Using data & economic theory to provide advice to essential service industries
At Econalytics we use economic theory and empirical data to help our clients navigate the complex world of consumer behaviour and regulation. Our focus and expertise centres on essential service industries including electricity, natural gas and transportation.
Econalytics’ mission is to help our clients put the right rules, policies and programmes in place to ensure that end-use consumers of essential services are able to meet their needs at the lowest possible sustainable cost. To accomplish this we provide our clients with insightful analysis and expert advice giving them the tools they need to make informed and effective policy and program choices.
Econalytics thrives on making sense of complex problems and providing clear and jargon free explanations. We pride ourselves on our ability to dig deeper and come up with creative solutions to seemingly intractable problems. At the core of the Econalytics approach is the idea that people follow incentives.
Understanding these incentives allows us to make better sense of observed behaviour and proactively design policies that anticipate real human reactions. Econalytics has proven expertise in designing and evaluating regulatory policy; creating and analysing large datasets; model building; tariff design; experimental design and statistical impact evaluation.
About Neil Lessem
Econalytics founder, Dr. Neil Lessem, is a highly experienced economic consultant, with extensive knowledge of the energy sector in particular. Specialising in environmental, behavioural and regulatory economics, he has assisted utilities, policymakers and technology firms around the world, on rate design, energy policy, innovative pricing, experimental design, technology adoption and policy impact measurement.
Dr Lessem’s past regulatory clients include the Saudi Arabian Electricity & Cogeneration Regulatory Authority (ECRA), the Malaysian Energy Commission (Suruhanjaya Tenaga), the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Australian Energy Markets Commission (AEMC), Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), The Australian Energy Regulator (AER), the Australian Energy Networks Australia (ENA), Energy Consumers Australia (ECA), and the New Zealand Electricity Networks Association (ENA).
Major utility clients include some of the largest utilities in the United States (Pacific Gas & Electric), Malaysia (Tenaga Nasional Berhad) and Australia (the Victorian Distribution Networks).
Prior to consulting, Dr Lessem obtained his Ph.D. from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), where he used experimental and real-world data to examine consumer motivation for purchasing environmentally friendly products and services. Dr Lessem’s undergraduate studies were at the University of Cape Town (UCT), where he obtained an Honours Degree in Economics, Business and History.
Dr Lessem has lectured on various topics in economics at UCLA, UCT and the University of Sydney, including behavioural, environmental and regulatory economics. He has spoken at numerous conferences around the world, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and Thailand.