Speakers

Passionate leader, mentor and advisor with nearly 20 years of experience in the innovation ecosystem. Proven business and relationship development skills through national and international senior management and executive roles. Key professional interests: bridging the knowledge gap between industry and research; the importance of strategic investment in STEM to the future success of businesses, and the importance to researchers of an appreciation for commercial outcome and impact to support the success and significance of work in STEM; and people engagement and culture.

Strongly supportive of gender and cultural representation in senior leadership. Mentor interests: career transition and advancement, women in business, alternative career pathways for STEM disciplines.

Andrew Bills commenced as CS Energy’s Chief Executive Officer in October 2018. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the energy and infrastructure industry where he has worked in trading, retail, generation, LPG, solar, and renewables.

Prior to joining CS Energy, Andrew worked for Origin Energy as General Manager LPG and Health, Safety and Environment in the Energy Markets Division. In this role Andrew led the LPG arm of the business, a complex task that spans across 75 sites in nine countries, including four joint ventures in the Asia Pacific.

Prior to Origin, Andrew worked at Babcock & Brown Power where he was responsible for managing commercial operations undertaking several acquisitions and managing joint ventures. Before that he was a senior executive at Stanwell Corporation where he managed the trading and marketing functions.

Andrew has served as a director on multiple boards, including as Chairman of Gas Energy Australia, and an Industry Representative on the Advisory Council to the Energy and Water Ombudsman Queensland. He is currently a director on the board of the Australian Energy Council.

Luke Blincoe is Chief Executive of The Energy Collective. The Energy Collective creates and scales digital startup companies to disrupt global energy markets, and owns Electric Kiwi (NZ) and ReAmped Energy (Aus). Electric Kiwi has been the fastest growing electricity retailer in New Zealand for over 3 years, having just reached 50,000 customers.

In 2018 Electric Kiwi won the Deloitte fast 50 as the fastest-growing company in New Zealand and was NZ Energy Retailer of the year in 2018. ReAmped began trading in mid-2019 in Queensland and NSW and now has over 6000 customers.

Blincoe has previously held executive positions within New Zealand gentailers working across Residential, Industrial and Metering roles. Blincoe has been a vocal critic of many of the market rules in New Zealand.
He is a member of the Innovation and Participation Advisory Group (IPAG) of the New Zealand Energy Authority.

Dr Phil Blythe is an accomplished practitioner in technology commercialisation, as a research and development scientist and engineer, as a founder and entrepreneur, and as an experienced senior executive to build and grow technology companies in new and emerging markets.

Core interests and domain expertise in energy markets, electricity networks, energy and carbon policy, renewables, risk management, decision psychology and climate change adaptation.

Jon Briskin joined Origin in 2010 and was appointed General Manager, Retail in May 2016.

Jon leads the teams responsible for energy sales, marketing, product development and service experience for Origin’s residential and SME customers.

Jon has held various roles at Origin leading customer operations, service transformation and customer experience.
Prior to Origin Jon worked as a management consultant across financial services, energy, technology and government sectors.  Jon holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance) from Monash University.

Paul is a highly respected CEO with over 30 years’ experience in leading some of Australia’s largest electricity, telecommunications and water organisations. During his executive career, he has championed the power of the market and successfully led major strategic reforms and restructures of the water and energy industries. He has a reputation for innovation and macroeconomic reforms, and has been pivotal in shaping Australia’s energy future.

Paul was appointed CEO and Managing Director of Snowy Hydro Limited in July 2013. He has led the Company through a period of sustained growth and strategic acquisitions which have strengthened its portfolio and doubled the size of its retail business. In 2017, Paul launched Snowy 2.0 - an ambitious expansion of the Snowy Scheme which will underpin the Australian economy’s transition to renewables. As one of the largest global pumped hydro projects, Snowy 2.0 will play a critical role in providing Australian businesses and households with reliable, stable and affordable energy for generations to come.
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Paul was previously the inaugural CEO of Infrastructure NSW, and CEO of AAPT, PowerTel, EnergyAustralia Sydney Water and Hunter Water. He was a former Chairman of the Hunter Development Corporation and Mandoe Media Ltd, and a Non-Executive Director of iiNet Ltd.

Yann is Head of Customer and Tech at DC Power Co a solar / battery focussed energy company and Australia's first crowd-funded energy company. He is responsible for delivering the customer experience and technologies that power DCP’s competitive advantage.

Prior to this, Yann was CEO and co-founder of Billcap, a software company that delivers actionable insights to energy customers while improving retention and revenue for retailers.

He has extensive international experience in the energy industry (UK & France) and as a technology consultant for Accenture and PwC.
He has a BSc from the University of Melbourne where he is currently an Honorary Fellow of the Melbourne School of Engineering.

Ben has been at the helm of epic and humiliating failures across six industries and three continents, in the midst of which he picked fights with bullies, lost (and then rediscovered) his faith in democracy, and occasionally got lucky in the all-consuming religion of start-up and early-stage growth.

Prior to taking the role of Member of the Team at Belong and Director of Telstra Energy, he ran a power company, a small investment bank and an ASX listed media company.

What makes Telstra excited about the role of renewables in its business?
“Combined with our standby energy fleet, renewables help us to manage our own energy costs, reduce the emissions intensity of the Australian grid, and curtail wholesale energy prices for the benefit of all Australian households.”

Dr Jill Cainey is General Manager Networks, at Energy Networks Australia, the national industry body representing Australia’s electricity transmission and distribution and gas distribution networks.
Jill works with electricity networks to transform Australia’s electricity system to accommodate new and innovative approaches to delivering sustainable energy.

Jill represented the interests of electricity storage in the UK and Europe and was appointed MBE for services to Energy Technology in 2017 for work in electricity policy and regulation.  Jill also has over 25 years of experience internationally in climate change and is very interested in the interaction of extreme weather and electricity systems and developing resilient network infrastructure for the future.

In his current marketing role, Tony has Executive responsibility for electricity and gas market trading, corporate risk management, regulation and strategic planning.
  
Tony has worked in the electricity industry for over 30 years, with roles including electricity market operations, power system operations and transmission system maintenance.  At Delta, Tony has held senior roles in the marketing and planning areas, with the last 9 years in an Executive position.

Simon Camroux has been working for twenty years to achieve the end goal of a more reliable, efficient and lower-emissions energy sector that provides the lowest possible cost to all consumers.

The energy industry is a fascinating space with multiple, competing objectives that span engineering, physics, politics, economics and the environment. Tip the balance, and issues pop up like fairground wack-a-mole. For example, small and large renewable investments have outgrown the market’s ability to deal with them, while baseload coal assets are closing without ready replacements in place.

These are the kind of issues Simon has come to be involved in. His successes have been brought about by a combination of influencing stakeholders, market knowledge, and a passion for change. He has introduced market-wide rule changes, unlocked government investment, represented the Victorian Government at the United Nations Conference of Parties 15, and authored green and white papers outlining options and providing recommendations on actions to reduce emissions.

Richard Van Breda has 20 years’ experience in the energy sector. He was appointed as Stanwell’s Chief Executive Officer in July 2012.

Despite the numerous challenges facing the energy industry, it is important to remain focused on those things that are important for the future while trying to influence outcomes. Stanwell has navigated through these challenges through the focus of it’s people and leadership team which Richard is proud to lead.

Richard is a non-executive director of the Australian Energy Council.

John Cole is the Founder and Chief Executive of Edify Energy, leading Australian renewable energy and storage company. He also co-founded leading international renewable energy company, Low Carbon in London in 2010.

