Latest news with #Gillies
Scoop
27-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Electricity Authority Welcomes Plan To Empower Consumers And ‘Make NZ More Electric'
Press Release – Electricity Authority The electricity system is in a period of substantial change. The Authority is taking action, alongside others, to enable this change and ensure the system is fit-for-the-future and works for New Zealanders,' says Authority Chief Executive Sarah Gillies. The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko (Authority) welcomes the manifesto released by Rewiring Aotearoa today detailing 59 actions to help households, businesses and farms switch to electric alternatives. According to Rewiring Aotearoa, these actions will help consumers access cheaper, cleaner power and the electricity system will be strengthened by more consumer energy resources, such as rooftop solar. 'We are working to deliver an electricity system that empowers consumers, supports electrification, and is reliable, secure and delivered at the lowest cost,' says Authority Chief Executive Sarah Gillies. 'We have work underway to boost security of supply, encourage more flexibility in the system, enable consumers to have greater control over their electricity use and costs, and create a more efficient electricity system. 'We agree with Rewiring Aotearoa that New Zealand's centralised electricity system can be complemented by more localised energy resources. Power generated at a local level can enhance resilience to climate change impacts, improve affordability, progress decarbonisation and empower communities and local economies. Our Decentralisation green paper aims to start a discussion about how we can move towards this future in a way that ensures people and communities benefit.' The Authority also has multiple, inter-related projects underway that could support more solar from as early as next year. For example, it is currently considering rule changes that would ensure fairer prices for consumers with solar when they supply power to the network at peak times. 'The electricity system is in a period of substantial change. The Authority is taking action, alongside others, to enable this change and ensure the system is fit-for-the-future and works for New Zealanders,' Gillies said. Notes: Other Authority work aligned with Rewiring Aotearoa's Electrification Manifesto includes: proposing rule changes to enable consumers to have contracts with multiple electricity retailers. For example, a household could be with the retailer that offers the best buy-back for solar they supply to the network, and another retailer for their electricity use. Consultation on proposed rule changes is scheduled for late May. Once in place, future rule changes will also enable peer-to-peer energy trading and for consumers to have separate retailers for selected appliances, such as their EV charger. enabling easier retail switching by improving comparison and switching services and tools for consumers, including working with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to develop a potential electricity consumer data right. making it easier for businesses and infrastructure, such as EV charging stations, to connect to the networks through our proposed rule changes for connection pricing methodologies and application process. empowering consumers to better manage their electricity costs, eg, through proposed rule changes that would require large retailers to offer customers a time-of-use pricing plan. enabling more flexibility in the system across multiple workstreams, which can help keep costs down by avoiding the need for costly network infrastructure upgrades. The Electricity Authority is an independent Crown Entity with the main statutory objective to promote competition in, reliable supply by, and the efficient operation of, the electricity industry for the long-term benefit of consumers. The additional objective of the Authority is to protect the interests of domestic consumers and small business consumers in relation to the supply of electricity to those consumers.
Scoop
26-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Electricity Authority Welcomes Plan To Empower Consumers And ‘Make NZ More Electric'
The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko (Authority) welcomes the manifesto released by Rewiring Aotearoa today detailing 59 actions to help households, businesses and farms switch to electric alternatives. According to Rewiring Aotearoa, these actions will help consumers access cheaper, cleaner power and the electricity system will be strengthened by more consumer energy resources, such as rooftop solar. "We are working to deliver an electricity system that empowers consumers, supports electrification, and is reliable, secure and delivered at the lowest cost," says Authority Chief Executive Sarah Gillies. "We have work underway to boost security of supply, encourage more flexibility in the system, enable consumers to have greater control over their electricity use and costs, and create a more efficient electricity system. "We agree with Rewiring Aotearoa that New Zealand's centralised electricity system can be complemented by more localised energy resources. Power generated at a local level can enhance resilience to climate change impacts, improve affordability, progress decarbonisation and empower communities and local economies. Our Decentralisation green paper aims to start a discussion about how we can move towards this future in a way that ensures people and communities benefit." The Authority also has multiple, inter-related projects underway that could support more solar from as early as next year. For example, it is currently considering rule changes that would ensure fairer prices for consumers with solar when they supply power to the network at peak times. "The electricity system is in a period of substantial change. The Authority is taking action, alongside others, to enable this change and ensure the system is fit-for-the-future and works for New Zealanders," Gillies said. Notes: Other Authority work aligned with Rewiring Aotearoa's Electrification Manifesto includes: proposing rule changes to enable consumers to have contracts with multiple electricity retailers. For example, a household could be with the retailer that offers the best buy-back for solar they supply to the network, and another retailer for their electricity use. Consultation on proposed rule changes is scheduled for late May. Once in place, future rule changes will also enable peer-to-peer energy trading and for consumers to have separate retailers for selected appliances, such as their EV charger. enabling easier retail switching by improving comparison and switching services and tools for consumers, including working with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to develop a potential electricity consumer data right. making it easier for businesses and infrastructure, such as EV charging stations, to connect to the networks through our proposed rule changes for connection pricing methodologies and application process. empowering consumers to better manage their electricity costs, eg, through proposed rule changes that would require large retailers to offer customers a time-of-use pricing plan. enabling more flexibility in the system across multiple workstreams, which can help keep costs down by avoiding the need for costly network infrastructure upgrades. The Electricity Authority is an independent Crown Entity with the main statutory objective to promote competition in, reliable supply by, and the efficient operation of, the electricity industry for the long-term benefit of consumers. The additional objective of the Authority is to protect the interests of domestic consumers and small business consumers in relation to the supply of electricity to those consumers.
