban water supply using techniques adapted from the valuation of water for hydro-electric generation Examining the use of an example supply system to show how water could be valued and how a water market might work taking into account hydrological risk. Addressing implications of this technique in providing a basis for dispatch of supply options, but also to provide a price for alternative supplies which might be connected to the supply system. Alan Rattray, Chairman, Oakley Greenwood Rohan Harris, Principal Consultant, Oakley Greenwood | Price impacts of removing barriers to water trade and rationalisation of water property rights > Reform to date and impacts on the productivity and efficiency of rural water use and adaptability of irrigators to variable water availability Neal Hughes, Water Economics Section, ABARES | |
4.20 Exploring the dynamics of increasing block tariffs in urban water pricing
Hugh Sibly, Senior Lecturer, School of Economics and Finance, University of Tasmania | Panel discussion: Overcoming key irrigator challenges • Water trading between areas - resolving the anxiety felt by local water holders – ensuring equity of access Chris Thompson, Managing Director, Principal Consultant, Water Resources and Irrigation, Macquarie Franklin | |
| 5.00 Closing remarks from the chair and end of day one | ||
CONFERENCE DAY TWO
Tuesday 25th October 2011
8.30 Registration and coffee
8.50 Welcome from the chair
SUPPLY SIDE BOTTLENECKS AND UNCERTAINTY
9.00 Examining the future of urban and rural water prices in the face of climate change
Modelling the impacts of climate change on water availability and strategies for dealing with uncertainty
John Tisdell, Professor, School of Economics & Finance, University of Tasmania
9.40 Moderating price increases through promoting financial stability of water utilities
- Ensuring efficient levels of capital and operating expenditure
- Improving price certainty and reducing the absorbtion of risk at an utility level
- Responding to operating costs and actual water availability in price determination
- Balancing reductions of revenue following from reduced water consumption
Gerald White, Chief Financial Officer, Power and Water Corporation, NT
10.20 Morning refreshments and networking break
ENVIRONMENTAL AND COMMUNITY FACTORS
10.50 Exploring the valuation of environmental impacts
- Examining cost impacts and environmental outcomes of water management
- Interactions between the ecology and sustainability of water supply and price stability
- Ensuring cost effective contribution to healthy communities
Christopher J Walsh, Department of Resource Management and Geography, University of Melbourne
Andrea La Nauze, Economic Policy Branch, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria
11.20 Examining the likely impacts of a carbon price and emissions trading scheme on water pricing
Exploring costs and opportunities of market based emission reduction for the water sector.
Freya Hartley, Principal Adviser Sustainability, Sydney Water
DEMAND SIDE DRIVERS AND CONSUMER ISSUES AROUND PRICING
12.10 Accounting for the costs of energy in water pricing
Nicole Sexton, Greenhouse Planner, Barwon Water
Philippa O'Sullivan, Acting Manager Strategy and Innovation, Barwon Water
12.50 Luncheon
1.50 Regulatory roles in consumer protection and reliability of supply
- Examining cracks in the logic of 'user pays' or 'user absorbs all the risk' anyway
- Giving water customers a greater voice - promoting representation in stakeholder committees overseeing decision making
- Examining pros and cons of increased customer choice and competition in terms of price impacts and equity
- Addressing trade-offs between equity and efficiency
Jo Benvenuti, Executive Officer, Consumer Utilities Advocacy Centre
2.30 Examining the asset management implications of variable pricing of water
- Scarcity pricing and the inclining block tarriff and their role as instruments in moderating water price increases
- Investigating intra-day variation of water pricing – and potential to offset future capital investment by
- removing the requirement to design for peak day demands
- Exploring examples in the electricity market
David Francis, Associate Director, Strategic Economics Consulting Group
3.10 Afternoon refreshment and networking break
3.40 Estimating residential price elasticity of demand: modelling, measurement and estimation issues
Barry Abrams, Manager Economics, Finance and Regulatory Division, Sydney Water
Vasilis Sarafidis, Lecturer in Econometrics, University of Sydney
4.20 Exploring Wide Bay Water's research into smart metering and time of use tariffs and implications for demand side management of water pricing
David Wiskar, General Manager Government Relations, Innovation and Commercial Services, Wide Bay Water
5.00 Closing remarks from the chair and end of the conference