Edify has originated, financed and has under its asset management 773 MWp of utility scale solar. In addition Edify has developed, financed and brought into operation, the Gannawarra Energy Storage System - a 25 MW / 50 MWh lithium ion battery integrated with the 60 WMp Gannawarra Solar Farm, making it one of the largest integrated solar PV and storage facilities in the world.

Christine joined AGL in July 2019. Prior to joining AGL, Christine built a career at Australia Post spanning almost three decades, where she held several leadership roles, including two years as Chief Customer Officer, responsible for group channel operations, marketing, digital and customer experience. She also held the role of Interim Chief Executive Officer at Australia Post prior to joining PwC in 2018 as a Special Advisor consulting for a range of clients in the customer and integrated solution space.

Christine holds a Bachelor of Law and a Bachelor of Business (Comm) from the Queensland University of Technology, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Stanford Graduate School of Business’ Executive Program.

Steve Davies is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Pipeline and Gas Association. September 2017. Issues on Steve’s mind this year include: the future of gas in Australia, competition and economic regulation of transmission pipelines, stakeholder engagement and pipeline safety.

Prior to being CEO, he was APGA’s National Policy Manager with responsibility for government relations and policy development for the gas transmission industry. After training as an engineer, Steve took a different path and has held a range of policy and regulatory roles related to infrastructure and resources in industry associations and the Federal Government. Having spent the majority of his career in industry associations, Steve especially enjoys the opportunities and challenges of working in small teams delivering a wide range of service to members.

Louis de Sambucy is an experienced Managing Director with a demonstrated history of working in the renewables and environment industry.

Prior to joining Neoen in Australia, Louis has had a wealth of experience gained in strategic consulting and in the building materials industry both in business development and P&L management positions in Europe & Northern Africa. Throughout is career, Louis has developed a strong expertise in leading complex negotiations and managing large scale development projects.

Louis has obtained an Engineering Degree from Ecole Polytechnique and a Master of Science in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University.

Royce De Sousa (BE Hons IIA / LLB) is currently Director, poweRD Consulting – a small consultancy aimed at identifying and delivering opportunities in energy for corporates with a particular focus on Commercial and Industrials energy users.

Royce is also Director, Eastern Energy Buyers Group (EEBG) – a buying group of a range of Commercial, Industrial and Agricultural energy users which leverages group expertise and consolidated buying power to achieve lower procured price of Electricity and Natural Gas.

Prior to establishing poweRD Consulting, Royce was General Manager – Energy & Sustainability for Visy Industries Australia – Australia’s largest packaging and recycling company. Royce’s two decade-long focus on Energy at Visy included procurement and supply of energy to Visy’s facilities, Visy’s alternative and renewable energy generation, as well as driving Visy’s carbon strategy and energy efficiency programmes.
Royce was a Discretionary Member of the Australian Energy Markets Commission (AEMC) Reliability Panel which focuses on improving the security and reliability of Australia’s energy supply and infrastructure. Royce represented Large User interests on the Panel between 2015 and 2018.

Prior to working in energy, Royce was a process, project and maintenance engineer in Visy’s Paper Mills.
 

Andrew Dillon is an experienced energy sector executive, most recently as the General Manager Corporate Affairs at AusNet Services, owners of electricity transmission and both gas and electricity distribution networks in Victoria. Prior to AusNet, Andrew was General Manager Corporate Affairs at Energy Supply Association of Australia, worked in Corporate and Government Affairs at TRUenergy (now Energy Australia) and was a Senior Ministerial Adviser. He is also a Director of Goulburn Valley Water. Over two decades Andrew has worked in many parts of the energy industry as well as in government and consulting. He was appointed the Interim Chief Executive Officer of Energy Networks Australia on 1 September 2017.

Mr Dillon qualified as a chartered accountant and spent time in banking and energy roles in the United Kingdom.

Gavin is currently employed as the manager of policy and research at St Vincent de Paul Society, Victoria.

Gavin’s has been as a consumer representative in the energy sector for over 25 years, He has undertaken research into electricity disconnections, documented changes in energy pricing, and its impacts on households and has  been involved the development of the energy consumer protection and concession frameworks.

Gavin is currently a representative of a number of industry and government committees including;  gas and electricity distribution companies customer consultative committees,  AEMC's reliability panel, AGL’s national customer council, the AER customer consultative group and  board member of  Energy Consumers Australia and Energy and water Ombudsman scheme Victoria.
 

Rod Duke commenced as Chief Executive Officer of Energy Queensland Limited on 1 April 2020. Prior to this he was CEO of the Gladstone LNG project operating company for Santos and its partners.

Energy Queensland is Australia’s largest electricity distributor with an asset base in excess of A$26 billon and 7,300 staff of its Energex and Ergon subsidiaries serving over 2.3 million connected consumers across the state, as well as selling electricity to almost 740,000 retail customers in regional areas.

Rod has extensive leadership and energy industry experience having worked in other senior roles with Woodside, in regulation at Singapore’s Energy Market Authority, and as an executive with Singapore LNG Corporation.
He has a strong commercial and safety focus with more than 34 years professional international experience in operations, commercial, marketing, trading, development, projects, engineering, construction and commissioning areas of the natural gas industry, as well as leading transformational projects.

Rod holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) with Honours and a Graduate Diploma of Management. He is a member of the University of Queensland School of Chemical Engineering Industry Advisory Board and a board director of the LNG Marine Fuels Institute.

Lily D’Ambrosio is a member of the Australian Labor Party and has represented the electorate of Mill Park in the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2002. In 2016 she became Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change and Minister for Suburban Development, and on the recent return of the Andrews Labor Government she was appointed Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change and Minister for Solar Homes.

Minister D’Ambrosio is a leader in action on climate change, renewable energy and energy efficiency in Australia.  She oversaw the passage of the Climate Change Act, Victoria's landmark climate legislation which saw it become the first Australian state to legislate in line with the Paris Agreement for net zero emissions by 2050. The Minister has also overseen an overhaul of the Environmental Protection Act 1970, refocussing the regulatory body to focus on the prevention of harm to human and environmental health.

She is a leading advocate for a modernised Australian energy

David is the Digital Strategy and Innovation Manager at Horizon Power working in the Technology and Digital Transformation division – solving problems in a risk-averse environment.

Over the last ten years, David has focused on the development and execution of complex projects that pioneer innovation and discovery. He has adopted a ‘problem led’ leadership approach where he focuses on the problem(s) at hand and seeking a solution he creates an opportunity for learning, research and development. He leads by delivering solutions to Horizon Power and is most comfortable at the intersection of technology and customers.

He’s interested in being provoked to act creatively and looks for an opportunity to react to the provocation. As Innovation Manager, he moves across multiple disciplines and contributes to strategy by looking ahead to future scenarios, seeing possibilities and assembling talent. He seizes on an intriguing, inspiring, barely-solvable problem, and frames it in a way that draws other smart and skilled people toward it and inspiring them to develop a solution.

As Executive Markets - Ross leads a talented team that trade in electricity, gas, coal, and renewable energy to provide competitive priced energy for EnergyAustralia’s customers and optimise the value of the portfolio of energy assets.

Ross has worked at EnergyAustralia for over 16 years in roles covering Strategy, Business development, wholesale market operations and trading. He has held board positions on a range of renewable development companies and is currently on the board of the Australian Financial Markets Association.

Prior to joining EnergyAustralia, Ross worked for management consulting firm A.T. Kearney on a range of commercial engagements.

Mr. Ficca has almost 40 years’ experience in the energy industry having recently retired from his role as Managing Director of AusNet Services (ASX:AST), a role he held for over 14 years.

