Australia

General Manager

Tony Hake is the General Manager of NUS Consulting’s Sydney office. Prior to joining NUS Consulting, Tony was employed by Bunge Company Ltd. and subsequently by 3M Company Ltd. In 1976, Tony joined NUS Consulting’s UK office as a consultant. He was transferred to NUS Consulting’s Toronto office in 1978 and assumed the role of General Manager in 1990. In 1998, Tony transferred into his current role as General Manager of NUS Consulting’s Australasian operations.

Overview

In 1966, NUS Consulting opened its Sydney office. Today, the office employs over 30 professionals providing energy management services to clients located throughout Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.

Australia was one of the first countries to deregulate its electricity market. In 1996, Australia opened its electricity market to competition and provided open access to the national transmission and distribution network. Today, consumers can negotiate amongst various suppliers and retailers for the purchase of electricity; while delivery is typically subject to a series of regulated network tariffs.

Until 2006, electricity pricing in Australia was extremely stable due to the fact that most (approximately 80 percent) of the country’s electricity was derived from domestically supplied coal – the remaining 20 percent was derived from gas and hydro. However, at the end of 2006, price speculation and a severe drought produced extreme price volatility. The increase was so severe that consumers renewing supply contracts in 2007 experienced increases in their annual costs in excess of 100 percent. Significant price volatility now appears to be an enduring feature of the Australian electricity market – increasing both the risk and complexity associated with effectively managing energy costs.

The Australian office offers a full range of energy consulting services – procurement, invoice validation and processing, audit, analysis, on-line data management, research, consulting. In additional to these services our Australian office has developed a bespoke service specifically developed for the Australian market and our Australian clients. These services include our Energy Management Programme which are focused on ensuring that a client purchase energy as cost effectively as possible through rigorous market analysis, price forecasting, profile development and daily market monitoring and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Monitoring and Reporting.