Electricity Allocation Factor Contact Group
Why has the EAF Contact Group Been Established?
The EAF contact group consists of representatives from significantly affected parties that are familiar with electricity market issues and the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS). This includes people from government agencies, emissions intensive and trade exposed (EITE) firms, power companies and specialist consultants.
A group called the Stationary Energy and Industrial Processes (SEIP) Technical Advisory Group (TAG) was established in 2008 to assist in the development of the NZ ETS. A SEIP TAG sub-group performed a similar exercise to the EAF contact group by assisting the Ministry for the Environment in the development of the existing EAF of 0.52 tCO2-e/MWh. The existing EAF is one of the components which are used to calculate the allocation received by eligible industries.
The EAF is a component of the allocative baseline that is used to calculate the allocation received by eligible industries.
In December 2009, the industrial allocation regulations, in which the existing EAF was placed, went out for consultation. Some submitters, including the Major Electricity Users Group (MEUG) (PDF, 4.86 MB) and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) (PDF, 57 KB), criticised the analytical approach that was applied.
The establishment of the EAF Contact Group seeks to adopt the successful elements of the SEIP TAG sub-group and expand the analytical approach to more directly address the critiques. The EAF Contact Group will develop an EAF recommendation for 2013-2017. This will be considered by the Ministry for the Environment, who will deliver a final recommendation to the Minister for Climate Change Issues. The Minister will then make a decision regarding any changes to the EAF. Should the EAF need updating, consultation on the proposal for a regulations change will occur.
The Role of the EAF Contact Group
The primary role of the EAF Contact Group is to provide guidance and advice to the Ministry for the Environment on the development of a recommended EAF for the 2013-2017 period. This role will include scoping the analytical task, peer reviewing the findings of any technical reports and performing a general quality assurance role, as well as putting forward a recommendation. The EAF Contact Group will consider lessons and feedback from the 2008 SEIP TAG sub-group and matters that are likely to influence an EAF recommendation.
Group Membership List
| Stuart Frazer |
Frazer-Lindstrom |
| John Carnegie |
Business New Zealand |
| Mark Dean |
Ministry of Economic Development |
| Tim Denne |
Covec Consulting |
| Libby Masterton |
Ministry for the Environment (Chairperson) |
| Ralph Matthes |
Major Electricity Users’ Group |
| Jim Miller |
Fonterra |
| Ray Deacon |
Rio Tinto |
| Ross Parry |
Genesis Energy |
| Robin Brasell |
Ministry for the Environment |
| Mark Pickup |
Ministry of Economic Development |
| Aaron Smith |
Mighty River Power |
Contact the Group – EAF Enquiry
Members of MEUG and Business New Zealand who wish to have input in the development of an EAF recommendation please contact your representatives (below).
For all other enquiries, please email climatechange@mfe.govt.nz with ‘EAF Enquiry’ as the subject line.
People interested in following the EAF development and the EAF Contact Group, will be able to so from this page. All relevant documents from the EAF Contact Group meetings will be uploaded to this page on a regular basis.
Last updated: 7 June 2011