He currently serves as Non-Executive Director of the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), Transurban Queensland (TQ) and GESCA (Green Energy Supply Chain Australia). He is also a member of Deakin University Engineering Advisory Board.

He is also serving as Professor of Industry Engagement for Deakin University.

Mr Ficca is a previous director and the Chair of Energy Networks Australia. He was also formerly the Deputy Chairman and a director of the Energy Supply Association of Australia and Chair of CIGRE Australia.

Mr. Ficca holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a graduate diploma in management from Deakin University. He has also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He is a fellow of Engineers Australia and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Casper Frost Thorhauge is the CEO of Australia’s first proposed offshore wind project – the Star of the South.

With extensive experience in the offshore energy industry, Casper has developed and delivered offshore wind projects in Europe and Asia totalling over $10 billion.

Holding senior roles and board positions at one of Denmark’s biggest energy companies, Casper has led large teams across multiple global offices.

Lynne is an economist/econometrician by qualification and has substantial experience in economic modelling and policy reform processes, including working with the Council of Australian Governments, and in strategic issues management in the corporate sector. Her career has seen her spend 15 years in a technical environment, followed by 12 years in practice and as an adviser. Prior to her appointment as ECA's Director of Research, Lynne was Executive Director, Industry Development at Energy Networks Australia. Lynne brings to ECA strong insights, a strategic focus and a consumer advocacy perspective which has been honed from her work with network businesses, retailers and regulators.

Michel joined Fortescue in early 2019 to lead the development of hydrogen at Fortescue.

Prior to joining Fortescue, Michel was CEO of ENGIE Australia and led a business that develops and manages thermal and renewable power plants, sells energy to 700,000 individual and commercial customers and offers a wide suite of efficiency solutions to industrial clients. Michel led a transformation to focus on decentralised energy, to de-commoditise the offering to customers and to leverage digital tools to analyse consumption and technical data to design new products.

Michel has a passion for helping companies define their development, commercial and regulatory strategies, and optimise their operations.

Michel has a MBA from Leuven University in Belgium which has an exchange program with Chicago GSB and Cornell University Johnson Business School. He speaks English, French, Dutch, Spanish and some German.

Christopher manages the strategic development of the Battery of the Nation initiative, the blueprint for how Tasmania's renewable energy resources could be developed over coming decades.

An electrical engineer by trade, Christopher has spent the last 15 years working across the full spectrum of Hydro Tasmania’s activities, from consulting on electrical transmission refurbishments to overseeing commercial operations and transactions such as the transfer of Aurora’s gas operations to Hydro Tasmania in 2013.
 

Eva Hanly is the Executive responsible for Future Energy, Strategy, Public Policy and Innovation and Technology at TransGrid, the operator and manager of the NSW high voltage transmission network. This role is looking at the evolving energy system and the role TransGrid plays in that, including incubating and commercialising new products and services.

Eva has an honours degree in Engineering and Arts (international relations) from UNSW and a Masters in Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management. Prior to joining TransGrid, Eva held a number of General Management positions at Transurban including General Manager NSW responsible for the operations and performance of the NSW Business and was also part of the leadership of the successful WestConnex acquisition. Previously, Eva was General Manager Commercial at Origin Energy responsible for Origin's investment in the Australian Pacific LNG (APLNG) project, management of APLG's JV arrangements and non-operated assets, as well as establishing and leading the gas operations and marketing business.  Eva originally started as an engineer with Thiess on site in underground coal mining and went on to move into senior roles across operations, project management, commercial and strategy functions.  Eva sits on the Deans Advisory Council for the Faculty of Engineering at UNSW.

Sabiene Heindl is the Director of the Energy Charter - a world-first initiative to unite Australia’s energy industry to improve customer outcomes. Previously in the CEO’s Office at Energy Consumers Australia, Sabiene has held a range of senior leadership roles across the energy, telecommunications and media sectors focused on transformational change.

With a background as a corporate lawyer, she holds an Executive MBA from Brown University (USA) and IE Business School (Spain), Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) and Bachelor of Int Business.

Lance Hoch has 40 years of experience as a consultant to the electricity industry and the government and regulatory agencies that are involved with it.  He specialises in utility/customer interface issues and has particular expertise in demand management; energy efficiency; renewable energy; and pricing, regulation and policy matters in the distribution and retail portions of the electricity supply chain. 

He has worked on projects in these areas in Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, Hong Kong, the People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.  He has been involved in Demand Response (DR) throughout his career, having designed more than 50 demand-side management and DR programs for electricity utilities in the US, Australia and southeast Asia, and has in-depth expertise in the economic rationale for, and the design and implementation of DR programs in both regulated and deregulated markets.

Shannon was appointed CEO in 2018 and has been with the Simply Energy business since 2010 leading General Management functions in both Operations and Sales & Marketing.

He has led significant operational efficiency and transformation programs for Simply Energy, helping it to become one of Australia’s fastest growing energy companies, with a presence in east coast markets and Western Australia.

Prior to this, Shannon held senior analytics and operations roles with Telstra and Stellar Asia Pacific, where he introduced data-driven modelling tools and drove customer service improvement programs.

Nick joined Vicinity Centres in 2015 following the merger of Federation Centres and Novion Property Group as the General Manager, National Operations covering operations, procurement, operational compliance and capital programs.

He recently moved into the newly-created role of General Manager, Alternative Income and Strategic Programs covering mall space income, infrastructure and utilities income, energy and new business growth.
Prior to the merger, Nick worked at Federation Centres, Transurban, JP Morgan Chase and IBM in procurement, operations and corporate services roles.

Nick has previously held local, regional and global positions and spent 10 years working in the USA and Singapore.

Paul Italiano is the Chief Executive Officer of TransGrid, the operator and manager of the NSW high voltage transmission network.

He joined TransGrid in May 2016 after serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Western Power since 2012. Paul’s career includes executive roles at Wesfarmers General Insurance; HBF Health Funds and the RAC.

Paul is a visionary leader focused on transforming TransGrid from a state owned corporation into a dynamic, customer focused, fully-privatised energy company. He has been working closely with the Board and Leadership team on a reinvigorated strategic direction, delivering the energy solutions of today and creating the new energy future.

The Country is in the midst of a seismic energy transformation, and in this rapidly evolving environment Paul is leading TransGrid to develop a strong and sustainable national energy system that forms the foundation for Australia’s continued economic prosperity.

A well-managed transmission network is the platform that can enable Australia’s transition to cheaper, cleaner energy sources, and TransGrid under Paul’s leadership, has made great strides in its journey to make this a reality for consumers.

Russell is experienced in the delivery of small to large scale energy and utility infrastructure projects as well as managing a large portfolio of projects to the value of approximately $80M p.a. He has previously held roles in project and portfolio delivery and management including $15-20M of work in the Albany region. Russell has extensive knowledge of gas and energy markets, pricing, regulations and experience providing innovative and new technology solutions including the integration of renewable energy, gas and hydrogen projects.

Greg has held several roles within Shell over the last three decades that have prepared him for the challenge of growing Shell’s aspirations in new energies and power. Initially working within Shell’s downstream retail and commercial marketing businesses Greg led the establishment of Pulse Energy – the company’s early 2000s entry into electricity and gas retailing. Greg subsequently held leadership roles in Shell’s Global Commercial division in both Singapore and London across strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and general management of regional and global business units. He returned to Australia (Perth) in 2013 to head upstream business development and the role of Shareholder Representative for Shell’s interests in Arrow Energy in 2015.
In January 2019, Greg took up leadership of the Shell Energy business in Australia based across Brisbane and Melbourne. Shell Energy in Australia’s focus is to create a material and integrated value chain that positions us to grow through Australia’s energy transition. Following Shell’s acquisition of ERM Power (ERM) in November 2019, Greg took on the role of CEO of ERM in addition to his Shell Energy responsibilities.

