News & Insights

Advice about the regulation of distribution connection charges provided to the New Zealand Electricity Authority

CEPA was engaged to prepare a report on the regulation of one-off or upfront charges that are typically triggered by the creation of a new connection – or the upgrade of an existing connection – to a distribution network.

Price control for Northern Ireland Electricity Networks: Final Determination published

CEPA is pleased to have supported the economic regulator for electricity in Northern Ireland, which has approved an investment package for Northern Ireland Electricity Networks (NIEN) of £2.23 bn in its seventh regulatory price control for NIEN, which will run from April 2025 to March 2031.

Dr Jonathan Mirrlees-Black

The Board of Cambridge Economic Policy Associates Pty Ltd (“Company”) and its related entities wishes to announce that one of its directors, Dr Jonathan Mirrlees-Black, has decided to resign from the Company to pursue other opportunities.

On behalf of the Board, we wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

CEPA continues to grow with additional consulting staff in the UK

We are delighted to welcome eight new members of the CEPA consulting team in London, with two directors, two consultants and four economists adding to CEPA’s expanding pool of people to support our clients.

Leveraging private sector investment in digital communications infrastructure in Eastern Africa

Chris Doyle presents the findings of a CEPA study, commissioned by The World Bank, at its launch to East African stakeholder states.

CEPA’s Strategy Review of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is published

CEPA was appointed to conduct the end-term strategic review of The Global Fund for 2017-22.

CEPA co-founder knighted in the King’s 2024 Birthday Honours

We congratulate Dr Keith Palmer OBE, who has been recognised for his exceptional contribution to international development.

CEPA retains its Platinum Rating as a top economics consulting firm in 2024

Consultancy UK, the online platform for the UK's advisory and consulting industry, has once again awarded CEPA a platinum-level ranking.

The Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) for various electricity generation and storage technologies in Australia

AEMO Services commissioned CEPA to provide independent advice on appropriate assumptions on the WACC. CEPA’s report has been published and is available from AEMO Services’ website.

Ofcom consults about mmWave auction regulations

UK regulator of communications services invites stakeholders' views about proposals to enable the industry to use mmWave spectrum for new services.

AEMC forum sets the stage for a consumer driven future

CEPA’s Darryl Biggar accepted an invitation to present at the Australian Energy Market Commission’s recent Connecting Policy and Research Forum.

Study about the productivity of electricity distribution businesses in New Zealand

CEPA’s Australian office was engaged by the Commerce Commission to estimate productivity changes in New Zealand’s electricity distribution sector.

Women in Economics: Breaking Barriers Together

CEPA Senior Consultant Charlotte Hallam joined the panel for the Women in Economics event, along with female economists from the Bank of England, KPMG and the Fraser of Allander Institute.

DESNZ publishes CEPA’s report about Local Electricity Markets

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has launched its second consultation about the ongoing Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA).

Consortium acts on the completed transfer of an offshore transmission link

CEPA is proud to have been part of the Smith Square Partners' Consortium that acted on the £666 million completed transfer of Moray East offshore wind farm transmission link.

Report about unlocking new sources of electricity system flexibility from households published

Energy Systems Catapult has published a report, prepared with input from CEPA and Ovo, that developed and tested innovative retail propositions against a range of 2030 market scenarios to identify how to best elicit flexibility.

£573 million transfer of Triton Knoll offshore wind farm transmission link completed

Ofgem has announced its confirmation to grant an offshore transmission licence to ETEPCO (a consortium of Equitix Ltd & TEPCO Power Grid Inc).

Using reverse auctions for allocating public subsidies to promote mobile broadband coverage

Following the completion of its usual peer review process, The World Bank has published CEPA's report about the use of reverse auctions in the telecommunications sector.

Ireland’s energy security package to 2030

Managing energy security of supply while transitioning to a low carbon, renewables-led energy system is one of the critical challenges facing Irish policy makers.

CEPA supports water, regulatory finance and global health practices with promotions to its partnership

Join us in congratulating Tom Cochrane and Kaveri Kumar on their recent promotions to the firm’s partnership. They join CEPA’s existing global Partners to lead a growing team of more than 50 economic, public and financial policy consulting experts.

Energy sector expert explores the causes of crises in two key energy-only wholesale electricity markets

CEPA’s energy sector consulting team was pleased to take part in an interactive knowledge-sharing session.

Darryl Biggar presents at the ACCC/AER Annual Regulatory Conference

Darryl Biggar, a Senior Advisor at CEPA Australia, presents a session about market failure and reform of the childcare sector.

Commission for Regulation of Utilities Price Control 5 consultation published

Our reports on Irish gas network revenues and incentives have been published by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities.

Transfer of Hornsea Two offshore wind farm transmission link

CEPA, as part of Smith Square Partners Consortium, acts as financial adviser to Ofgem on the £1.14bn completed transfer of Hornsea Two offshore wind farm transmission link from Ørsted to Diamond Transmission Partners.

