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21–22 November 2024, Barnett Lecture Theatre, Dunedin Public Hospital, 201 Great King Street, Central Dunedin

The theme for the 2024 symposium was: Our Changing Relationship with Energy. This was to capture the idea that many sectors are seeing increasing electrification and there are increasing opportunities for people to generate electricity, or be more flexible in their usage.

Programme and abstracts

The symposium brought together diverse perspectives and strategies towards discussing our changing relationship with energy. We welcomed contributions from across the energy research community.

View the 2024 symposium programme

Keynote speakers

Dr Marcos Pelenur, Chief Executive, EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority)

Marcos Pelenur imageLeveraging demand flexibility for sustainable change

Dr Marcos Pelenur became Chief Executive of EECA in September 2023. Previously he worked for the Behaviour Insights Team in Ottawa, Canada and several policy leadership positions at MBIE . Marcos has a PhD in Engineering from the University of Cambridge, is a Chartered Professional Member of Engineering New Zealand, and is registered as a Chartered Engineer with the UK Institution of Engineering and Technology ( IET ).

Demand flexibility is a pivotal strategy in empowering energy users and facilitating the transition to net-zero emissions. Innovative demand management practices can optimise energy consumption, reduce peak loads, and enable a more resilient energy system. Demand flexibility not only enhances energy efficiency but also supports the integration of renewable energy sources and leads to costs savings and energy security.

Dr Stephen Batstone, FlexForum Chair

Stephen Batstone imageFlexibility: Are old things new again?

Stephen has held a variety of senior positions in the electricity industry across transmission, risk, portfolio management, regulatory and commercial operations. He has extensive electricity market, operations and trading experience in New Zealand. He has participated in a range of industry working groups as the market has evolved over the past 20 years, and has been at the forefront of the major regulatory changes in that time. He now provides advice to officials, regulators, and a wide range of energy industry participants, primarily in the fields of scenario development, technology, decarbonisation, investment, strategy, and market design.

Stephen has a PhD in Operations Research from the University of Canterbury, and is a Director at Sapere Research Group and co-owner of Whiteboard Energy Ltd.

Over the past 10 years, the notion of ‘flexibility’ has become one of the most discussed and debated topics in electricity industries globally. But is it really a new thing? And how important is it? Stephen will talk through how an ‘active demand side’ was always part of original electricity market designs, but reality rarely came close to aspiration. However, by outlining the fundamental changes that have occurred in recent years, Stephen will present views on what is now possible, what is perhaps hype, and what still stands in the way of realising the full potential of demand side flexibility. He will draw of the work of FlexForum (which he recently chaired) as well as other major pieces of flexibility-related market design work he has been involved in.

Associate Professor Julie MacArthur, Research Chair in Reimagining Capitalism at Royal Roads University, Canada

Julie MacArthur imageDemocratising energy transitions in Aotearoa: From individualised prosumers to empowered citizens

Dr Julie MacArthur is an Associate Professor and the Canada Research Chair in Reimagining Capitalism at Royal Roads University and Resident Fellow in Energy Systems Transformation at the Cascade Institute. Her SSHRC and Royal Society (New Zealand) funded research investigates the political economy of low carbon transitions, with a particular focus on how grassroots and community-led initiatives can scale up to make radical democratic and transformative impacts to both adaptation and mitigation. She has published widely on community energy initiatives in Canada and Aotearoa New Zealand, on participatory policy design, Green New Deal politics, and the gendered employment trends across energy sub-sectors. She is the author of Empowering Electricity: Co-operatives, Sustainability and Power Sector Reform in Canada (UBC 2016) and co-editor of Environmental Politics and Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand (University of Auckland 2022).

Who owns the energy transition in Aotearoa? As many countries undertake low-carbon energy transitions, significant controversies have emerged over distribution of environmental, social and economic impacts of new energy pathways. Some states have managed the distribution of costs through innovative policy designs, including a focus on project ownership by local citizens, indigenous groups and social economy actors (often collectively termed ‘community power'). Local engagement in energy projects is theorised to strengthen the quality and effectiveness of sustainable energy transitions, potentially enhancing indigenous sovereignty, as well as local economic development and wellbeing more broadly. However, significant variation in uptake and effectiveness exists. In this presentation, I discuss the role of democracy in energy transitions scholarship, and how various transition pathways manifest in the context of Aotearoa, New Zealand. I present an overview of the New Zealand Community Energy Dataset (MacArthur, Berka and Gonnelli 2019) as well as a comparative analysis of how the institutional arrangements in Aotearoa compare with other jurisdictions overseas, including Canada, the UK, and Denmark.

Mr Scott Willis, Green Party List MP

Scott Willis imageEliminating energy hardship, delivering energy sovereignty: The Green Plan

Scott Willis is a Green List MP and Green Party Spokesperson for Energy, Regional Development, Rural Issues and Dunedin Issues, based in Ōtepoti Dunedin. Prior to entering parliament in 2023 Scott has worked on community energy solutions, in charge of the Otago Home Upgrade Programme at Aukaha Ltd, and served as a Director of Climate Navigator. He has experience in running Aotearoa’s first peer-to-peer electricity retailer, and led an attempt to build Aotearoa’s first community wind farm, has helped solarise communities and was an adviser to the Electricity Authority.

Aotearoa can become an energy-sovereign nation where everyone has access to reliable, affordable and renewable energy from a democratised energy system that prioritises Māori, community and public ownership over private profit. In this talk Scott Willis will outline the Green vision to eliminate energy hardship and deliver energy sovereignty to overcome the current barriers. He will also cover legislative work for electricity market reform to open the electricity market to the wealth and range of energy assets located in households and businesses in a flexible dynamic, distributed energy system.

Panel discussion – Open Access to Smart Meter Data and the Energy Transition

Panel members

  • Dr Marcos Pelenur, Chief Executive, EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority)
  • Mr Gareth Cartwright, Executive Officer, CEN (Community Energy Network)
  • Dr Ben Anderson, Principal Research Scientist, BRANZ
  • Dr Daniel Gnoth, Energy Futures Manager, Powerco

Contributing presenters

EECA logo reading: Te Tari Tiaki Pūngao / Energy Efficiency & Conservation AuthorityStudent Prize Sponsor: EECA

Best student presentation: Zhiting Chen
Indoor overheating and summer energy poverty in public housing

Best poster presentation: Thomas Thirez
An energy assessment of Science I and II plant roots at the University of Otago

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