Conference

7th Annual Electricity Workshop

Oct 16, 2023

DK Johnson Centre

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Registration Closed

This event is currently sold out, to be added to the waitlist please email kmacdonald@ivey.ca

The Ivey Energy Policy and Management Centre will be hosting its 7th Annual Workshop on the Economics of Electricity Policy and Markets on Monday, October 16, 2023 in Toronto. The workshop brings together prominent scholars, practitioners and industry to share ideas and research on contemporary issues related to electricity policy, regulation and electricity markets with the goal of:

Building a community of academics and practitioners who are active in electricity policy;
Expanding the network of researchers in Canada with an interest in electricity markets and electricity polices and regulation; and,
Fostering academic research that contributes to effective electricity policies and electricity market design.

Date: Monday, October 16, 2023

Time: 8:00am - 5:00pm

Location: Ivey Donald K. Johnson Centre, 130 King St W, Toronto

Workshop Theme: Imperfect Markets, Imperfect Regulation, and Imperfect Government Policy: Finding a Balanced Approach for the Evolution of the Electricity Power Industry in the Energy Transition

The electric power industry has evolved considerably over the past several years, from vertically integrated power generation, transmission, distribution and retail companies to vertical separation and the creation of competitive generation and retail markets, to the integration of grid-level renewable generation, to a more decentralized provision of services and consumer investments in distributed energy resources. The changes reflect technological advances on both the supply and demand sides, exploitation of economies of scale, innovations in regulatory models, environmental policy, and special interest group politics. Each jurisdiction has chosen a different path in the evolution of its electricity industries, and each jurisdiction offers lessons for the future as no single approach has emerged supreme. With the recent focus on decarbonization and the energy transition, many jurisdictions are exploring how best to govern their electric power industry in the transition to a decarbonized economy while maintaining an affordable and reliable supply of electricity. This workshop will explore potential future developments in competitive wholesale and retail markets, regulation, and government policy for a successful transition to a decarbonized economy.

The Ivey Energy Policy and Management Centre gratefully acknowledges continued financial support from the Ivey Energy Consortium and Ted Kernaghan, HBA '65; as well as the following organizations for their financial support of this particular event: The Alberta Electric System Operator, The Canadian Association for Energy Economics, The Independent Electricity Systems Operator, McCarthy Tétrault, and Alberta’s Market Surveillance Administrator.

REGISTRATION CLOSED

Current Agenda:

Time	Function	Speaker
7:45 a.m.	Registration Opens
8:00 a.m.	Continental Breakfast
8:45 a.m.	Introductory Remarks	Brian Rivard, Ivey Business School at Western University
9:00 a.m.	Session 1: Decarbonization policies and innovations in utility rate design	Moderator: Adam Fremeth, Ivey Business School Speakers: Meredith Fowlie, UC Berkely Wendy Franks, Northland Power Mark Olsheski, Sussex Strategy
10:30 a.m.	Morning Refreshments
11:00 a.m.	Session 2: The future direction of electricity supply investment	Moderator: Bissan Ghaddar, Ivey Business School Speakers: Atif Ansar, University of Oxford, Said Business School Jeff Parnell, Power Workers Union of Ontario Éric Fraser, Hydro-Quebec
12:30 p.m.	Lunch
1:00 p.m.	Keynote Address	Speaker: Dr. Steve Cicala, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Tufts University and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research
2:00 p.m.	Session 3: Innovations in Wholesale Market Design and Governance	Moderator: Derek Olmstead, Market Surveillance Administrator Speakers: Richard Green, Imperial College Business School AJ Goulding, London Economics International Stephen Nusbaum, IESO
3:30 p.m.	Afternoon Refreshments
3:45 p.m.	Session 4: Advances in Distributed Energy Technologies and Competitive Retail Markets	Moderator: Reena Goyal, McCarthy Tétrault Speakers: David Brown, University of Alberta Daniel Carr, Alectra Utilities Karynne Munroe, Nova Scotia Power
5:15 p.m.	Closing Remarks	Brandon Schaufele, Ivey Business School
6:00 p.m.	Cocktail reception and dinner at Leña Restaurante	Keynote Remarks from Carolyn Calwell, Ontario Energy Board

Moderators and Speakers:

Atif Ansar	A Fellow of Keble College, Atif is Senior Teaching Fellow on the MSc in Major Programme Management and the Australian Major Projects Leadership Academy (AMPLA). He is the Founding Director of the Oxford Programme on the Sustainable Future of Capital-Intensive Industries, Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. Atif is also the Executive Chairman of Foresight Works – an Oxford based technology firm building next-gen software for the world’s megaprojects. Atif has been at the University of Oxford since 2006. From 2006 to 2010, he undertook his DPhil (PhD), at Brasenose College, with the prestigious Clarendon Scholarship from Oxford University Press. Atif was a post-doctoral research fellow at the BT Centre for Major Programme Management at Saïd Business School from 2010. From 2015 until 2020, Atif was Programme Director of the MSc in Major Programme Management and continues to be one of the senior teaching fellows on the course’s faculty. Atif also teaches on the UK and Australian Governments Major Projects Leadership Academy. In 2018, Atif began an appointment as a visiting scholar at Stanford University’s Global Projects Center and a Visiting Professorship at Tsinghua University. Atif previously undertook his bachelor’s degree at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where he majored in philosophy, politics, and economics.
David Brown	David Brown is a Professor at the University of Alberta's Department of Economics where holds a Canada Research Chair in Energy Economics and Policy. He is the President of the Canadian Association for Energy Economics. His research lies at the intersection of energy economics, industrial organization, and regulatory policy. David's recent work considers questions in the electricity sector ranging from market design, market power, and pricing mechanisms for demand-side management and emerging technologies such as rooftop solar, battery storage, and electric vehicles. He received a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Florida and bachelor's degrees in Economics and Mathematics from Miami University (Ohio).
Carolyn Calwell	Carolyn Calwell became Chief Corporate Services Officer & General Counsel at the Ontario Energy Board in April 2021. Ms. Calwell brings deep energy sector expertise and a proven track record in public administration. She has served in senior leadership roles in legal services and energy policy, most recently as Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic, Network and Agency Policy Division at the Ontario Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines since 2017. Prior to that Ms. Calwell was Legal Director for the Ontario Ministries of Energy, Economic Development and Growth, Research, Innovation and Science, and Infrastructure. Ms. Calwell has an Honours B.A. in Geography & Politics from Queen’s University and she earned her LL.B at Osgoode Hall before joining a large law firm in Toronto.
Daniel Carr	Daniel Carr develops and implements strategies to support customers’ electrification goals while creating opportunities for utility evolution. In his role of Head, Smart Cities at Alectra Utilities, he leads projects that bring new distributed energy technologies and concepts into practice, with a focus on electric mobility, customer engagement, demand response and electricity pricing. These initiatives have touched thousands of customers and have won awards from SEPA, PLMA and CEA for Alectra, Canada’s largest municipally owned utility. He aspires to enable customers to benefit from the transformative changes taking place in the electricity system and to support cities in fulfilling their unique and critical role in helping communities adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change. Daniel has a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration from Carleton University, with an undergraduate degree in Government from Cornell University. He has received the Certified Energy Manager and Certified Measurement and Verification Professional designations from the Association of Energy Engineers. He serves as Chair of the Utilities Committee of Electric Mobility Canada, a national industry association, and is Chair of the Board of the Clean Air Partnership, a Toronto-based environmental non-profit organization.
Steve Cicalia	Steve Cicala is an associate professor in the Department of Economics at Tufts University and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is also co-director of the NBER Project on the Economic Analysis of Regulation. His work focuses on the economics of regulation, particularly with respect to environmental and energy policy.
Meredith Fowlie	Meredith Fowlie is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and holds the Class of 1935 Endowed Chair in Energy at UC Berkeley. She is a faculty director at the Energy Institute at Haas and a director of the Environmental and Energy Economics Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Fowlie has worked extensively on the economics of energy markets and the environment. Her research investigates market-based environmental regulations, air pollution, renewable energy, electricity market regulation, and the economics of wildfire. She currently serves as a Governor-appointed member of California’s Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee. She is a member of the Economic Advisory Council for Environmental Defense Fund, the advisory council to the Brookings Institution Center on Regulation and Markets Her work has appeared in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, and the Review of Economic Studies, among other leading journals. She grew up in Toronto and returns often to visit family and friends.
