Projects

Our client is a shareholder in the ROMPCO pipeline that brings natural gas from Mozambique to South Africa. Our client required presentation materials to support their submission at the public hearing for a tariff on a new portion of the pipeline. ...

Under instruction from our client's attorneys we investigated the pricing mechanism utilised by the gas supplier for the claim period and assessed whether it complied with the provisions of the regulatory framework during this period. We further quantified the extent to which the client had been overcharged for gas by calculating the correct price in respect of the GAs Supply Agreement and comparing to the actual price charged. ...

We created a pricing mechanism using a number of objective, measurable features related to customers' consumption profiles which allowed significant variation in pricing. This mechanism created incentives for customers to improve their efficiency by rewarding customers who use gas in a more consistent manner with lower prices. Creation of the pricing mechanism required use of non-linear mathematical optimisation techniques under multiple constraints in order to satisfy the competing requirements. ...

We provided a comprehensive training session covering the legal framework. including the Gas Act, the Gas Regulations and the regulatory (NERSA) guidelines and methodologies. We demonstrated the various methods for calculating tariffs and explained their applicability. All aspects of the value chain were covered including production, loading, storage, liquefaction, re-gasification, transmission and distribution. ...

We built a complex levelised cost model that could calculate tariffs for multiple infrastructure items delivering multiple capacity increases over arbitrary timeframes. We used this model to assist the client with their tariff application strategy and to calculate the final tariff application. We prepared all regulatory submission documents for the client's final review. ...

We created all customer engagement tools to facilitate explanation of the new mechanism to customers. We additionally created modelling tools for long-term budgeting and strategic planning purposes. We wrote the software required to convert hourly consumption logger file data into the metrics required for pricing calculation and the loading of this information into the accounting system. We created a parallel calculation to check the invoicing integrity of the new process. ...

Meridian collaborated with the client's legal advisors to prepare a detailed response to the NERSA consultation document. The submssion questioned the basic premise of the approach NERSA proposed to adopt and suggested an alternative that would be compliant with the provisions of the Gas Act. ...

We collaborated with the client in preparing the application. When NERSA questioned the use of an intangible asset in the calculation of the tariff we provided further specialist advisory services to support the basis of the tariff application. ...

Meridian conducted a review of the regulatory regime that applies to the different aspects of the piped gas value chain (including production, transmission, compression, storage, re-gassification, distribution, trading, etc.) and advised the client accordingly. ...

We built a financial model of the savings that would be realised by the power utility under various possible operational modes, quantities of gas sold and instantaneous demand requirements. We integrated this model with the clients own financial model to ensure that multiple scenarios could be analysed both from the client's perspective and that of the utility. ...