Fields of Service

We are Australia’s leading water sector advisors.

Our water team have backgrounds working as water regulators, or working in senior roles in regulated businesses or Government. We have been instrumental in some of Australia’s most significant regulation, policy and market reforms across the rural and urban water sectors. We work across multiple scales, catchments, basins, precincts, irrigation schemes, communities, water business and legislative boundaries.

If you are looking to do something involving water economics, regulation, policy, pricing, markets or strategy, then let’s talk. We’re likely to have the real expertise that can help you, and have probably done what you are looking to do before.

Over the last four years we have delivered more than 240 water sector projects across Australia and overseas.

Projects include:

Investment appraisal and business cases

More than sixty projects for Government, private clients, IIOs and not-for profits. Investment cases cross urban and rural water infrastructure, water policy reform, and other matters. Many of these investment cases have secured Commonwealth and State funding.

Regulation, pricing and cost recovery

More than fifty projects for regulated water businesses and regulators. We have led the development of or supported pricing submissions across all States and Territories, developed long-term regulatory frameworks including pricing principles, developed building block models, LRMC models, trade waste pricing structures, developer charges, canal pricing and more.

Non-market valuation

More than thirty non-market valuation studies including of rural and urban waterways and catchments and the benefits of integrated water management. We have developed leading approaches for estimating customer willingness to pay for discretionary waterway, catchment and liveability investments in regulated price submissions.

Quantitative methods and modelling

Many of our water sector projects involve us building probabilistic hydro-economic models. These models represent water resource systems, infrastructure management options and economic values in an integrated way. Get in contact to discuss these with us. Developed Waterflow, Australia’s leading water market information platform.

Policy design and evaluation

More than forty water policy evaluations covering rural and urban matters from precinct to the national scale. We have supported the development and reform on all of Australia’s significant national reform matters.

Governance and institutions

More than fifteen water governance evaluations covering rural and urban matters, including State wide-sector reform, IIO governance and reform, stormwater governance reform, Basin plan reforms and more.

Markets

More than forty water market projects for private and public clients. Our work has supported the development and reform of Australia’s water markets, and improved water market transparency and performance.

With expertise spanning all areas of electricity and gas markets, policy and regulation, we can help you understand the market impacts, manage risks and seize opportunities associated with the net-zero energy transition.

View our energy and renewables capability statement.

What we offer
Our team has 40+ years’ collective local and global energy market experience, including deep expertise in the Australian NEM, WEM and national gas market.

Over the past four years alone, we have delivered more than 200 energy projects. We’ve advised governments, regulators, energy companies, international investors and innovators on over $10 billion of new investments in energy and renewables, including:

solar and wind farms
waste-to-energy projects
gas fields and gas generators
large-scale generation and storage projects, including Snowy Hydro 2.0.

Market regulation and policy
We work with wholesalers, networks, retailers, and federal and state governments to navigate, evaluate, design, develop, reform and implement policies, programs and regulation in the ever-changing energy and renewables markets.

Our energy market regulation and policy work is grounded in our broad industry experience. From advising government departments on energy policy to leading the peak industry body for energy retailers, our consultants’ on-the-ground expertise translates to tangible benefits for clients.

Energy market modelling
Developed over 20+ years, Marsden Jacob’s suite of sophisticated in-house market models support our policy capability. Our economic modelling expertise is the backbone of our practice, enabling us to provide real-world advice and drive improvements in energy use and performance.

Cross-sector collaboration
Energy challenges and issues are complex. Project outcomes are often intertwined with considerations across water, waste, recycling, climate change and natural capital. Our collaborative, cross-sector approach gives you unrivalled access to the breadth and depth of our global team’s expertise. We connect the dots where others can’t. Our solutions are bespoke, relevant and actionable, helping you unlock opportunities and achieve the best outcomes.

Our expertise

Renewables markets and investments
Economic regulation and policy
Energy market models
Market trends and transitions
Climate change mitigation and adaptation

Meet the energy team

Andrew Campbell
Market modelling expert (NEM)

Cameron O’Reilly
Regulation & policy expert (NEM)

Grant Draper
WEM & market modelling expert

Over the last four years we have delivered more than 150 energy sector projects across Australia and overseas, and more than 50 clean energy projects.

Projects include:

Investment appraisal & business cases

More than twenty projects for private clients and Government on over $10 billion in new investments in energy and clean energy for Australia, including large-scale solar and wind farms, batteries, waste to energy, gas fields, gas turbines, and Snowy 2.0.

Regulation, pricing and cost recovery

More than twenty projects for regulated business and regulators including ACCC, AEMO, AER, IPART, ESC and others on matters including regulatory determinations, transmission pricing, input cost assessments, wholesale pricing models and more.

Quantitative methods and modelling

More than eighty projects involving bespoke quantitative modelling of energy systems and markets. Most of our projects draw on our in-house energy models. Get in contact to discuss these with us.

Markets

More than 100 projects covering matters on Australian and international energy markets.

Strategy

More than ten projects developing and negotiating power purchase agreements (PPAs) on behalf of off takers or generation project developers.

Due diligence

More than twenty assessments of asset purchases/sale and investment in new generation projects including gas fields, large-scale solar and wind farms, and gas turbines.

We are trusted advisors to the agriculture, aquaculture and earth resources sectors.