Wendy Franks	As Chief Strategy Officer, Wendy is responsible for leading Northland’s corporate strategy. As CSO, Wendy works closely with senior management and the Board of Directors to formulate the company’s corporate vision and strategy, as-well as overseeing strategic planning. As Head of Hydrogen, Wendy is building a new business vertical at Northland focused on converting renewable power into hydrogen, or ammonia, which can be shipped around the world to support low-carbon economic activity. She has a proven track record of successful business building having most recently built the battery storage business at Northland, including the Oneida 250MW battery storage project. Wendy has 20 years of leadership in business strategy, building businesses and principal investing across multiple technologies and jurisdictions within the renewable energy and infrastructure asset sectors. Prior to Northland, she was the Senior Principal, Relationship Investments at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. In that role, Wendy served on the boards of Renew Power, one of the largest renewable power companies in India and Essential Utilities, a NYSE-listed water and natural gas utility. Prior to CPPIB, she was an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company. Wendy holds a PhD in Bioelectronics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Zurich, Switzerland) as well as degrees in chemical and electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo.
Éric Fraser	Éric Fraser was appointed Director – Regulatory and Rate Strategies at HydroQuébec in 2023. Mr. Fraser joined Hydro-Québec as a regulatory law litigator in 2002 and has contributed to the implementation and development of the legal and regulatory frameworks governing transmission and distribution rates, the conditions of electricity service and energy supply management. From 2016 to 2022, he served as Director – Legal Affairs – Regulated Activities and Litigation. Mr. Fraser began his career at a national firm and went on to join a major consumers’ association as a lawyer and general counsel. He also worked as a civil litigator in private practice, where he specialized in class actions and economic regulation. Éric Fraser holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Université de Montréal in 1992 and was admitted to the Barreau du Québec [Québec bar association] in 1994.
Adam Fremeth	Adam Fremeth is the E.J. Kernaghan Professor in Energy Policy and Associate Professor of Business, Economics, and Public Policy at the Ivey Business School. His research focus is on how firms engage and respond to public policy, with particular attention to regulated utilities and the upstream oil and gas sector. Ongoing research projects include how firms engage with First Nations communities through the application of Impact and Benefit Agreements, the role of activist groups on regulatory rulings in the electric utility sector, and the patterns of personal campaign contributions by Chief Executive Officers. His work has been published in top tier economics and management journals. This research agenda has been awarded numerous national grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and he was named a Fulbright Scholar for 2018/19. He received his HBA from the Ivey Business School, his MA from Carleton University and his Ph.D from the University of Minnesota.
Bissan Ghaddar	Bissan Ghaddar is an Associate Professor of Management Science at the Ivey Business School working on problems at the intersection of smart cities, IoT, and optimization models. Prior to joining Ivey Business School, she was an Assistant Professor in Data Analytics at the Department of Management Sciences at the University of Waterloo. She has also worked on energy, water, and transportation network optimization at IBM Research and on inventory management problems at the Centre for Operational Research and Analysis, Department of National Defence Canada. Dr. Ghaddar holds a PhD in operations research from the University of Waterloo, Canada. Her work has been published in prestigious journals such as Mathematical Programming, SIAM Journal on Optimization, Transportation Research, among others. Her research has been supported by national and international scholarships including NSERC, Cisco, H2020, and FP7 IIF European Union Grant.
AJ Goulding	In his role as president of London Economics International LLC, AJ Goulding manages a growing international consulting firm focused on finance, economic, and strategic consulting to the energy and infrastructure industries. In addition to serving as a sector expert in electricity and gas markets, his responsibilities include project management, marketing, budget and financial control, and recruiting. AJ also serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University, where he teaches a course on electricity market design and regulatory economics while also supervising graduate workshops. With over twenty-five years of experience in evolving electricity and natural gas markets, AJ’s diverse background enables him to work effectively in both emerging markets and OECD countries. In North America, AJ has been articulate in describing market relationships between wholesale power marketers, merchant plants, aggregators, and the existing investor-owned utilities. In emerging markets, AJ has considerable experience dealing with the challenges of mixed private and public ownership, difficulties in creating credit-worthy distribution and retail entities, and the realities of line losses, unreliable fuel deliveries, and politicized labor relations. AJ began his career performing natural gas market analysis for the ICF Resources subsidiary of ICF Kaiser International. Later, he lived for two years in New Delhi, India, where he advised the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on electric power sector restructuring in India. He continued his work on India while pursuing his MA at Columbia University, leading to the publication of an article on Indian privatization. Simultaneously, he researched the process of power sector reform in Pakistan, contrasting it with the Indian experience. Upon completion of his MA, AJ served as business development associate for Citizens Power LLC, a top ten US wholesale power marketer. He then moved to London Economics, where he has held roles of progressively increasing responsibility.