Kevin is an experienced senior executive with more than 30 years’ experience in the electricity industry. An electrical engineer by profession, Kevin has worked in all facets of distribution and transmission in the energy industry, supporting Boards and Executive teams to create the vision and strategy for business success.

Kevin joined Powerlink in early 2017 as Executive General Manager Strategy and Business Development, leading Powerlink’s strategy, business planning, network regulation, business development, network portfolio and business resilience functions.  Kevin is currently Interim Chief Executive of Powerlink Queensland.

Kevin holds Bachelor of Computer and Electrical Engineering (Hons) and a Graduate Certificate in Electricity Supply Engineering, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Peter brings to his role more than 25-years of high-level policy and consulting advice including for the Reserve Bank of Australia, the International Monetary Fund and the Public Utilities Office. He has also spent time as a senior journalist including as WA Bureau Chief for the Australian Financial Review and has an extensive network in business, media and government.

Peter holds a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from the University of Western Australia and is actively involved with St Bartholomew’s House homelessness service.  

Since joining Western Power in 2014, Peter has separately been the Head of Government Relations and the Head of Stakeholders & Communications. On occasion he is also the Corporate Mascot, Lochie.

Melanie is a Principal at CutlerMerz with over 15 years’ experience in the energy sector. She has a particular area of expertise in the impact of consumer driven transformation on electricity infrastructure and markets. Her bodies of work have a focus on the formulation of the strategic response required by the sector to ensure long term sustainability of the system and delivery of long term benefits to consumers.

In this capacity, she has provided critical input to high profile industry projects culminating in landmark public reports including the CSIRO/Energy Networks Australia (ENA) Electricity Network Transformation Roadmap and the 2020 Energy Security Board Governance of DER Standards report.

Ian Learmonth joined the CEFC as Chief Executive Officer in May 2017. Mr Learmonth had previously served as an independent member of the CEFC Executive Investment Committee. Mr Learmonth has more than 30 years' experience as a financier and investor, working across clean energy and major infrastructure projects, as well as social impact investments. He joined Social Ventures Australia (SVA) in 2011 to establish its Impact Investing business and launched Australia's first Social Impact Bond in 2013.

Previously an Executive Director of Macquarie Group for 12 years, Mr Learmonth has investment banking experience in Sydney, Hong Kong and London. He established and led various businesses, notably European renewable energy and carbon credit investments, as well a cross-border structured finance and asset financing in Asia and Europe.

Kedem is an energy professional who believes the clean energy transition is one of the fundamental changes of our time. He is highly experienced in establishing innovative projects with energy users to allow them to benefit from the transition. His goal is to elevate the positive triple bottom line – decarbonize their energy sources, reduce their energy costs and exercise their corporate social responsibility.

He has led projects that cover all aspects of energy consumption – improving energy efficiency, transitioning to renewable sources, establishing demand management and demand response - as well as adopting best practice procurement processes. As an Energy Flexibility Advisor at Enel X, Kedem helps commercial and industrial customers to identify and unlock the value of demand flexibility.

Since 2016 he has led the Victorian branch of the Australian Institute of Energy as its chair. Kedem has been highly successful in guiding the organization to create an environment for knowledge sharing and network building. One of the key areas of activity developing in the past years is the active support for leadership across all levels in the sector.

Jamie Lowe is Head of Regulation for ENGIE in Australia & New Zealand and has 20 years’ experience in economic, strategy, and policy roles for State and Commonwealth governments, and in the energy sector (formerly with Alinta Energy and LYMMCo).

In his current role, Jamie is responsible for managing company positioning on government policy and regulatory risk, influencing and responding to market developments, and representing the company externally.  Current projects include developing the Hazelwood Rehabilitation Project in Victoria and the Energy Security Board NEM 2025 market review.

Jamie has bachelors’ degrees in Arts (Hons 1) and Industrial Relations from the University of Adelaide; a Bachelor of Management (Commerce) from the University of South Australia; a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from Finsia (SIA); and, an Executive Masters of Public Administration from the University of Melbourne

Bob Mac Smith is a 5th generation farmer, a Director and Co-Founder of MSM Milling: a 100% Australian owned and operated fully integrated oilseed processing business producing Non-GM Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Canola Meal and Stockfeeds in the Central West of NSW. MSM started nearly 30 years ago and has grown into a world class, value-added oilseed operation which directly employs 80 people. MSM Milling buys canola seed directly from more than 1,000 farmers and sells Canola Oil and Meal-based products across Australia and around the world.

Bob has project managed all the capital works the company has undertaken, including the most recent project: the establishment of a $5.5-million 5MW biomass fuelled boiler to replace 3 smaller LPG-fuelled boilers. The development was awarded a $2-million grant under ARENA's Advancing Renewables Program, and will save more than 80,000tCO2-e over the life of the project. The boiler uses locally sourced timber residues as a fuel source and began operating in January 2019.

Steve Masters is a resources and infrastructure industry executive with 25 years’ experience, having worked in technical, commercial and broad leadership roles across Australia.  Steve has a solid background in energy markets and infrastructure, including LNG, domestic gas, and electricity transmission.  He maintains a great interest in the wider Australian resources and energy landscape.

Appointed as Chief Executive of ElectraNet in December 2014, Steve previously held a number of senior and executive roles with key Australian energy companies, primarily involved in leading commercial, hydrocarbon marketing, corporate development and investor relations activities.  Prior to joining, ElectraNet, Steve was Group Executive Corporate Development and Executive Vice President – Growth, and Chief Commercial Officer at Beach Energy.

Steve’s formal qualifications include a Bachelor of Applied Science (Applied Geology), Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment.  He has attended Oxford University’s Advanced Management and Leadership Program, and the University of Chicago Business School’s Executive Program in Corporate Strategy.

Stuart Mathews is an international mining professional with over 28 years’ experience having worked in Australia (Queensland, NSW, WA), Mexico and New Zealand.

Stuart has a Master of Science (Geology) from University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He has progressed through geology ranks to Geology Manager level and in the last 15 years worked in project development and general operations management (+10 years) and COO level (5 years).

Stuart joined Gold Fields in mid-2013 initially at St Ives, then General Manager at Granny Smith Mine then Vice President Operations: Australia. From 1st February 2017 Stuart took over the position of Executive Vice President: Australasia. Managing regional portfolio of mines that deliver +950,000ozs of gold per annum and strategic growth in Australia and greater Gold Fields globally. On the executive committee of Gold Fields International.

Sarah McNamara was appointed as Chief Executive of the Australian Energy Council in July 2018.

Sarah joined the Energy Council as General Manager of Corporate Affairs in January 2016. She is an industry leader with more than a decade of experience working with policy and regulatory frameworks across the resources and energy sectors.

Prior to the Energy Council, Sarah was Chief of Staff to the then Minister for Industry, the Hon Ian Macfarlane, and has also worked as a senior policy adviser to the Prime Minister.

Between 2008 and 2013 Sarah worked in AGL’s Corporate Affairs team as Head of Government Affairs and Community Engagement. Sarah began her career as a corporate lawyer, and has a Bachelor of Arts/Law from the University of Melbourne.

Luke Menzel is CEO of the Energy Efficiency Council, a not-for-profit membership association for businesses, universities, governments and NGOs.