We advise boards and Ministers, we chair ministerial committees, and we work with all levels of industry and government. Our team includes people with diverse backgrounds: in agricultural, aquaculture and earth resources value chains, in senior Government positions, and in running family farms. We specialise in important, complex issues: drought, cost recovery, program design, structural reforms, and reforms of the agricultural market and of governance performance.

Our expertise in matters of the economy, policy, market and strategy, when combined with our real-world experience, means that we engage quickly and credibly. We maintain sophisticated in-house models including bioeconomic and the agriculture and aquaculture value chains.

Over the last four years we have delivered more than 80 agriculture and earth resources sector projects across Australia.

Projects include:

Investment appraisal and business cases

More than forty projects for Government, private clients, IIOs and not-for profits. Investment cases cross rural water infrastructure, agriculture policy reform, and other matters. Many of these investment cases have secured Commonwealth and State funding.

Regulation, pricing and cost recovery

More than ten projects developing cost recovery approaches for matters spanning fisheries, agriculture research and development investments, spatial data services, mining rehabilitation, biosecurity, biodiversity and vegetation reserve management, and more.

Quantitative methods and modelling

We have developed some of Australia’s leading bespoke multi-regional agriculture and fisheries market models, and biosecurity models to do things like estimate the benefits and costs of the product integrity programs, and to evaluate structural and market reforms. Get in contact to discuss these with us.

Policy design and evaluation

More than twenty agriculture and earth resources evaluations covering matters including drought policy, structural reform, research and development (RD&E) impacts, mining rehabilitation, biosecurity and more. Regulatory reform of earth resources in Victoria.

Governance and institutions

More than ten projects covering matters such as assessing the effectiveness of Ministerial Advisory Councils, Chairing Ministerial Advisory Councils, livestock governance, and biosecurity and pest animals program governance.

Strategy

More than ten ongoing advisory roles to Ministers and senior executives around agricultural and earth resources strategy development and delivery.

Our experience spans multiple sectors and issues.

We are recognised leaders in the economics, regulation, policy and markets of both ‘brown’ and ‘green’ environmental issues. ‘Brown’ issues include – waste and recycling, air pollution, contaminated land, and persistent organic pollutants. While ‘green’ environmental issues, centre around delivering healthier rural and urban catchments, waterways, coasts, landscapes, and oceans.

Our innovative modelling includes material flow models and integrated bioeconomic models, to support our work and deliver insights into the deeper issues at hand. We work with a wide range of scientists and other specialists to deliver you the best possible outcomes.

Over the last four years we have delivered more than 60 environment and climate sector projects across Australia.

Projects include:

Investment appraisal and business cases

More than twenty projects for Government, private clients, and not-for profits. Investment cases cross green and brown environment issues, including waste and recycling, air quality and climate change. Many of these investment cases have secured Commonwealth and State funding. We are the leading advisors to State and Commonwealth governments on the economics of container deposit schemes, ambient air pollution, and recycling.

Regulation, pricing and cost recovery

More than ten projects developing cost recovery approaches for matters spanning waste recovery, recycling, container deposit schemes, air pollution and more. Waste and concessional waste levy design.

Non-market valuation

More than twenty non-market valuation studies estimating things like valuing the health and environmental impacts of pollution and hazardous waste, the benefits of reducing litter and benefits of protecting natural areas, and the economic value of parks.

Quantitative methods and modelling

We have developed some of Australia’s leading air quality, climate change and material flow models to inform, policy, regulatory, structural and market reforms in Australia. Get in contact to discuss these with us.

Policy design and evaluation

More than thirty environment and climate change policy projects covering matters including the design of State and Commonwealth waste and recycling policy, shredder floc reduction, climate change regulation, clean air regulation and policy and more.

Markets

More than ten market analysis projects including market analysis of Australian metal recycling, beverage container, e-waste, consumer battery markets and more.

We work at the forefront of national road, rail and ports transport issues across policy, regulation, governance, and pricing.

Our team have leading roles in some of Australia’s most significant transport reforms, particularly heavy-vehicle road reform, electric vehicles, and rail. We have extensive experience in regulatory pricing in road and rail transport.

Over the last four years we have delivered more than 20 transport sector projects across Australia.

Projects include:

Regulation, pricing and cost recovery

We have worked on some of Australia’s most significant roads and heavy vehicle pricing and cost recovery reforms including developing heavy vehicle forward looking cost bases, estimating Heavy Vehicle Charges regulation impacts, and developing mass distance location-based charges for arterial road networks, road ballast cost recovery, and Depreciated Optimised Replacement Cost (DORC) Valuation of road and port assets.

Strategy

We have worked on some of Australia’s most significant roads and heavy vehicle reforms including developing a nationally consistent framework for Service Level Standards for roads, and increasing agricultural sector productivity through transport, reform of national rail regulation and infrastructure policy, and design of economic incentives to increase uptake of electric vehicles in Australia.

Most of our work involves public policy of some form.

If you don’t see what you’re looking for in the categories above, then call us. We’ve probably got the experience you need, or we will know the best people to speak with.

Our team works across a wide range of public and social policy issues. In the past two years this has included:

Supporting national healthcare reforms through pricing of attendance care and group home capital infrastructure;
Establishing pricing for the National Disability Insurance Scheme;
Delivering regulatory impact statements for matters like work health and safety;
Developing and supporting implementation of asbestos compensation frameworks;
The economics and optimal taxation of alcohol.

Fields of Service

Speak with us