Beardow said lines companies should be able to appeal commission decisions on the grounds of their merits and reasonableness, rather than only through a legal-based judicial review, reports the DominionPost.

It was just natural justice to have the right to appeal against the reasonableness of a decision, but neither New Zealand nor Australia allowed merit-based appeals against regulators’ rulings, she said.

Beardow, an economist and consultant to the electricity industry for 30 years, said the focus worldwide for regulators had been on pushing down prices for consumers, requiring electricity companies to continually cut costs.

But regulators were often economists who were not familiar with capital-intensive industries such as electricity companies. The NZ Commerce Commission did not fully understand the financial requirements of such businesses and this was one of the reasons why it took a tough stance on NZ lines companies.

The Electricity Networks Association has invited Beardow to New Zealand. On previous occasions she has represented the ENA in talks with the Commission on the framework for its electricity regulatory regime which targets companies that breach price and reliability thresholds.