Luke is one of Australia’s leading advocates for the role of energy efficiency, energy management and demand response in Australia’s energy transition. He is Vice-President of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, sits on the NABERS National Steering Committee, is a member of Standards Australia’s EN001 Energy Standard committee and is the Lead Chair for the NSW Government’s Green Globe Awards.

Timothy Meyers is the Sales Manager (Power) of MAN Energy Solutions and is responsible for sales and business development of the Australian and Pacific power markets.  He has been in business development for MAN for the past 8 years and moved back to Australia in 2018 after living in Germany for 10 years.  Prior to the current role, he was responsible for business development for MAN in the Caribbean as well as driving hybrid and renewable solutions globally for MAN.

Mark’s current role is as Financial Controller of Intercast & Forge which is a global high volume iron castings supplier. He brings almost 30 years of financial experience gained in the manufacturing industry which include global automotive companies and a national large scale commercial & residential fitout supplier.

Mark is an astute problem solver and has out-of-the-box thinking to stay ahead of the curve to enable manufacturing remains competitive against global competitors. He became heavily involved in educating himself on how the energy market worked in 2015/16 through necessity as energy costs were posing a threat to the business’ competitiveness. Through innovation and development Intercast is now seen as a leader in “demand response” in the manufacturing industry space and remains a global leader in rail castings.

Mark is a Certified Practicing Accountant (since 2001) and a member of Chartered Secretaries Australia.

Darren Miller commenced as ARENA’s CEO on 27 August 2018. He has more than 25 years’ experience across a range of sectors including renewable energy, electricity retail, technology, finance, media and entertainment.
Darren was co-founder and CEO of Mojo Power, an innovative electricity retailer, from 2015 until July 2018. He was previously the Director of Asset Finance at Sungevity Australia in 2014, and co-founder and CEO of Sumwise, a technology and services company from 2007 to 2013.

Darren’s previous experience includes a position as investment manager for Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) and Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH) and roles at New Zealand Natural and Ernst & Young.
Darren is a Chartered Accountant with a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) from the University of New South Wales.

Lucy Moon is Head of Regulation at Energy Networks Australia. She previously lead the pricing and regulation team for Power and Water Corporation’s electricity networks as responsibility for economic regulation was moved to the Australian Energy Regulator. Lucy holds post graduate qualifications in Economics from the University of Sydney.

Simon has over 20 years’ experience in IT, both locally and internationally. Simon's entire career has been in technology and program management having worked with NAB, GE and CBA. His significant IT leadership experience in large retail businesses such as CBA Retail and GE Capital Asia Pacific includes leading numerous innovative change and transformation programs. Simon joined AGL in January 2016 as Chief Information Officer.

Elysse Morgan is an award winning journalist with a specialist business and finance background. She has been at the ABC for almost a decade, and before that in the Sky News Parliament house bureau. After joining the ABC her specialist knowledge saw her appointed as ABC News’ national finance reporter. After 2 years of co-hosting, Elysse is now the host of the ABC’s business programs on ABC1, ABC News channel and radio current affairs program Business PM.

Since Aidan Mullan joined Interface 9 years ago, there have been fundamental shifts in the business models and processes, conversations led by the market as well as the culture of the organisation, all contributing to the Interface sustainability journey. A milestone achievement was the announcement in 2018 that all of the flooring products sold - carpet tile, LVT and rubber – are carbon neutral, across the entire product life cycle. This begins with raw materials and continues through manufacturing, transportation, maintenance and ultimately end-of-life product takeback and recycling through ReEntry®.

Interface’s aim is to be a carbon negative company by 2040. Twenty-five years ago, Interface set out to eliminate any harm they may have on the environment by 2020. Today Interface are almost at the summit and are now focused on the future and being restorative.

Tim is the Commercial Strategy Manager for Jemena’s Electricity Distribution network. Jemena is an Australian company that owns, manages and operates energy infrastructure assets in the eastern states of Australia including Queensland and New South Wales, and gas pipelines and gas and electricity distribution networks in Victoria and the Northern Territory.

Covering a broad remit, Tim’s group focuses on a raft of activities including the evolution of the group business strategy, driving improvements in the customer’s digital experience through an agile delivery method, as well conceptualisation and productization of concepts such as the Energy Saving rewards demand response program.

The Energy Savings Rewards initiative was a residential behavioural demand response program delivered in collaboration with Energy Australia. This is believed to be a first-of-its-kind partnership between a retailer and distribution network, designed to deliver increased value to customer’s participation in a demand response program. This was delivered whilst enabling both distributor and retailer to fulfil their varying commercial and network-specific goals under the banner of a single program.

2020 will mark 60 years since I began work as a journalist in South Africa and almost 50 years since I arrived in Australia after migrating from the apartheid society. It will also mark 40 years since I began engagement with the energy sector as executive director of the upstream petroleum industry lobbying body, 29 years since I became MD of the Electricity Supply Association and 15 years since I launched my Coolibah website (with its "This is Power" blog) - see www.coolibahconsulting.com.au.

In 2004, I was made a Member of the Order of Australia. I'm lucky at 77 to be able to keep busy with so much writing and to be engaged with high level discussion of energy issues and developments through the Quest Events "Energy Outlook" series (www.questevents.com.au) series, which has turned "Australian Domestic Gas Outlook" and "Australian Energy Week" in to major national conferences.

My wish these days for the governments of Australia to make good on efficiently integrating energy supply and carbon abatement policies, which should be one of Australia's 10 national imperatives.

Peter O’Connell is an experienced corporate executive, entrepreneur and Board director with particular expertise in the telecommunications, technology and energy industries. Peter is a co-founder of amaysim (a subscription based mobile and energy business in Australia) and was the Executive Chairman of the Company from incorporation until June 2015. Peter was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of amaysim in July 2018.

Mark Paterson is Chief Strategy Officer and Managing Director of the Strategen Australia / Pacific practice based in Australia. Paterson is an influential thought-leader in whole-system grid transformation and has played an integral role in Australia as it navigates to become one of the world’s most deeply decentralized electricity systems. 
Most recently, Paterson served as General Manager of the Consumer Energy division at Horizon Power, a Western Australia utility responsible for providing electricity across the most remote one third of the Australian continent. Prior to that, Paterson led the Electricity Grids & Renewable Energy Integration team at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency.

Lillian is the Clean Energy Council’s Director of Energy Transformation, where she is responsible for through leading the development and implementation of the CEC’s electricity market and network policy and advocacy work. She joined the CEC from Origin Energy, where she managed regulation and policy development on wholesale and retail electricity and gas market issues. She has also worked in the areas of power markets at the International Energy Agency in France and energy security in the Federal Government.

Lillian holds a Master in Green Management and Energy from Bocconi University in Italy and a Bachelor of Business (1st Class Honours in Economics) and Bachelor of International Studies from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Marie has been active in the energy industry and distributed power generation since 2004, initially working from the Czech Republic on the reliable integration of renewable energy for embedded solutions across the world. Later she joined ComAp's subsidiary in Australia and focused on the APAC region. Marie’s passion for innovative solutions and sustainable energy helped her to recognise the global growth opportunities of 1414 Degrees.

Marie’s big picture perspective has driven her success; she has an out of the box approach, which has allowed her to thrive when implementing change. Marie is eager to champion game-changing technologies and advocate for change in the energy industry. Marie has presented at many international forums to help raise awareness of alternative energy solutions. Marie has a Masters degree in Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration.

