Electricity Authority Chief Executive-designate selected

Thursday 27th May 2010

Chair of the Electricity Authority Establishment, Brent Layton has today announced that Carl Hansen has been selected as Chief Executive-designate of the Electricity Authority.

Hansen is a Wellington-based economist and independent company director. From 2006 to 2009, he was Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer of the Marketplace Company (M-co) Limited, a specialist operator of wholesale energy markets, registries and internet-based trading platforms.

He has also held various roles with the Reserve Bank, The Treasury, the New Zealand Business Roundtable, and with the Law and Economics Consulting Group. He holds a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Michigan.

"The Establishment Board and I are pleased to appoint Carl to this role. His mix of commercial and policy experience and his knowledge of the electricity sector and market design will be a huge asset to the Establishment Board and to the Electricity Authority," Brent Layton said.

The new authority is one of the proposals to come out of the 2009 review of the electricity sector. The Authority will be responsible for promoting competition, reliable supply and efficient operation of the electricity market for the long-term benefit of all electricity consumers. The Authority will be established under the Electricity Industry Bill, currently before Parliament, as an independent Crown entity.

The new entity will take over some of the functions of the existing Electricity Commission on 1 October 2010. Other functions of the Commission will be transferred to the Commerce Commission, Transpower, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA). In the meantime the Commission is progressing in conjunction with market participants its Market Development Programme. The Establishment Board welcomes and supports the Commission's efforts to maintain the momentum of changes to the electricity market.

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