The gas market is opaque relative to the electricity market, but recent major gas field outages have prompted moves to improve transparency. One of the first improvements is an initiative by the gas industry regulator, the Gas Industry Company, which
Are Higher Electricity Prices Here to Stay?
By Greg Sise, September 27, 2019
Spot prices surged late last year when there was a prolonged, unplanned outage at the Pohokura gas field offshore Taranaki. But they haven’t come back down to where they were prior to the gas outages. In this post we look at the reasons why and ask the question on everyone’s mind – will they remain high?
The Clean Car Discount
By Greg Sise, July 10, 2019
The government released a consultation paper yesterday on the Clean Car Standard and Clean Car Discount. The Clean Car Standard would require importers of new and used vehicles to lower the average emissions of the vehicles they bring into the country. The Clean Car Discount increases the cost of vehicles t
The three most important issues for the 2020s - #1, Gas Disclosure
By Greg Sise, May 2, 2019
This is the first in a series of three posts on what I see as the most important issues for the electricity market, and by association the gas market, for the 2020s. This first post is actually a submission to the Gas Indsutry Company's recent consultation on information disclosure in the wholesale gas market. The GIC documents and all subsmissions can be found at
End of an Era in Exploration
By Greg Sise, April 18, 2018
It’s ironic that this month’s announcement that there will be no new offshore oil and gas exploration permits issued in New Zealand was titled “Planning for the future…”. This announcement was totally out of the blue and if there is a “plan” somewhere, it appears that no one outside of government knows what it is.
What drives electricity prices?
By Greg Sise, March 6, 2017
What drives electricity prices? Demand? Fuel costs? Losses? Transmission constraints? Carbon costs? The cost of new generation? Inflows? Well they all have an impact to a certain degree. The time frames vary but the answer in the long run is surprising, especially given that we are currently running at over 80% renewable generation.