Are you the best demand forecaster in the NEM this summer?

The Christmas competition is back…

If you’re reading this post whilst your colleagues are enjoying themselves (sunning themselves on a beach, or jet-setting north for some Christmas snow), then that’s proof enough for me that you’re one of the Most Dedicated Workers in the NEM.

Put a cartoon here of an unhappy worker (YOU) in an office, thinking of the others (THEM) having fun on the beach

We’d like to offer you an opportunity to turn the tables on the “Slackers” who are off, enjoying themselves over the next week-and-a-bit of the Silly Season (i.e. from Friday 24th Dec to Monday 3rd January).

This is an Exclusive Invitation to people like you, who make up the “Backbone of the NEM”.

If you can demonstrate yourself to be the Best Demand Forecaster in the NEM this Summer, we’ll happily give you this BBQ (or one like it, to your choice, and in the same price range):

Image of BBQ

Yes, for those who recall our the competition we’ve run occasionally in the past, it’s back by popular demand!

For those who don’t immediately recognise the BBQ pictured, it’s the Cordon Bleu 4 Deluxe BBQ Module (priced at $999), which is further described in this product page at Barbeques Galore (where we will it supply it from).


The Competition

1) What we’re looking for is the highest NEM-Wide Demand on a Dispatch Target basis. Here is where it’s shown in NEM-Watch:

Image of NEM-Watch, zoomed in on the demand
(actually I ‘ve cheated a little here, using an image of a slightly older version – you’ll find the key number in roughly the same place)

2) You have until end of day Monday 3rd January 2011 to enter (by email in to summer@global-roam.com with your estimate, and your delivery address, if you are confident of winning).

3) To give you a head start, we’ve prepared some analysis for you of:

(a) Summer’s peak in demand in summer 2005-06, when Trevor Persal (of Ergon) practically nailed it, with an excellent entry!

(b) Summer’s peak in demand in summer 2006-07, when David Turnour (of Origin) was about 100MW from the mark (0.3%)

(c) Summer’s peak in demand in summer 2008-09, when Thao Doan (of Stanwell) was a whopping 900MW below the peak in a summer that smashed the previous record

(d) We changed things up a bit, then, and next ran the competition for Winter 2009,, when Andrea Prouse (of EnergyAustralia) was 577MW from the mark in a winter that failed to spark.

(e) Here’s some quick notes about how summer 2010-11 has been really mild to date.

4) You might want to sign up at WattClarity® to be notified when we publish updates on this blog, as we’ll periodically post updates this summer about the way demand progresses – plus with respect to anything else we see of interest (as we have the time, of course).


So get your crystal ball out, have a look at our Cheat Sheets, and send us your best estimate!

This could be you, cooking on your new BBQ - and gloating about being  			confirmed as the best Demand Forecaster in the NEM

As the old saying goes, “You’ve Got to be in it to Win it”!


The Fine Print

1) Entries accepted between Friday 24th December 2010 and Monday 3rd January 2011.

2) Only entries emailed to summer@global-roam.com will be considered.

3) Entries open to anyone with a genuine interest in the NEM (though obviously we hope that you’ll be using NEM-Watch – at least on a trial – to keep an eye on demand, and hence how close you are to winning!) EXCEPT:

4) Competition NOT open to employees, shareholders and other general hangers-on of GLOBAL-ROAM Pty Ltd; PLUS

5) We reserve the right to “lose” entries from companies we deem as competitors to us (can’t have them enjoying a new BBQ on us, can we!)

6) We’ll accept one entry per person for each day the competition is open. Hence make your entries count!

7) The Winner will be the person we judge to be the first & nearest entry to the peak NEM-Wide Demand this summer (for clarity, this year we’re sticking with defining “Summer” as the period 1st December 2010 to 28th February 2011.

8) For those who really do need the details, we calculate this on NEMMCO’s InfoServer as follows:
(SELECT SUM(TotalDemand) as ‘Demand’, SettlementDate
from DispatchRegionSum
where MONTH(SettlementDate) in (12, 1, 2, 3)
GROUP BY SettlementDate)

9) The winner will be notified directly soon after the end of “Summer”, and the winner’s name will also be published on the WattClarity ® site. At that time, we’ll organise the fun stuff – i.e. delivery. < first the to invitation an expect we?ll course,>

10) Delivery of the BBQ will be organised to a location within the standard delivery area of an Australian Barbeques Galore store.

11) if the store in your delivery area is out of that particular stock, we’ll arrange a suitable, similar, model for you – at around the same price.

13) Yes, missed a number, but who’s counting…

14) The decision of the judges (global-roam Pty Ltd) is final and no correspondence will be entered into. You could try to bribe us, but that won’t work – you could try to get in our “good books” by purchasing lots of NEM-Watch, and whilst that would make us happy, it will not get you closer to being declared the winner – though you will have a pretty good view of what the demand is, all summer!

15) If you’ve read all this fine print, you’re clearly working too hard.

16) Still reading, eh? …. Go and get your entry in!


We look forward to continuing to be of service into 2011, and then in the future – both with our licensed software, and with the added services we provide at no charge.

Happy Christmas, and New Year! As always, let us know how we can serve you best?

Best regards,

Paul McArdle
Managing Director
aka. General Dogsbody


About the Author

Paul McArdle
One of three founders of Global-Roam back in 2000, Paul has been CEO of the company since that time. As an author on WattClarity, Paul's focus has been to help make the electricity market more understandable.

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