1414 Degrees is developing the large-scale Aurora solar generation and energy storage project near Port Augusta. 1414 Degrees makes large thermal energy storage systems (TESS-GRID) aimed at providing grid scale (~1GWh) storage, process heat to industry and ancillary services to stabilise power supply. The company plans to pair solar PV generation and 1414 Degrees’ TESS-GRID to showcase a Silicon Power Plant supplying clean, reliable energy to the NEM. Marie Pavlik has been appointed CEO of the subsidiary company, SiliconAurora Pty Ltd, which will deliver the Aurora Solar Energy Project.

Melissa Perrow is the General Manager Energy at Brickworks Limited. Brickworks is a domestic manufacturer and large consumer of natural gas and electricity on the East Coast of Australia and in Western Australia. Melissa has transformed Brickwork’s East Coast gas strategy; transitioning the business to be a wholesale gas buyer from 2020.

She also established demand response at the Austral Bricks Golden Grove plant located in Adelaide which provides frequency control services and responds to high wholesale electricity prices. Prior to Brickworks, Melissa worked for Origin Energy for 14 years and has over 18 years wholesale energy trading experience gained across electricity, gas, carbon and green markets and specializing in complex non-standard large customer contracting.

She has a Bachelor in Applied Science, a Bachelor in Business, a Graduate Diploma in Technology and a Post Graduate Certificate in Applied Finance.

Commissioner Pierce was appointed AEMC Chairman in June 2010. His commitment to industry and regulatory reform has underpinned his contribution to national energy reform through a number of senior roles including his tenure as Secretary of the Federal Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism which followed 12 years of service as Secretary of the New South Wales (NSW) Treasury. He was a key adviser to Government and Chairman of the NSW Treasury Corporation.

Prior to his time at NSW Treasury he was Pacific Power Chief Economist. John holds a BCom (Hons) (UNSW). He was a Visiting Scholar at Boston University during 2004-2005 working on public sector performance management.

Peter brings to his role more than 25-years of high-level policy and consulting advice including for the Reserve Bank of Australia, the International Monetary Fund and the Public Utilities Office. He has also spent time as a senior journalist including as WA Bureau Chief for the Australian Financial Review and has an extensive network in business, media and government.

Peter holds a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from the University of Western Australia and is actively involved with St Bartholomew’s House homelessness service.  

Since joining Western Power in 2014, Peter has separately been the Head of Government Relations and the Head of Stakeholders & Communications. On occasion he is also the Corporate Mascot, Lochie.

David Prins is a highly accomplished consultant and project manager, with extensive international consulting experience and expertise in strategic, regulatory and commercial issues.  He has a keen understanding and thirty years of practical experience spanning four continents, specialising in the application of effective regulation and competition in electricity and gas industries.  David thrives on understanding how regulation and competition inter-relate in energy markets, and helping his clients to navigate the often difficult environments in which they have to participate and engage.

David has provided advice to public and private sector clients – industry participants, governments, regulators and consumer organisations and vendors who would like to improve their understanding of energy and utility markets – throughout Australia and New Zealand, as well as in Europe, Asia, and North America.

Much of David’s recent work has focused on advice on consumer facing issues in energy and water industries, including regulatory proposals of energy network businesses, smart metering in energy and water industries, and energy pricing and margins.  Within Australia, he has worked extensively on national energy market and regulatory arrangements, and also jurisdictionally in all of Australia’s states and territories.  He is a recognised international expert in the areas of cost-benefit analysis, the regulatory and commercial challenges of the rollout of smart meters, consumer engagement, and benefits realisation for consumers.

Damian has 20 years’ experience in Maintenance, Engineering and Operational roles in the Pulp and Paper industry, Damian’s key skills are in strategy and critical thinking.

Damian’s current role as Strategic Procurement Manager is to ensure the future energy needs for OPAL Packaging are delivered cost effectively and sustainably.

Damian is interested in driving towards the Third Industrial Revolution and has embedded demand response within his organisation as normal business practice.

Mr Quilter joined Stanwell in February 2012 as Swanbank Power Station Manager and was appointed General Manager of Stanwell’s gas and hydro generation portfolio in May 2013.

In a career spanning more than 20 years in the energy industry both in Queensland and New South Wales, Mr Quilter has worked in various operational roles including senior engineering and management positions. Mr Quilter was appointed Executive General Manager Energy Trading and Commercial Strategy at Stanwell in July 2016. In this role, he is responsible for the trading of Stanwell’s generation in the National Electricity Market.

He also oversees the development of commercial strategies targeted at diversifying revenue streams and creating value from Stanwell’s various fuel resources.

Leonard Quong is the Head of Australian Research at BloombergNEF where he leads a team of experts to examine the future of energy, transport and industry in the Australian market. Leonard joined BloombergNEF in 2013 where he has since published over 50 research papers covering technology, investment, economics and policy. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree with First Class Honours in photovoltaic and solar energy engineering from the University of New South Wales.

Tennant Reed manages Climate, Energy and Environment Policy at the Australian Industry Group.  Since 2008 he has been deeply involved in Australian climate and energy issues, advising Ai Group’s Leaders’ Group on Energy and Climate Policy, coordinating joint research and advocacy with wider energy stakeholders, facilitating the Australian Climate Roundtable and developing reports on energy prices, natural gas supply and business energy use. 

He has also advised Ai Group on a range of issues related to manufacturing and innovation.  Previously he was an adviser in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, working on fiscal policy, stimulus and infrastructure.  Tennant lives in Melbourne.

Andrew has over 30 years of energy industry and infrastructure development experience having held a variety of senior management roles in the areas of sales and marketing, public and stakeholder relations, media and communication, strategic planning, policy development, stakeholder engagement and political advocacy.

For the last 3 years he has been Chief Executive Officer of the Energy Users Association of Australia (EUAA). Under his leadership the EUAA has positioned itself as a highly respected thought leader and advisor to energy industry players, regulators and governments and is recognized by these stakeholders as a strong advocate for energy users.

Andrew continues to play a key role in a range of forums including the AEMO Expert Panel, the Federal Government Energy Industry Roundtable, the AER Value of Customer Reliability Consultative Committee and the recently formed National Hydrogen Strategy Taskforce Stakeholder Advisory Panel.

Andrew is also deeply involved in ongoing engagement on behalf of energy users with the ACCC, AEMC, ESB, COAG Energy Council, AER and via numerous industry related customer reference groups.

Alison was formerly the Global Executive Director Sustainability at Fujitsu Limited. She was responsible for the development and implementation of the global sustainability strategy with full P&L responsibility. She led sales and marketing activities including business development, consulting services, thought leadership and was a company spokesperson. Prior to Fujitsu, Alison led sustainability initiatives at Transurban. She has a long history of working in the technology industry and Federal and State governments.

Alison is currently Chair of the Infrastructure Sustainability Council Australia. She was previously the inaugural Chair of the Future Business Council and held Non-Executive Director positions at Bioregional Australia, Climate Alliance, Environment Victoria and One in Five.

Kate Ryan is the head of Energy Policy WA, Western Australia’s energy policy agency.

Kate leads the team responsible for supporting the delivery of the Western Australian Government’s Energy Transformation Strategy – the major work program to deliver cleaner, more affordable and more reliable electricity to Western Australian consumers. This includes the development and implementation of a Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Roadmap for Western Australia to guide changes to policies, regulations, technical requirements and customer protections to support the integration of DER over the short, medium and longer term.

Kate has extensive experience across the energy sector in policy, reform, regulation and market design. She has held senior roles with the Queensland and Western Australian Governments and the former Independent Market Operator in Western Australia, and has also managed key reform projects in the Queensland and Western Australian energy sectors.