Transformational impacts of transport investment

We are pleased to have helped our client understand how and why transport schemes achieve transformational impacts and how contextual factors can work with a new transport investment.

Director: Energy Markets and Modelling

CEPA is seeking an exceptional individual to join the firm's London office as a Director, supporting its work in the energy sector.

CEPA Australia responds to Australian Energy Regulator’s invitation to comment

As an interested stakeholder, CEPA is pleased to make submissions on the Gas Distribution Network Tariffs Review Issues Paper.

Locational Marginal Pricing

One of the most talked-about market reform options being considered by the GB Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) consultation.

Assessment of competition issues in the telecoms sector is reaffirmed by Australian Competition Tribunal

CEPA’s advice to Australian communications provider Optus, highlighting the adverse impacts of a merger transaction between its two competitors, has been supported by the Australian Competition Tribunal.

Reputation acknowledged by ranking recognition

CEPA thanks those clients, industry leaders, associates and future economists for the feedback they provided to Consultancy.uk, resulting in the firm’s high-level, 2023 ranking as one of the “Top Economics consulting firms in the UK”.

Dr Darryl Biggar appointed to bolster CEPA Australia’s practice

CEPA is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Darryl Biggar as a senior advisor in its Australian practice.

LSE students present findings about biodiversity policy

We are pleased to have supported another cohort of students undertaking the Capstone Course at the London School of Economics (LSE). 

Supporting the UK Government’s approach to community benefits for electricity transmission network infrastructure

Onshore electricity networks will play a critical role in achieving net zero and that requires transformation at unprecedented scale and pace.

Net Zero’s trade imperative: A case study on the global demand for solar technology

We were commissioned by the Hinrich Foundation, to help them understand if global trade will be essential to sustain the transition to reach the International Energy Agency's target of Net Zero by 2050.

CEPA has again been recognised as one of the UK’s leading management consultants

We are grateful for the continued positive feedback from the market, which has led to CEPA retaining its position in the Financial Times' ratings.

Tender process for the sale of three offshore wind transmission assets with a combined value of c. £2 billion is launched

A consortium, consisting of CEPA and four other leading advisory firms, is acting as financial adviser to Ofgem for the OFTO Tender Round 10 process.

CEPA evaluates Unitaid’s $22m investment aimed at supporting access to medicines

Our Global Health team's evaluation of Unitaid's portfolio to 'support access to medicines through innovative use of Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights' has been published.

Ofgem publishes its RIIO-2 Final Determinations for the GB electricity distribution sector

We are proud to have been working with Ofgem on important elements of the RIIO-ED2 price control, which will run from April 2023 to April 2028.

Our report about using reverse auctions for allocating public subsidies to promote mobile broadband coverage is presented to government

Dr Chris Doyle, CEPA's Head of Telecoms, has presented the findings of our latest communications sector report, commissioned by The World Bank, to Tanzanian government officials.

CEPA’s independent outcome evaluation of CEPI is published

Dr Richard Hatchett, the Chief Executive Officer of The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations praises our work, describing it as “a fair, balanced and independent perspective”.

Evaluation of Unitaid’s COVID-19 portfolio of investments

CEPA was appointed by Unitaid to undertake a portfolio-level evaluation assessing the contribution of Unitaid’s COVID-19 response and alignment with the ACT-A partnership.

In the news: CEPA’s assessment of telecoms deal reaches the headlines

Our work is featured by iTnews and the author of the Expert Report, Dr Chris Doyle, CEPA's Head of Telecoms, is quoted for the independent analysis’ dissenting findings, drawn from the economic evidence.

Price caps in the Australian National Energy Market (NEM)

We were engaged by the Australian Energy Council to consider whether a relatively high market price cap and other market settings, in the presence of a capacity mechanism, would result in double payment for capacity at unnecessary customer cost.

Unitaid publishes CEPA’s reports on HIV Self-Testing and Covid-19

Our external evaluations are considered to be an essential component of Unitaid's approach to grant management and monitoring, transparency and accountability, and communicating impact and learning.

CEPA’s impact assessment of proposed energy market reforms to encourage flexibility

We are pleased to have supported Elexon with an impact assessment of BSC Modification P415, designed to allow independent aggregators of demand side response to trade customer flexibility directly.

Major review launched on energy security of supply in Ireland

We are supporting a major public consultation about the security of energy supply of Ireland’s electricity and natural gas systems, being undertaken by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022)

It is with great sadness and sorrow that we learn of the death of Her Majesty The Queen. We add our condolences to the world's outpouring of affection. We send our deepest sympathies to the Royal Family and join them in mourning her loss. - CEPA Directors and Staff

The potential impacts of a partial merger between two of the three Australian mobile telecommunications market operators

Optus has commissioned CEPA to assess the competition impacts of an application to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for merger authorisation between Telstra Corporation Limited and TPG Telecom.

