Commission Chairman invited to Australian utilities regulation conference
Published07 Nov 1997
Commerce Commission Chairman Dr Alan Bollard has been invited to speak at the public utilities regulation course being held in Melbourne next week.
Dr Bollard said that Australian law regulating utilities has been amended giving the Commission's Australian counterpart, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), a wider role in this area, similar in many ways to the Commission's.
The five-day course is being run by the ACCC and the Public Utility Research Centre from the University of Florida. The Research Centre has previously worked with the World Bank running international training courses for utility regulators.
"This invitation is a positive reflection on the experience the Commission has developed and the high regard in which New Zealand competition law is held internationally," Dr Bollard said.
Dr Bollard will be talking about areas in which the Commission has expertise that will be useful to the ACCC. That includes economic principles relating to cross-subsidisation, enforcement action against utilities and light handed regulation.
Other presenters will be from Australia, the United States and Britain.
Media contact: Communications Officer Vincent Cholewa