Kerry Schott is Chair of the Energy Security Board and a Director of NBN.  She is also a member of the Advisory Board for City and SouthEast Light Rail.

Kerry was Managing Director and CEO of Sydney Water from 2006 to 2011. Before that Kerry spent 15 years as an investment banker, including as Managing Director of Deutsche Bank and Executive Vice President of Bankers Trust Australia.  During this time she specialised in privatisation, restructuring, and infrastructure provision.  Prior to becoming an investment banker Kerry was a public servant and an academic. 

Kerry holds a doctorate from Oxford University, a Masters of Arts from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver and a Bachelor of Arts (first class Honours) from the University of New England.  She was recently awarded an Order of Australia and Honorary Doctorates from the University of Sydney, the University of Western Sydney and the University of New England.

Tarandeep Singh Ahuja is a Partner at McKinsey & Company's Melbourne Office. He leads McKinsey's Procurement practice across Asia Pacific, and the Energy practice in Australia/New Zealand. He serves clients in Energy, Resources and Industrial companies on a wide range of topics - Strategy, Operations, Procurement, Supply Chain Management, Mergers and Acquisitions, and large scale performance transformations.

Wayne Smith is a political strategist who helps shape and develop the tactics for the Smart Energy Council. A professional lobbyist and policy advisor, Wayne also plays a wider role in guiding the Smart Energy Council policy and presenting industry submissions.
As manager of Government Relations, Wayne Smith is responsible for policy, advocacy, strategy and campaining across the organisation.

Wayne has held senior roles in the renewables industry for over a decade, working and consulting for some of Australia's leading renewable energy companies and industry bodies.

Wayne has been a senior adviser for a number of Federal Shadow Ministers and has previously worked for the Federal and ACT   Governments, as well as a number of peak non-government organisations.

Lauren was appointed Chief Executive Officer to establish the Consumer Policy Research Centre in May 2017. She has worked in a range of policy roles across the corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors for over a decade, including senior policy roles in the New South Wales Government.

Lauren holds a Bachelor of Resource Economics (Hons) from the University of Sydney. Graduate Diploma in Psychology at Monash University and has undertaken further study in behavioural economics at the London School of Economics, the Executive Program for Non-profit Leaders at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership.

Passionate about the people side of markets, Lauren supports cross-sectoral collaboration, interdisciplinary research and diversity of thought and experience when tackling complex policy issues. Lauren advises policymakers on consumer data and technology via: National Data Advisory Council, Consumer Data Right Data Standards Body Advisory Committee.

Doug Spencer-Roy has managed the marketing of Melbourne’s privately owned EastLink tollway since 2006, adding the corporate affairs portfolio from 2015 and becoming the company spokesperson. In 2019, Doug created and now also runs the office of the EastLink Customer Advocate, which assists customers who have unresolved complaints.

Prior to EastLink, Doug held marketing and product management roles at Transurban and Telstra. He was a technology consultant for Logica in the UK, USA and Australia, in the aerospace and telecoms segments.

Doug serves on the Frankston Arts Board, which is an advisory board to the City Council, providing advice on Frankston Arts Centre and Libraries, public artworks and community events.

Jeremy is a Non-Executive Director, global executive and advisor with over 30 years of experience leading businesses and in the delivery of major infrastructure projects. He has held a variety of positions, including Regional Director for Asia/Middle East and Group Manager of Innovation & Digital. He lived and worked in Asia and the UK for 14 years and has also delivered projects in the US, Middle East, Australia and China. He is a Director of the Australian subsidiary of J-Power, one of Japan's largest utility companies and part of the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) consortia.

Mike is a professional engineer with over thirty years of experience in the Australian electricity industry, specialising in distribution network planning, capital investment and field operations. With a passion for energy sustainability and a fair deal for energy customers, Mike’s mission is to further the empowerment of residential and small business energy customers in today’s changing energy markets.

Mike is principal consultant of his business The Customer Advocate, is a member of the Consumer Challenge Panel with the Australian Energy Regulator and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia.

Bianca Sylvester is an Associate Director in the Government and Stakeholder Relations team at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, leading the CEFC’s relationship with the New South Wales, Victorian and Tasmanian State Governments, as well as international stakeholders. Bianca has 10 years’ experience in clean energy and climate change, across 20 countries.

Prior to joining the CEFC, she spent six years as a climate change/energy specialist at the World Bank based in Washington DC, and three years as a trader in J.P. Morgan’s commodities sales and trading team based in Singapore and Sydney. Most recently, she was General Manager for the Carbon Market Institute in Melbourne. Bianca holds a Masters of Government from the Johns Hopkins University in Washington DC.

Michelle Taylor is the manager for Intelligent Grid New Technology in Energy Queensland. She has been responsible for new technology enablement and research and development in the organisation over the past 13 years; having a long background in renewable and energy storage technologies and research. She is passionate about enabling new technologies that can provide customers with safe, reliable and sustainable electricity supply.

As such Michelle is actively involved in new technology safety having worked for many years as part of one of the Standards Australia committees developing new technology standards and as part of the Queensland Electrical Safety Office Electrical Equipment Advisory board.

Kiya Taylor is the Chief Marketing Officer at UPowr, an energy start-up transforming the design and installation of solar and batteries. As CMO, Kiya is responsible for customer experience, marketing, partnerships and works within the founding team on product development.

Previously, Kiya held roles leading ARENA’s distributed energy knowledge sharing portfolio and the establishment of the ARENA Insights initiative, as well as leading the marketing and communications for a Fortune 500 engineering firm. Kiya has extensive experience in marketing, communications and stakeholder engagement in fields including energy, defence and technology.

Amber Electric is kickstarting a smart energy revolution by empowering customers with direct access to wholesale electricity prices, as well as enabling them to shift their energy use to times when cheap wind and solar energy are generating. Where traditional energy companies sell electricity at a fixed rate with a retail markup, Amber passes on real-time wholesale prices for just $10/month. The result is customers save hundreds of dollars each year, while also building demand for more renewables.

Chris is the Co-founder and Co-CEO of Amber Electric. Chris is deeply motivated by opportunities to leverage business and technology to improve people's lives. Prior to founding Amber, Chris spent 2 years in Iran as Managing Director of Bamilo - Iran's largest online marketplace - helping build Bamilo to over 400 employees. Before moving to Iran, Chris started his career at Boston Consulting Group - consulting to businesses across Australia and SE-Asia.

Oliver leads McKinsey’s offices in the Asia-Pacific region and is a core leader of McKinsey’s Digital Capability Centre in Singapore – an Industry 4.0–focused model factory that drives digital transformation of companies in Southeast Asia. He was previously a global leader of McKinsey’s ‘All-In’ initiative, which develops and shares innovative ways of working that promote gender inclusivity and women’s leadership.

At McKinsey, Oliver works across multiple industries, including energy and materials, industrials, private equity and technology. He has worked alongside clients on large-scale, integrated transformation and growth—including internationalisation, organisational development, leadership development, operational improvement, strategic planning and mergers and acquisitions. Oliver also has deep expertise in Southeast Asian markets, having served governments, government-linked agencies, and some of the region’s largest companies.

In addition to serving clients, Oliver has a significant interest in developing local companies into regional and global champions. He is passionate about Asian companies succeeding as entrants to the global marketplace and has spoken widely to business councils and in major regional conferences on these issues, including the World Economic Forum on ASEAN and the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit. Oliver is also a frequent commentator on regional growth, having authored the McKinsey Global Institute report, Southeast Asia at the crossroads: Three paths to prosperity. Oliver is one of the authors of Future of Asia, the firm’s multi-phase research project deciphering the world’s largest regional economy and its potential to fuel and shape the next phase of globalisation.