Sydney Morning Herald
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
This is not a pop band – as a packed Melbourne room reflected, it's something more unusual
THEATRE Endgames ★★★ fortyfivedownstairs, until June 1 Three brief encounters with hideous men achieve a sense of twilit tragicomedy in the hands of the legendary Max Gillies. With Endgames, Gillies rejoins director Laurence Strangio to present what's in some ways a companion piece to their 2018 production of Krapp's Last Tape – this time uniting the late Beckett work Eh Joe with an excerpt from Jack Hibberd's classic monodrama A Stretch of the Imagination and Chekhov's shambolic lecture On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco. Although Hibberd died last year, the curtain may long continue to fall on his immortal stage creation, Monk O'Neill. The misanthropic hermit in Stretch remains an incarnation of Australian male destructiveness and despair as appalling as he is compelling. Hibberd used this character to diagnose cultural disease – from slashing misogyny to the rapacity and bad faith of colonialism – with a clear-eyed honesty that reshaped what was possible on our stages, and this excerpt includes Monk's final will and testament, in which he gives: 'all my lands and property, goods and chattels, to the Aboriginal peoples of Australia … On no account must my domain fall into the clutches of the predatory and upstart albino. I believe that the tides of history will swamp and wash aside this small pink tribe of mistletoe men, like insects …Change insects to dead leaves…' One Tree Hill isn't his to give, of course, and even Monk's presence is erased in this version, largely an audio performance under crepuscular lighting. Gillies only appears once, rifle in hand, pursuing 'an emu on heat' through the shadows; the brilliantly produced soundscape, however, overfills the physical absence – not least in the copious, and comically loud, urination which bookends the piece. If that whets the appetite for a proper remount of Stretch, the audio monologue in Eh Joe is part of Beckett's creative intention. The elderly loner here sits entombed in silence on a couch, as the accusatory voice of a woman (Jillian Murray) torments him with memory and regret. As he seduced women in his life, so this internal voice now seduces him towards death, and Gillies' wordless performance haunts with barely perceptible pain and confusion, with the agony of futile presence. Loading Gillies has always had a talent for clowning, and in the Chekhov, he leans into a more overtly satirical sort of existential monologue. Nyukhin is a nervy, ineffectual public speaker. The man is supposed to be giving a charity lecture on the evils of tobacco, but it keeps turning into a digressive complaint about his wife and daughters, whom he fears. The actor fumbles his lines more than a few times, which matters less than it might when he's playing a character who wishes he could erase his memory, and whose comical lack of authority is his defining feature.
The Age
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
This is not a pop band – as a packed Melbourne room reflected, it's something more unusual
THEATRE Endgames ★★★ fortyfivedownstairs, until June 1 Three brief encounters with hideous men achieve a sense of twilit tragicomedy in the hands of the legendary Max Gillies. With Endgames, Gillies rejoins director Laurence Strangio to present what's in some ways a companion piece to their 2018 production of Krapp's Last Tape – this time uniting the late Beckett work Eh Joe with an excerpt from Jack Hibberd's classic monodrama A Stretch of the Imagination and Chekhov's shambolic lecture On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco. Although Hibberd died last year, the curtain may long continue to fall on his immortal stage creation, Monk O'Neill. The misanthropic hermit in Stretch remains an incarnation of Australian male destructiveness and despair as appalling as he is compelling. Hibberd used this character to diagnose cultural disease – from slashing misogyny to the rapacity and bad faith of colonialism – with a clear-eyed honesty that reshaped what was possible on our stages, and this excerpt includes Monk's final will and testament, in which he gives: 'all my lands and property, goods and chattels, to the Aboriginal peoples of Australia … On no account must my domain fall into the clutches of the predatory and upstart albino. I believe that the tides of history will swamp and wash aside this small pink tribe of mistletoe men, like insects …Change insects to dead leaves…' One Tree Hill isn't his to give, of course, and even Monk's presence is erased in this version, largely an audio performance under crepuscular lighting. Gillies only appears once, rifle in hand, pursuing 'an emu on heat' through the shadows; the brilliantly produced soundscape, however, overfills the physical absence – not least in the copious, and comically loud, urination which bookends the piece. If that whets the appetite for a proper remount of Stretch, the audio monologue in Eh Joe is part of Beckett's creative intention. The elderly loner here sits entombed in silence on a couch, as the accusatory voice of a woman (Jillian Murray) torments him with memory and regret. As he seduced women in his life, so this internal voice now seduces him towards death, and Gillies' wordless performance haunts with barely perceptible pain and confusion, with the agony of futile presence. Loading Gillies has always had a talent for clowning, and in the Chekhov, he leans into a more overtly satirical sort of existential monologue. Nyukhin is a nervy, ineffectual public speaker. The man is supposed to be giving a charity lecture on the evils of tobacco, but it keeps turning into a digressive complaint about his wife and daughters, whom he fears. The actor fumbles his lines more than a few times, which matters less than it might when he's playing a character who wishes he could erase his memory, and whose comical lack of authority is his defining feature.