Reena Goyal	Reena Goyal is an energy regulatory lawyer at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. Her practice includes acting for commercial and industrial loads, generators, transmitters, distributors, demand response aggregators, retailers and gas marketers. She also provides strategic regulatory advice and direction to shareholders, acquirers, investors and developers of a variety of power assets including energy storage, gas, hydrogen, wind, solar, biomass and nuclear. Prior to joining McCarthy Tétrault, Reena was a lawyer for a number of years with the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO). Reena has completed her Master in Laws in Energy and Infrastructure Law, and co-teaches The Law and Economics of Electricity Markets at Osgoode Hall Law School. Reena also serves as a roster adjudicator for the Electrical Safety Authority, the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario and the electricity transmission dispute resolution panel established under Annex 309 of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement. Reena is a Legal Committee Advisory Member for Women in Renewable Energy (WiRE), a Steering Committee Member of Women in Energy Canada (WIECAN), and a member of the Electricity Subcommittee of the Energy Bar Association.
Richard Green	Richard Green has been Professor of Sustainable Energy Business at Imperial College Business School since 2011. He was previously Professor of Energy Economics and Director of the Institute for Energy Research and Policy at the University of Birmingham, and Professor of Economics at the University of Hull. He started his career at the Department of Applied Economics and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. He has spent time on secondment to the Office of Electricity Regulation and has held visiting appointments at the World Bank, the University of California Energy Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology He has been studying the economics and regulation of the electricity industry for over 30 years. He has written extensively on market power in wholesale electricity markets and has also worked on transmission pricing. More recently, the main focus of his work has been on the impact of low-carbon generation (nuclear and renewables) and energy storage on the electricity market, and the business and policy implications of this. He is a member of the team that produces Electric Insights, independent of but financed by Drax Group plc
Karynne Munroe	Karynne Munroe is an energy and demand side management professional with over 14 years of experience in the industry. Currently, Karynne is the Manager of Emerging Technology and Funding at Nova Scotia Power where she works on innovation projects like Smart Grid and the Green Choice Program. Prior to joining the utility in September 2022, she held several roles at EfficiencyOne (E1) – most recently in regulatory and program management. As a recent Sobey School of Business graduate, Karynne is passionate about economics, energy equity, and regulatory innovation. She is experienced in program development, implementation, management, and measurement and evaluation, as well as economic analysis, market research, and cost-benefit analysis. Karynne’s experience in the demand side management and utility sectors lends a holistic view of the energy landscape in Nova Scotia and the opportunities facing the province in the transition to a cleaner energy future.
Stephen Nusbaum	As the Director of Implementation for MRP, Stephen is leading a team responsible for ensuring the Independent Electricity System Operator has the updated tools, processes and governing documents in place to allow the renewed market to launch in May 2025. MRP represents by far the most significant enhancement to Ontario’s electricity market since market opening in 2002, and is forecasted to create in excess of $700M in net benefits over the first 10 years of operation. Stephen has 20 years of experience in the energy sector, including the last 14 with the IESO where he has held a variety of roles including policy development, generation procurement, and operations integration. He was also previously responsible for leading the team developing the high level design for the Incremental Capacity Auction in Ontario. Stephen holds an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the University of Waterloo, and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business.
Derek Olmstead	Derek Olmstead is the Administrator & CEO at Alberta's Market Surveillance Administrator (MSA). The MSA is mandated to conduct surveillance and enforcement in Alberta's electricity and retail natural gas markets. Prior to being appointed to this position, he was responsible for the MSA's enforcement and surveillance functions, including as Principal Economist. He has also worked at the Alberta Electric System Operator, the Australian Energy Regulator / Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator. Derek holds a Ph.D. in economics and maintains an active research agenda in energy and environmental economics, applied industrial organization, and applied econometrics, with a particular focus on the competitive and regulated aspects of electricity markets. His research related to electricity markets has been published in, among other places, the Canadian Journal of Economics, The Energy Journal, Energy Economics, and The Electricity Journal.
