The Major Electricity Users Group

1. Business / Trading Name: The Major Electricity Users’ Group Incorporated (trading as Major Electricity Users Group or MEUG).

2. Company Number: 979031.

3. NZBN: 9429042957676.

4. Entity Type: Incorporated Society (industry trade association).

5. Business Classification: Industry advocacy organisation in the electricity/energy sector (trade association for large electricity consumers).

6. Industry Category: Energy industry – specifically electricity market and policy advocacy on behalf of major industrial electricity users.

7. Year Founded: 1999 (incorporated 26 August 1999).

8. Addresses:

• Registered Office: Level 1, 93 The Terrace, Wellington Central, Wellington 6012, New Zealand.

• Postal Address: PO Box 8085, The Terrace, Wellington 6143, New Zealand.

9. Website URL:

http://www.meug.co.nz

10. LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/company/major-electricity-users-group (LinkedIn page for MEUG).

11. Company Hub NZ URL: Data Not Found (no specific CompanyHub profile located; official registry information is available via the Companies Office or NZBN).

12. NZ Companies Office URL: https://app.businessregisters.govt.nz/sber-businesses/viewInstance/view.html?id=229a78e05307b6d8bf1b29667f00cb1742d69e9efa51a2b8&_timestamp=409121208825388 (Incorporated Societies Register)

13. Social Media URLs: MEUG maintains a presence on:

• LinkedIn: Major Electricity Users’ Group (company page).

14. Ultimate Holding Company: None (MEUG is an incorporated society, not owned by a parent entity).

15. Key Shareholders: None (as an incorporated society, it has members rather than shareholders).

16. Leadership:

• Chairperson: John Harbord – appointed as MEUG Chair (circa 2022). Harbord is a former managing partner at a lobbying firm and has public sector experience.

• Executive Director: Karen Boyes – appointed 1 Feb 2023, succeeding long-time executive director Ralph Matthes. Boyes is the chief executive officer-equivalent, leading day-to-day advocacy.

• Founding/Former Exec Director: Ralph Matthes – served as MEUG’s Executive Director from the early 2000s until 2023. (Matthes was often referred to as MEUG’s chief executive in media.)

• Note: The Executive Committee (board) of MEUG is composed of representatives of member companies (names not publicly listed; the Chair represents the Committee).

17. Staff: MEUG is a small organisation. Aside from the Executive Director (Karen Boyes), it primarily relies on its Executive Committee members and Chair. Administrative support staff, if any, are not publicly listed (the contact details provided are for the Chair and Executive Director only).

18. Staff with Previous Government Roles: John Harbord (Chair) has an extensive government background – he was a political adviser/researcher for the National Party (2006–2013) and served as a Crown negotiator and a COVID-19 Group engagement manager in the Department of PM & Cabinet. Karen Boyes (Exec Director) is a policy professional with 15+ years experience in the energy sector including roles in central government (e.g. she has worked at the Electricity Authority and MBIE’s energy policy unit, per her professional profile). No other staff are known to have held government positions.

19. Past Employees: Ralph Matthes – Executive Director from c.1999/2000 until early 2023. Under Matthes’ long tenure, he was the public face of MEUG for two decades. (No other notable past staff identified; MEUG’s staffing is minimal.)

20. Clients: Not applicable – MEUG does not have “clients” as a consultancy would. It represents its member companies. MEUG’s members (the organisations it advocates for) are some of New Zealand’s largest electricity consumers. Current members (14 companies as of 2023) include major industrial and commercial enterprises such as Fonterra (dairy processing), New Zealand Steel, Rio Tinto New Zealand Aluminium Smelter, OceanaGold (gold mining), Visy (glass/packaging), Oji Fibre Solutions (pulp and paper), Golden Bay Cement, Methanex NZ (methanol), Pan Pac Forest Products (wood processing), Winstone Pulp, Open Country Dairy, Woolworths NZ (retail supermarkets), and others. These member firms collectively fund MEUG’s activities via membership dues.

21. Industries/Sectors Represented: MEUG represents energy-intensive industries and large commercial power users across multiple sectors: metals (steel, aluminium), mining, forestry/pulp & paper, dairy and food processing, chemicals (methanol), cement, and large-scale retail. Its membership’s businesses produce essential commodities like steel, aluminium, pulp & paper, cement, dairy products, beer and beverages, fuel, and groceries. Collectively, MEUG members account for roughly 25–28% of New Zealand’s electricity consumption in a typical year. In addition, BusinessNZ (NZ’s main business lobby federation) is an affiliate member, linking MEUG with the broader business community.

22. Publicly Disclosed Engagements: MEUG regularly engages in formal government processes and some of these engagements are public:

• Policy Submissions: MEUG is prolific in making submissions to government consultations, regulators and Parliament. It has lodged submissions with the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) on energy policy, with the Electricity Authority (EA) on market rules, and with the Commerce Commission on electricity network regulation. These written submissions are publicly available on agency websites.

• Select Committees: MEUG has presented evidence to parliamentary select committees on electricity industry inquiries (e.g. it participated in the 2018–2019 Electricity Price Review process).

• Meetings with Ministers: Ministerial diaries show that MEUG’s Chair and Executive Director have met directly with government ministers. For example, on 28 August 2024 the Energy Minister held an online meeting with John Harbord (Chair) and Karen Boyes (ED) of MEUG. MEUG also invites ministers to speak at its events (the Regional Development Minister was scheduled to speak at MEUG’s Executive Committee meeting in December 2024).

