NZ Power - Mainstream or Mad?

Abstract

The Labour Party and the Greens have made electricity sector restructuring a key plank of their 2014 election campaign. Their proposal to replace New Zealand's wholesale electricity market with a central buyer (known as 'NZ Power') has been variously described as 'common in many jurisdictions overseas' and 'barking mad'. Surely it can't be both? This session explores the lessons that international experience holds for NZ Power - and what the experience tells us about the merits ofthe NZ Power policy.