Mark Olsheski	As Vice President in Sussex Strategy Group’s Energy Practice, Mark possesses more than a decade of experience advising governments, public and private sector entities, corporate clients, investors and developers on energy and industrial policy issues. He joined Sussex after more than eight years at Queen's Park, serving in several senior policy and legislative affairs capacities within the Government of Ontario, including at the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure, and Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing. Prior to joining Sussex, Mark held the position of Director of Policy and Senior Policy Advisor for Supply, Transmission & Distribution to Ontario's Minister of Energy. In these roles he provided strategic leadership and a coordinated approach to public policy development in Ontario's energy sector, advancing legislative, regulatory, and program transformations in line with the government's broader priorities, including climate change, economic development, fiscal planning, Indigenous relations, and sustainability. Throughout his career in public service, he has worked on some of the government’s most complex policy and issues management files, including Ontario's Long-Term Energy Plan and Long-Term Infrastructure Plan, which facilitated transformative investments in the province's electricity system, highways, public transit, municipalities, and Indigenous communities.
Jeff Parnell	Jeff Parnell is the President of the Power Workers Union. The Power Workers’ Union is Ontario’s largest union in the Electricity Sector representing over 18,000 members in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. The Power Workers Union has a proud reputation for being the voice for workers in the Electricity Sector, including workers at Ontario Power Generation, Hydro One, Bruce Power, Toronto Hydro, Alectra, the Independent Electricity System Operator and more than 50 other electricity companies. The PWU is committed to the following principles: Create opportunities for sustainable, high-pay, high-skill jobs; ensure reliable, affordable, environmentally responsible electricity; build economic growth for Ontario’s communities; and promote intelligent reform of Ontario’s energy policy. Jeff began his career with Ontario Hydro in 1987. He has served in several disciplines within the Electricity Sector in both Transmission and Generation. As an experienced Electricity Sector contributor, he has unique perspective in conversations regarding energy policy and direction. Jeff sits on the boards of the Ivey Energy Centre Advisory Board, Plug ‘N Drive and numerous other industry initiatives where his experience and knowledge brings an ability to understand and provide solutions to problems that Ontario’s Electricity industry faces, as it adapts to the pressures of climate change.
Brian Rivard	Brian Rivard is an Adjunct Professor at the Ivey Business School and Director of Research for the Ivey Energy Policy and Management Centre. His area of expertise and study is electricity market design and regulation. Brian has experience as an energy consultant, most recently as a Principal at Charles River Associates. He also worked for the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) as Director of Markets. For almost 15 years at IESO, he helped support the development of market-based approaches to managing Ontario’s electricity system needs. In addition, Brian spent six years as a senior economist with the Canadian Competition Bureau. He has written articles for various publications such as the Energy Journal, Canadian Competition Record, Antitrust Law Journal, and the Journal of Economic Theory as well as chapters included in Competition Policy and Intellectual Property Rights in the Knowledge-Based Economy and Payments Systems in the Global Economy: Risks and Opportunities. He has also provided expert testimony before the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Ontario Energy Board. He received his MA and PhD in Economics from the University of Western Ontario.
Brandon Schaufele	Brandon Schaufele is the Director of the Ivey Energy Policy and Management Centre and an Associate Professor of Business, Economics, and Public Policy at the Ivey Business School. Prior to coming to Ivey, Brandon was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Ottawa, as well as Research Director of the university’s Institute of the Environment. Brandon’s areas of expertise are regulation and energy and environmental economics. He has published in range of leading academic journals including, among others: the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Canadian Journal of Economics, Journal of Regulatory Economics and Energy Economics. Brandon served as Research Director of a national environmental policy think-tank and was Chair of the Canadian Resource and Environmental Economics Association. He is currently Treasurer and an Officer of the Canadian Economics Association. Brandon has testified before provincial and federal governments, participated in hearings on major energy projects, consulted for a wide array of companies and law firms on a range of policy topics and is host of the podcast Ergs and Equilibrium.