• Advisory Groups: MEUG (or its representatives) have been involved in government advisory groups – e.g. former MEUG director Ralph Matthes sat on industry working groups and provided expert input (such as the Electricity Authority’s Market Development advisory initiatives).

• Public Statements: MEUG often issues media releases or appears in media. Its Executive Director is quoted in news outlets like RNZ and the NZ Herald on electricity pricing, market settings, and policy announcements. The group also publishes a public events calendar to highlight key electricity sector meetings and consultations, indicating its tracking of – and involvement in – virtually all major sector engagements.

23. Affiliations: MEUG is formally affiliated with BusinessNZ – it is a member of BusinessNZ’s Affiliated Industries Group (AIG). Through this affiliation, MEUG coordinates with other industry associations and gains access to BusinessNZ’s wider advocacy network. Historically, MEUG also collaborated with consumer and farmer groups: in 2001 it was part of the “Consumer Coalition on Energy” alongside Consumer NZ and Federated Farmers, reflecting a temporary alliance of large users and consumer advocates. MEUG maintains a working relationship with Consumer NZ on electricity issues – Consumer NZ’s former CEO has publicly praised MEUG’s technical expertise in advocating for consumers’ interests. MEUG is also a regular member of industry fora and conferences (e.g. it participates in the annual NZ Downstream energy conference and sponsors the NZ Energy Excellence Awards).

24. Sponsorships / Collaborations: MEUG itself is a sponsor of sector events such as the New Zealand Energy Excellence Awards. It partnered with other major energy users in 2020 to launch the “Renewable Electricity Generation Project”, a collaborative procurement initiative seeking new renewable power generation (effectively a consortium to negotiate long-term power purchase agreements). This project was a collaboration among MEUG members to stimulate investment in renewables. MEUG also collaborates with government agencies on specific studies; for example, it worked with the Electricity Authority on demand-side case studies (published on MEUG’s website). There is no indication that MEUG directly sponsors political parties or candidates.

25. Events (held or organised by this organisation): MEUG’s core events are its Executive Committee meetings (held regularly, often monthly), which can include briefings from officials or ministers. These meetings are generally closed member-only sessions. MEUG occasionally hosts roundtables or workshops for members on electricity market issues (e.g. discussions on demand response, seen in MEUG’s public postings). In 2020, MEUG organised an industry-wide process for its renewable generation project, effectively an event where generators pitched supply proposals to MEUG’s members. MEUG does not hold public conferences of its own, but its representatives frequently speak at external industry events (conferences, seminars, Electricity Authority workshops, etc.).

26. Political Donations: Data Not Found. There is no record of MEUG (the incorporated society) making any donations to political parties. As a lobbying entity, it is not known to engage in political funding, and such contributions would be unusual for a member-funded industry group. (Likewise, no associated Political Action Committee or funding trust has been disclosed.) Note: Some individual member companies of MEUG have, in their own capacity, donated to political parties (e.g. corporate donations by energy companies or industry players are publicly reported), but these are not attributable to MEUG itself.

27. Controversies: MEUG has not been at the centre of any major public scandal. However, it is sometimes caught in contentious policy debates: for example, MEUG’s chair publicly blamed government policy (a ban on gas exploration) for contributing to high electricity prices, which aligned with some industry views and drew criticism from environmental advocates. There have been periodic tensions with electricity generators – MEUG has accused “gentailers” (generator-retailers) of excessive profits at consumers’ expense, and in turn some in the energy sector have downplayed MEUG’s claims. The group’s vocal lobbying has occasionally drawn charges of self-interest; e.g. smaller electricity retailers wanting structural reform have noted MEUG stops short of calling for breaking up gentailers, reflecting its industrial members’ focus on energy prices over market structure. Allegations of “regulatory capture” at the Electricity Authority have been raised in contexts where MEUG members suffer from high prices, but these criticisms are aimed at regulators and generators, not at MEUG itself. In summary, any controversies around MEUG tend to be policy disagreements rather than misconduct by the organisation.

28. Other Information of Note: MEUG’s influence is disproportionate to its size: its 14 member companies generate over $30 billion in annual revenue and employ 25,000+ people, giving the group significant economic weight in its advocacy. MEUG was a driving force behind the early-2000s push for regulating electricity line monopolies – it consistently highlighted excessive network charges, which contributed to the government imposing price controls on lines companies in 2001. The group also took precedent-setting legal action: Major Electricity Users’ Group Inc v Electricity Commission (2008) is a noted case in which MEUG challenged regulatory decisions, reflecting its willingness to use courts to seek policy outcomes. Additionally, MEUG maintains a public calendar of upcoming regulatory consultations and industry events, an unusual transparency measure that indirectly signals what issues it’s engaging with. Internally, MEUG circulates a weekly email and monthly Chair updates to members (as indicated by its membership materials), showing active communication with its stakeholders.

29. Recipient of Wage Subsidy Scheme: No. There is no evidence that MEUG itself applied for or received COVID-19 wage subsidies in 2020–21. In fact, during the pandemic MEUG noted that its member companies (large corporates) largely steered clear of the government’s wage subsidy scheme, even as smaller firms drew on it. MEUG warned in 2020 that further industrial job losses were likely because big firms weren’t taking subsidies despite revenue hits. The organisation did not seek any subsidy for its own small staff. MEUG’s funding (via member dues) remained intact through COVID, so it did not qualify for or require wage support.\

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