ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2013

The 2013 ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference will be held in Brisbane on 25 and 26 July at the Sofitel Hotel.

The themes of the conference revolve around two major issues – customer involvement and pricing.  Questions to be explored will include the following:

  • Is customer involvement the next frontier for regulatory reform?
  • How can customer involvement be designed into our regulatory structures?
  • What can experience in the United States tell us about consumer engagement?
  • Is economic regulation sending the right pricing signals?
  • Can pricing be used to manage congestion in our digital communications environment?
  • Can time-of-use tariffs be designed in such a way that they facilitate efficient pricing and smarter use of electricity networks and at the same time are acceptable to customers?
  • How should water pricing decisions interact with wider structural adjustment objectives in regional communities?
  • What are investors looking for when investing in infrastructure assets and what does this imply for regulatory settings?

The following international speakers will be participating in the conference:

  • Associate Professor James Bushnell, Department of Economics, University of California, Davis
  • Dr Jonathan Cave, Research Leader, Rand Europe and Senior Lecturer, Warwick University
  • Professor Michael Crew, Director CRRI and CRRI Professor of Regulatory Economics, Rutgers University
  • Professor Matthias Finger, Director, MIR, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Professor Mark Jamison, Director, Public Utility Research Centre (PURC), University of Florida
  • Dr Bridger Mitchell, Senior Consultant, Charles River Associates
  • Mr Sonny Popowsky, Former Consumer Advocate, Pennsylvania and President of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocate
  • Professor Catherine Waddams, ESRC Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia
  • Professor Frank Wolak, Professor of Economics, and Director, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development, Stanford University

To reserve a place please supply your expression of interest to attend this conference to Regulatory.Conference@ACCC.gov.au.  There is a limit on numbers.

Other speakers are being added to the program.  A detailed program will be published on the ACCC website.