Phillip Beardmore / MCom (Hons)

Phillip brings a wealth of experience in electricity and gas market reform.  Over the past 10 years Phillip has been involved in the design, implementation, operation and ongoing evolution of energy markets in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.  He has worked extensively with energy market agencies, governments, energy regulators and energy businesses.

In the late 1990s Phillip managed the industry arrangement that governed the bilateral trading of wholesale electricity in New Zealand. During this time Phillip also led the design of the market rules enabling the introduction of full retail competition in New Zealand, which enabled all electricity customers to have choice in their electricity supplier. 

Between 2000 and 2005 Phillip was extensively involved in the introduction of full retail competition in the Australian electricity and gas sectors, including the roles of programme manager for the implementation of full retail competition in the South Australia and Western Australia gas retail markets and project director for launching the New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory Gas Retail Market, which was Australia’s first retail energy market.

In 2006 Phillip fulfilled the role of acting Chief Operating Officer for an Australian energy market management company before returning to New Zealand in 2007. He has subsequently assisted various governments and government agencies in Australia and New Zealand to review the merits of introducing smart electricity meters and was a member of the EMCa team which assessed the transitional costs for smart metering in the National Smart Metering Cost Benefit Analysis.

David Prins / BSc (Hons) Computational and Statistical Science, MBA

David is Managing Director of Etrog Consulting Pty Ltd and an EMCa associate. He has extensive consulting and project management experience in energy markets in Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia over the past 20 years. David specialises in the application of effective regulation and competition in electricity and gas industries.

David was deeply involved in all aspects of the introduction of retail competition and restructuring in the British electricity industry, which took places in phases from 1990 to 1999. Throughout the decade he was an adviser to the retail and distribution companies on legal, regulatory and economic issues. During this period, David also advised and chaired sub-committees of the Electricity Pool of England and Wales and served as a member of the UK Electricity Regulator (OFFER) Chief Metering Examiner’s Expert Panel in relation to the national Code of Practice for Electricity Meter Operators. 

After the implementation of full retail competition in electricity and gas supply in England and Wales, David was based for a while in the US, where he helped electric utilities in their implementation of retail competition.

Based more recently in the Asia-Pacific region, David has provided advice to public and private sector clients throughout the Australian Electricity Market, as well as in New Zealand and across Asia. Within Australia, he has worked extensively on national market and regulatory arrangements, and also jurisdictionally in Victoria, NSW, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania. His Asian clients have included businesses in Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea and the Philippines.

Simon Orme / M Phil (Canterbury)

Simon is an EMCa Associate and LECG Principal who consults to organisations in natural resource and network industries. He has played a significant role in the design and implementation of major reforms and related activities such as strategy and business planning, organisational design, major transactions, contract negotiation, pricing, and regulatory submissions.

Simon’s experience includes serving as a senior official in the New South Wales Treasury, in the New Zealand Treasury, and as a consultant to major businesses in Australia, New Zealand, and regionally.

Simon’s energy experience spans electricity and gas, from upstream generation, transmission, energy trading, and networks, through to retail and end use. Notable energy projects include advising the Ministerial Council on Energy on time of use pricing and infrastructure, regulation of retail tariffs and analysis of wholesale market costs in New South Wales (NSW), the establishment of a stand-alone energy-retailing organisation in Western Australia, the creation of the NSW gas market company, harmonisation of electricity network economic regulation across Australian jurisdictions, and commercialisation of stranded gas reserves.

Previous projects with EMCa include: financial analysis in preparation for the reform of the Western Australian electricity sector; reports for the Ministerial Council for Energy on smart metering; and preparation of submissions to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on terms for third party access to wastewater infrastructure.

Bill Heaps / IEng MIET, HNC Electrical Eng (UK)

Bill is Managing Director of Strata Energy and Strata Energy Consulting Limited.  He is also a Director of Orion Group Limited, a large New Zealand electricity distribution company, and is a Director of the Sustainable Capital Company Limited.  Bill has previously held a directorship with, and was Chairman of d‑cypha Limited (now EMS Limited), up until recently the Reconciliation Manager for the New Zealand electricity industry.

Bill has 32 years experience, which spans the electricity supply chain.  He has worked on the implementation of electricity markets in both the United Kingdom and New Zealand and has practical experience of the Australian markets. He has also been involved with energy market developments across the Asia Pacific and India.  Bill has presented many papers on electricity market topics both in New Zealand and internationally.

Whilst much of Bill’s experience is in the commercial sector of the industry, he has also held executive roles in both generation and transmission.  He managed the largest New Zealand geothermal power stations through the transition from public to private ownership and was responsible for significant reductions in operating costs and increases in performance.  Bill was also Commercial Manager for Transpower, New Zealand’s national grid owner and system operator.

Bill has a particular interest in energy management and the efficient use of resources.  He has recently facilitated a lighting industry stakeholder group that has developed an Efficient Lighting Strategy for New Zealand.  Previously, Bill has been involved in technology transfer businesses in the energy management and efficiency areas.
Bill currently chairs the Transmission and Wholesale Market Advisory Groups for the New Zealand Electricity Commission and chairs the Technical Support Group for the Electricity Commission’s Wind Generation Investigation Project.

Robert Reilly / BSc (Eng) (Hons) MBL MIEE

Robert is a director of Strata Energy and Strata Energy Consulting Limited. He trained as an electrical engineer with the Scottish Hydro-Electric Board. Robert spent 18 years with ESKOM in South Africa in various construction, operations and maintenance and commercial management roles, ultimately becoming Power Marketing Manager responsible for all commercial relationships with ESKOM’s national and international customers.

Robert joined the Bay of Islands Electric Power Board in 1987 where he was appointed General Manager, leaving in 1990 to join ECNZ as Regional Manager (Central). As Regional Manager he was responsible for the commercial relationship between Electricorp Marketing and the Supply Authorities in the lower part of the North Island of New Zealand, where he developed the demand side initiatives that led to ECNZ establishing an Energy Services Group.

Robert has been actively involved in the development of the retail sector of the New Zealand electricity market having served on various working groups and governing bodies.
From Feb 2004 to March 2006 Robert was the Senior Advisor Retail for the New Zealand Electricity Commission, establishing the regulatory arrangements for the retail sector in accordance with government policy.

Robert is currently managing the Electricity Commission project developing an optimised approach to the use of load management and the facilitation of technology to achieve the benefits of load management for consumers and other stakeholders. This project has a particular emphasis on smart meters and the costs and benefits of introducing smart meters in New Zealand.

Strata Energy Consulting  : www.strataenergy.co.nz