Day One | 18th November 2025

From boardroom to battery, Day One charged ahead with bold leadership, regulatory reform, and digital innovation—setting the pace for NZ’s smarter, cleaner, and customer-powered energy future.

This double-header dives into the regulatory reform and strategic system shifts shaping New Zealand’s energy future. From market design, access reform, and infrastructure resilience to aligning policy with net-zero goals, the first session explores how governance can enable innovation. Then, hear directly from leading CEOs as they tackle the energy trilemma, investment priorities, and how partnerships, tech, and customer transformation are central to building a smarter, cleaner, and more resilient grid.

9:00 am - 9:25 am Morning Registration and Networking

9:25 am - 9:30 am NZ Power Chair’s Opening Remarks

9:30 am - 10:00 am Regulation, Governance & System Strategy – Navigating Reform & Enabling Innovation

·        Future of electricity market design.

·        Grid access, connection reform, and investment signals.

·        Cybersecurity, resilience, and critical infrastructure protection.

·        Aligning regulatory settings with net-zero and technology adoption.

·        Managing the ‘trilemma’: affordability, sustainability, and reliability.

·        Capital investment and transition pathways.

·        Role of innovation, partnerships, and customer transformation.

·        What energy leaders need from tech and vendor ecosystems.

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Caroline Ovenstone

Chief Executive Officer
Alpine energy

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Jason Franklin

Chief Executive
Powerco

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Nigel Barbour

Group Chief Executive Officer
Orion NZ Ltd

10:45 am - 11:00 am Speed Networking

Jumpstart your connections with fast-paced, facilitated networking designed to introduce you to over 15 industry peers in just 15 minutes.

11:00 am - 11:30 am Morning Break and Networking

Join one of eight small-group discussions designed for deeper engagement on the sector’s most pressing topics. Each session runs for 30 minutes before attendees rotate to their next chosen table — with three rounds in total. This is your chance to exchange insights, ask tough questions, and collaborate directly with peers and industry leaders. Be sure to register your preferred IDGs at least one week before the conference to secure your seat.

Interactive Discussion Groups (IDGs): Choose Your Conversations, Shape the Dialogue

Grid of the Future: Smart Networks & Asset Management

11:30 am - 1:00 pm Grid of the Future: Smart Networks & Asset Management
  • Leveraging digital twins, sensors, and analytics for predictive maintenance and asset optimisation.
  • Transitioning to real-time, data-driven network operations for improved reliability and efficiency.
  • Integrating legacy infrastructure with modern smart grid technologies.

11:30 am - 1:00 pm Enabling DERs and VPPs in the NZ Market
  • Unlocking the full potential of distributed energy resources (DERs) through market and regulatory reform.
  • How virtual power plants (VPPs) can provide grid stability, flexibility, and consumer participation.
  • Technical and commercial models for integrating behind-the-meter assets at scale.

11:30 am - 1:00 pm Storage Solutions for NZ’s Renewable Pipeline
  • Role of short-, medium-, and long-duration storage in balancing intermittent renewables.
  • Business models and revenue streams for storage operators in New Zealand.
  • Overcoming permitting, investment, and interconnection challenges.

11:30 am - 1:00 pm Retail Reinvented: Personalised Services & Smart Metering
  • Moving from price-based to service-based customer offerings in a digital retail environment.
  • How smart meters and data analytics are enabling proactive customer engagement.
  • Privacy, trust, and the responsible use of consumer energy data.

11:30 am - 1:00 pm Electrification of Transport & Charging Infrastructure
  • Building out public and private EV charging networks for mass adoption.
  • Impact of transport electrification on load growth and grid planning.
  • Policies and pricing models that encourage smart, off-peak charging.

11:30 am - 1:00 pm Cybersecurity for Critical Energy Infrastructure
  • Evolving cyber threats and vulnerabilities across generation, transmission, and retail.
  • Building a proactive, resilience-focused cyber strategy for OT and IT environments.
  • Collaboration between industry and government on threat intelligence and standards.

11:30 am - 1:00 pm Decarbonising the Grid: Carbon Management Tools & Emissions Tracking
  • Real-time emissions tracking and carbon accounting tools for network operators and large users.
  • Aligning grid operations and procurement with carbon budgets and sustainability goals.
  • Transparent reporting frameworks and accountability across the value chain.

11:30 am - 1:00 pm Community Power: Prosumers, Microgrids & Local Energy
  • How local energy systems are creating resilient, community-led solutions.
  • Enabling prosumer participation in retail, wholesale, and capacity markets.
  • Financing and scaling community microgrid and solar initiatives.

This dynamic session pairs a fireside chat on the future role of baseload and transition fuels in a 100% renewable system with an industry panel exploring how innovation, smart infrastructure, and true collaboration are accelerating decarbonisation and delivering equitable energy outcomes.

Balancing the Grid: Baseload, Innovation & the Path to 100% Renewables

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Lunch And Networking

  • What is the realistic role of baseload generation like geothermal and gas in New Zealand’s journey to a 100% renewable electricity system — is it achievable without them?
  • How do we manage the trade-offs between energy security, affordability, and emissions reduction when considering the future role of transition fuels and geothermal?
  • What policy or regulatory changes are needed to ensure investment confidence in geothermal expansion and transitional fuels like gas and hydrogen?
  • How can the energy sector better engage with communities—especially iwi and Māori enterprises—when it comes to geothermal development and transition fuel projects?
  • Looking ahead, what innovations or technologies do you believe will be the game-changers for ensuring reliability and flexibility in a renewables-heavy grid?
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John Carnegie

Chief Executive
Energy Resources Aotearoa

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Michelle Polglase

General Manager Projects Delivery
Ara Ake

2:30 pm - 3:00 pm Industry Panel: Industry Leaders’ Discussion

What’s the biggest barrier you're helping energy organisations overcome today — and what makes that challenge different in the New Zealand context?

We hear a lot about ‘smart infrastructure’ and ‘flexible systems’ — what does that actually look like in a live project you’ve supported or delivered?

How are you ensuring your technologies or solutions support not just technical goals, but also customer experience, cultural inclusion, and equity outcomes?

What does real collaboration with energy providers look like in your best partnerships — and what should utilities expect from a truly strategic vendor?

3:00 pm - 3:30 pm Afternoon Tea and Networking

Explore how digital tools like predictive maintenance, smart analytics, and DER orchestration are transforming energy operations, alongside expert insights on scaling network innovation, interoperability, and automation from leading industry voices.

Digital Transformation & AI: Unlocking Innovation in Energy Networks

3:30 pm - 4:00 pm Digital Transformation & AI in Energy – Seizing Vendor Opportunities

Marko Simunac - General Manager Operations & Maintenance, Vector Limited

·        Predictive maintenance, asset optimisation, and digital twins.

·        Enabling DER orchestration with smart analytics.

·        Opportunities for SaaS, platform, and IoT providers.

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Marko Simunac

General Manager Operations & Maintenance
Vector Limited

·        Interoperability, visibility & control of DERs.

·        Grid digitalisation, orchestration & automation.

·        Lessons from pilot programs and scaling network innovation.


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Marko Simunac

General Manager Operations & Maintenance
Vector Limited

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Astad Kapadia

Head of DSO Strategy
Counties Energy

4:45 pm - 5:30 pm NZ Power 2025 Drink Reception