Our experience – Energy
Indepen’s energy practice works with clients who include owners and operators of networks, energy production and energy supply companies, as well as investment funds and private equity companies involved in the energy sector. Our team has extensive experience of working and communicating at a senior level, and of working with others such as regulators and policymakers to deliver value to clients.
Ways in which we work in the sector
- Business and regulatory strategy
- We have advised the Chief Executive of a major integrated power company on the company’s positioning and regulatory strategy, with a view to strengthening its capability to devise and deliver a regulatory strategy for the company as a whole. This included helping the Board understand how the regulator viewed them and why; describing the company engagement process and relationships; identifying the risks of continuing this approach in terms of price review outcomes; reviewing arguments and written submissions. The work developed into an assessment of the implications of the government’s climate change policy on the company’s investment strategy and the likely risks of thinking it would be implemented as initially construed.
- Public and regulatory policy
- We advised the Chief Executive and Director of Regulation of a gas infrastructure company on regulatory strategy, programme management and specific aspects of the price control regime. Issues in the review included: ensuring that the regulator allowed sufficient investment to meet security of supply requirements, the separation of transmission and system operator functions and the approach to determining the scope for future efficiency savings. We contributed to submissions on the scope and form of the price control, including the possibility of a disaggregated price control; the treatment of investment expenditures in the price control regime; and efficiency and cost of capital analysis.
- Stakeholder engagement
- We have advised a new entrant on its strategy in the UK with respect to principal stakeholders in the company and how it might better position itself in a liberalised gas market using a risk-based approach.
- Board services
- We have provided advice to an integrated gas company on its international regulatory strategy and governance arrangements for the role, positioning, and management of, development and recruitment for, the central regulation function.