Deirdre is an economist and founding member of Frontier Economics.
She primarily advises utilities on the regulatory processes that set their prices, particularly energy and water utilities. In recent years, she has been involved in the design and delivery of price setting processes that more closely involve customers in decision making. She also specialises in energy sector valuations and transactions, waste sector / circular economy policies and services and improving the management of scarce natural resources including native forests.
Deirdre has held senior roles within the energy industry (at AusNet Services) and within the Victorian Government (including as the Chief Economist of the Department of Primary Industries).
Her expertise includes:
Deirdre provides support to regulated businesses developing their pricing proposals. This includes strategic advice, customer research and engagement (including to investigate customer willingness to pay), opex efficiency analysis, business cases, regulatory modelling, advice on incentive scheme design and application and preparation of price submission documents. Examples include:
Deirdre has led projects providing comprehensive due diligence advisory support to investors in electricity assets including electricity transmission and distribution networks and metering businesses. The scope of these services has included advice on:
She has oversighted and supported the preparation of comprehensive due diligence reports.
As a regular advisor to State and local governments, she advises on waste sector policies and services that support the transition to a more circular economy, that address market failures and improve outcomes for the community.
She has led projects to assess the economics of alternative waste processing infrastructure and kerbside waste service configurations for councils, advised on potential establishment and operating models for a Materials Recovery Facility, assessment of the competitive dynamics in the provision of municipal waste disposal services, and the effectiveness of waste sector policies to incentivise waste minimisation.
Deirdre has led groundbreaking research projects, including in collaboration with the Australian National University, that demonstrate the economic and budgetary benefits associated with stopping native forest logging (in addition to the clear environmental benefits), and to design industry transition arrangements for the sector.
In Asia-Pacific, we do this from offices in Australia and Singapore. We work as a single team with expertise and people brought together as required by the problem we are solving for our clients. Reach out to any of our economists and consultants to find out how we can help you.