The potential impact of future innovation in support of Unitaid’s strategy

We explored the potential impact of ten promising innovations that Unitaid may support during its 2023-27 strategic period, which could make a significant contribution to advancing global health targets.

Ofwat publishes a report that considers how to facilitate the delivery of multi-sector reservoir systems

The Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) and three water companies commissioned a report from CEPA and Agilia to consider the legal and commercial models that could facilitate the delivery of multi-sector reservoir systems.

Find us at Energy Ireland 2022, billed as Ireland’s largest annual energy conference

We are pleased to once again be attending the conference on 29 and 30 June in Dublin, for an event that aims to bring together key stakeholders in the Irish energy sector.

CEPA advises on tools to evolve energy regulation

The Council of European Energy Regulators has today published our recommendations for how energy regulators can best deploy ‘dynamic regulation’ tools – exemptions from the standard regulations that are limited in time and scope, which aim to foster learnings for future regulatory reforms.

Expert from Ofcom appointed to bolster CEPA’s advisory services for the communications sector

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Chris Doyle as a senior advisor to our communications, media and payment systems practice. Dr Doyle will commence working with CEPA on 1 March 2022.

CEPA collaborates to advise about the selection of offshore transmission owners (OFTOs)

Continuing our co-operation with other specialist advisors in a consortium, we are pleased to provide further expert financial and economic advice to Ofgem under a new four-year contract for offshore electricity transmission assets.

CEPA recognised as one of the UK’s leading management consultants

Following another year of providing high-quality advice to our clients across our core sectors, we are grateful for the positive feedback from the market, which has led to CEPA’s inclusion in the Financial Times’ independent ratings report.

Initial insights published on price signals for demand-side flexibility in the GB energy market

CEPA and Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) have been appointed by BEIS to carry out a study on energy price signals, exploring what an alternative system of network and policy price signals might look like. CEPA and ESC held a webinar when the initial findings were presented.

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) publishes its report on the card-acquiring market

Card-acquiring services enable merchants to accept card payments. We supported the PSR with its market review and have advised about a range of other payment systems policies.

New infrastructure investment approach to benefit millions across the Pacific region

A guide for institutional investors about co-investment options in infrastructure, developed by CEPA Australia, has been published.

Smith Square Partners’ Ofgem consortium; TR7 preferred bidder for first asset announced

Ofgem, the GB energy regulator has announced the identity of the preferred bidder for the offshore wind transmission asset connecting the Triton Knoll wind farm to the Lincolnshire coast.

CEPA modelling shows the economic and public health impact of voluntary licensing

Licences negotiated by the Medicines Patent Pool will save the international community an estimated USD 3.5bn and 170k lives by 2030. This is according to a new methodology for estimating the impact of licences that was validated via a peer-reviewed article published in The Lancet.

European energy regulators report on Innovative Business Models and Consumer Protection

The Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) has published a report, for which we undertook the identification and analysis of the business models and supporting case studies.

Locational energy pricing in the GB power market

Working with energy networks specialists TNEI, we have produced new research for Energy Systems Catapult on the role of locational energy prices in facilitating the decarbonisation of Britain’s energy system.

Evaluation of New Reg trial in Australia released

The Australian Energy Regulator has published our independent evaluation of a trial, to deliver better outcomes for consumers through network consumer engagement and regulatory innovation.

CEPA evaluates Unitaid’s investments in Hepatitis C

Unitaid has invested more than US$45 million since 2015 in support of improving access to care for hepatitis C. We are pleased to have provided them with a portfolio evaluation and end of grant evaluations.

CEPA Australia advise on asset beta and specific risk premium

We have supported the Commerce Commission, New Zealand with their regular review of the base milk price calculation.

Australian Energy Regulator considers the links between the risk-free rate & market risk premium

The AER asked us to advise on the approach to estimating the Market Risk Premium (MRP) for the 2022 review of the Rate of Return Instrument. Specifically, we were asked whether there is a relationship between the risk-free rate (RfR) and MRP.

Views invited on barriers to demand-side flexibility in the GB energy sector

CEPA and the Energy Systems Catapult have been appointed by BEIS to carry out a study on energy price signals, as part of BEIS’s Alternative Energy Markets programme.

Consultation on Minded to Positions for ‘fast-tracked’ charging options published by Ofgem

Ofgem publishes consultation under the Access and Forward-looking Charges Significant Code Review with our Quantitative Analysis and Methodology reports alongside.

Ofwat publishes further CEPA report on allocation of risk

Our latest report for Ofwat supports its early thinking on the design of the next water sector price review, PR24.

Ofwat outlines its initial views about the Price Review frameworks for 2024 (PR24) and beyond

The regulator of the water sector in England & Wales has published a consultation response, which discusses its high-level ideas for maximising the potential of price reviews to help the sector create value for customers, communities, and the environment.