- WELLINGTON
- +64 4 915 7590
- +64 21 666 822
Toby Stevenson is an economist with 35 years’ experience in strategic risk management. Toby was responsible for the trading and risk management in the electricity market at Contact Energy (1996 – 2003) and was also involved in developing the wholesale market.
Toby established his energy consulting practice in 2004 with a focus on his core expert area of risk management in energy markets. He was a member of the Ministerial Review of Electricity Market Performance in New Zealand conducted in 2009 – 2010.
Toby’s consulting practice today includes a focus on navigating the pathway to low emissions. He has worked on changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme for the Ministry for the Environment, the challenges of a low emissions electricity sector for the Productivity Commission, the establishment of the Green Investment Fund for Treasury, a response to the Climate Change Commission’s draft advice to government on carbon budgets for the Sustainable Business Council and Climate Leaders Coalition and advice to MBIE on how Lake Onslow PHES would interact with the electricity market.
Toby has provided independent expert evidence in the Environment Court of New Zealand, the Employment Relations Authority of New Zealand, the Federal Court in Australia and the High Court in Ireland. He provided independent expert testimony to the Energy Regulatory Commission of the Philippines in Manila in October 2019.
Specialisations
Expertise
- Economic and market analysis
- Regulatory and cost benefit analysis
- Strategy and business cases
Industries
- Climate and environment
- Energy and decarbonisation
- Infrastructure and transport
- Iwi and Māori
- Primary industries
- Public sector policy and finance
- Science and innovation
- State, regional and local government
Qualifications & accolades
- Institute of Directors Accreditation 2012
- Batchelor of Agricultural Commerce (Economics) from Lincoln University (NZ)
Recent work highlights include:
- Designed a winter peak ancillary service to be in place by winter 2023. The ancillary service would give the SO another tool to manage system security and was considered by the Electricity Authority with urgency. For the electricity sector CEO forum Sep – Dec 2022
- Conducted a Strategic review of the Major Electricity Users Group (MEUG) in 2022. The output from this work informed the job description for the new CEO and the strategic plan developed subsequently. For MEUG May – Sep 2022
- Represented five Tauhara hapū in a process of forging a formal relationship with Contact Energy that recognises Tikanga Māori. I identified 5 distinct themes hapū are now pursuing with Contact. For the Tauhara Working Party (TWP) Aug 2022 – Apr 2023
- Led the project to stand up the concept of a public private partnership for the purpose of reducing methane emission, protecting the IP and commercialising the successful outputs. This was the genesis of the new Centre for Climate Action on Agricultural Emissions (CCAAE). For the SBC and CLC
- Advice to Electricity Authority’s MDAG on how the forwards market might develop with 100% renewable electricity September 2021
Case studies
Pre election brief for SBC and CLC
Conducted workshops and drafted a pre-election brief on climate initiatives. Scope includes content of the ERP and NAP, what should be done now for mitigation and adaptation and how business and government work together. For the Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders’ Coalition (CLC). Feb – Apr 2023
Energy sector sensitivity analysis using the TIMES-NZ model
This model is one of New Zealand’s most comprehensive energy system models, and includes two different but internally consistent scenarios: Kea and Tūī. These scenarios are differentiated primarily on the degree to which governments prioritise emission reductions. For BusinessNZ Energy Council November 2022 – May 2023
Total Household Energy Costs
Compared costs of a gas, petrol and electricity use with solely electricity to 2035. For Electricity Network Association (ENA) Aug – Oct 2022