Scoop
20-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Electricity Authority Welcomes Plan For Boosting Consumer-supplied Flexibility
Press Release – Electricity Authority Individuals and communities providing flexibility also benefit through lower costs and greater energy resilience, whether its a business shifting its boiler use away from peak demand periods, households using smart tools and AI to use power differently. The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko (Authority) welcomes the plan released by FlexForum today, outlining actions that make it easier for consumers to actively participate in the electricity system. 'Flexibility Plan 2.0' identifies 41 actions for the Authority and others to collectively build a 'smart, flexible consumer-centric power system'. 'Flexibility is already an important feature of the electricity system – making the system more reliable, more resilient, and keeping costs down,' Authority Chief Executive Sarah Gillies says. 'It's a low-cost way to ensure New Zealand's electricity supply is always able to meet our very changeable demand. Flexibility will become increasingly important as the economy electrifies, and more electricity is generated from weather-dependent sources such as wind and solar.' Individuals and communities providing flexibility also benefit through lower costs and greater energy resilience, whether it's a business shifting its boiler use away from peak demand periods, households using smart tools and AI to use power differently, or community generation schemes supporting those in need . 'We agree with FlexForum that consumers are key to increasing flexibility in the electricity system and more needs to be done to unlock this potential. 'Many of FlexForum's actions align closely with work already underway at the Authority. In several areas, our current work directly supports these actions, while in others, it contributes meaningfully toward achieving the overarching goals outlined by FlexForum. 'We'll closely review FlexForum's plan to identify where the Authority can further enhance and support these initiatives, and explore opportunities to take them even further,' Gillies said. Electricity Authority projects supporting 'Flexibility Plan 2.0' include: improving visibility of capacity and constraints on networks at all levels (FlexForum actions 3 and 30) – consultation on proposed rule changes is scheduled for mid-2025 moving towards real-time access to consumers' electricity information (FlexForum actions 2 and 9). This work includes supporting a potential electricity consumer data right and consulting on proposals to improve the transfer of electricity information – scheduled for July. enabling consumers to have more than one retailer for different services at their property – consultation on proposed rule changes is scheduled for late-May (action 17). making it faster and easier for distributed generation to connect to the network (action 22) through the Network Connections Project. supporting industry trials through the Power Innovation Pathway to help identify and remove regulatory barriers (actions 33 and 34), as well as to better understand and then develop requirements for flexibility service providers to interact with the market (actions 23, 24 and 38). The Authority also has work underway to support consumers to actively contribute to a more flexible system. Our decentralisation green paper seeks feedback on what a more decentralised electricity system might look like, how this might benefit consumers, and what might be needed to gain these benefits. A decentralised system relies more heavily on consumers and communities providing localised renewable generation, storage and flexible demand. Feedback will help the Authority to determine the regulatory framework required to support consumer benefit in a more decentralised electricity system. We will soon seek early feedback on the challenges and opportunities of delivering a digitalised electricity system. A digitalised system will enable consumers to more easily provide flexibility by managing their electricity use and supply from their own energy generation and storage, like rooftop solar and batteries. This is the first step in developing a roadmap to help drive greater digitalisation across all aspects of the electricity system. Notes: The Electricity Authority is an independent Crown Entity with the main statutory objective to promote competition in, reliable supply by, and the efficient operation of, the electricity industry for the long-term benefit of consumers. The additional objective of the Authority is to protect the interests of domestic consumers and small business consumers in relation to the supply of electricity to those consumers.