Oliver holds several leadership and advisory roles. He is a member of Singapore’s Future Economy Council, which is chaired by Singapore’s finance minister and comprises members from government, industry, union and educational and training institutions.
 

Mark Twidell has worked in the renewable energy industry for over 25 years and since May 2016 been with Tesla leading their entry into the Australian and neighbouring regional stationary energy markets.  Mark has worked in Australia, India, USA and Europe in Solar related industry and government leadership roles.  Past roles have been Managing Director of SMA in the Australia and SE Asia, CEO of the Australian Solar Institute and a variety of roles with BP Solar managing activity across Australia, Asia and the Middle East. He has served on the Boards of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) the Clean Energy Council (CEC) and various private sector companies throughout Australia and  Asia through his roles with SMA and BP. 

Mark has an Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree from the University of Edinburgh and an MBA from Sydney University.

Felicity Underhill has a history of successfully designing and then implementing strategies including new business ventures, major organisational change, digital and innovation. While she was with Shell, she worked in over 35 companies in over 20 countries, so has had the opportunity to learn from some of the best and the rest.  Felicity joined Origin just before they took FID on the Australia Pacific LNG project.  Now, as General Manager, Hydrogen, Felicity is currently investigating how hydrogen might best fit within Origin’s, and Australia’s, future energy mix.

As Chief Executive Officer of Horizon Power, Stephanie Unwin leads a 500 strong team of energy professionals to deliver power to some of Western Australia’s most remote and regional communities.
Under her leadership Horizon Power is transforming the WA regional energy landscape in an increasingly decentralised delivery model to more than 48,000 connections across 32 microgrids through 2.3 million square kilometres of rugged and remote territory.

Stephanie is passionate about collaboration, inclusion and diversity to build an engaged and inspired workforce. Her ability to facilitate change on a foundation of safety is delivering Horizon Power’s vision of innovative customer choices, reduced costs and cleaner, greener energy solutions for the future through reducing Horizon Power’s carbon footprint, and investing in new technologies such as hydrogen.

Stephanie is a recognised energy industry leader having joined Verve Energy in 2008, continuing into its transition to Synergy. Stephanie has significant executive and Board-level experience with a number of publically listed companies, including Alacer Gold Corp, Zenith Energy, Integra Mining Limited and several non-listed joint ventures. She is currently a Board Member of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
Stephanie brings a depth of experience in large scale and remote renewables, battery storage technology transformation and information technology.
Stephanie joined Horizon Power in March 2019.

Godart van Gendt is the leader of McKinsey's power & cleantech practice in Australia & New Zealand, supporting clients in APAC to capture the opportunities of the power, mobility & digital transitions.

Hon Dan van Holst Pellekaan MP is South Australian Minister for Energy and Mining.

Minister van Holst Pellekaan was elected to Parliament as the Member for Stuart in 2010. He was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet in 2011 and has held the Energy and Mining portfolios since June 2014.

After his re-election at the 2018 State Election, he was sworn in as Minister for Energy and Mining in the Marshall Liberal Government. 

Minister van Holst Pellekaan started his working life as a labourer before playing four seasons in the National Basketball League and at the same time gaining a Bachelor of Economics.  He then spent ten years with BP Australia before entering the small business sector as a shareholder and operator of Outback roadhouses for seven years.  This was followed by three years developing cycle tourism in the Southern Flinders Ranges immediately before entering Parliament.

Minister van Holst Pellekaan’s electorate extends from Kapunda at its southern end, all the way up to the NT border. It heads east to the NSW border. It includes the Mid North agricultural region, all of the Flinders Ranges and the vast north-east pastoral region surrounded by the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales. The regional city of Port Augusta is its main population centre.

Michael is the Regional Director for Total Eren responsible for the Asia-Pacific region where Total Eren has a presence across Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. Prior to joining Total Eren, Michael founded Wind Prospect in early 2000s and CWP Renewables in 2008 – two leading renewable energy developers in Australia which has developed over 3 GW of wind/solar projects of which nearly 2 GW is operating or under construction today.

Matthew Warren is an energy policy commentator, writing for the Australian Financial Review and is author of “Blackout: How is energy-rich Australia running out of Electricity?”.  He has spent the past 15 years working for the electricity, downstream gas, renewable energy and coal industries. He was in turn CEO of the Australian Clean Energy Council, the Energy Supply Association of Australia and the Australian Energy Council.  He is a Principal of NEM Risk Bulletin.

Jason has served as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Synergy since January 2014 and prior to that he was the CEO of Verve Energy for two years.

Synergy is Western Australia’s largest electricity generator and retailer with a diverse range of power generating assets located throughout the South West Interconnected System and has in excess of one million residential and business customers.

Jason holds a Bachelor of Engineering and a Graduate Diploma of Business from Curtin University and has a background in engineering, power system planning, energy trading and fuel contract negotiation and management with 27 years’ experience in the energy sector.

Dr Bryn Williams is responsible for SA Power Networks' Future Network Strategy, which is our strategic blueprint for transforming our network and services to meet customers' future energy needs. A key element of this strategy is 'enabling the distributed energy transition' - driving new capabilities, operational systems and business processes that will enable the future role of the distribution network in supporting an energy system dominated by distributed generation, and enabling emerging new uses for the grid such as Electric Vehicles.

Bryn's previous roles within SA Power Networks include Smart Grid Strategy Manager and Telecommunications Strategy Manager. Prior to joining SA Power Networks in 2012 Bryn worked as a consultant to a range of corporate and Government clients in Australia advising on technology strategy and telecommunications.

Bryn holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and a 1st Class Honours degree from the University of Aston in Birmingham, UK.

Ben joined AGN as CEO in 2015 and became CEO of DBP and Multinet in 2017. Previously, Ben was the Director of Strategy and Regulation and Chief Financial Officer at UK Power Networks (UKPN), a large electricity distribution company in the UK with eight million customers, also owned by the CK Group. Before joining UKPN in 2011, Ben was a utilities investment banker for 15 years, working in Europe, Asia and Latin America, most recently at Deutsche Bank.

He is a Director and Deputy Chairman of Energy Networks Australia (ENA) and Chairman of the ENA Gas Committee. Ben has a bachelor’s degree in natural science from Cambridge University in the UK.

Ben joined AGN as CEO in 2015 and became CEO of DBP and Multinet in 2017. Previously, Ben was the Director of Strategy and Regulation and Chief Financial Officer at UK Power Networks (UKPN), a large electricity distribution company in the UK with eight million customers, also owned by the CK Group. Before joining UKPN in 2011, Ben was a utilities investment banker for 15 years, working in Europe, Asia and Latin America, most recently at Deutsche Bank.

He is a Director and Deputy Chairman of Energy Networks Australia (ENA) and Chairman of the ENA Gas Committee. Ben has a bachelor’s degree in natural science from Cambridge University in the UK.

Tsen Wong is an experienced finance professional with a track record in Institutional relationship banking and project / structured finance. He has a broad background in infrastructure & power, and notably deep sectoral expertise in power. He has been involved in some of the largest transactions that have come to market in Australia.

Alex is responsible for overseeing AEMO’s expanded focus on system design, development and engineering, which includes planning and forecasting.

Alex started at AEMO in January 2019. With more than 15 years’ experience in the energy sector, Alex was previously the Managing Director – Energy, Resources and Manufacturing at international engineering and advisory firm Aurecon, focusing on growing its energy and resources advisory services to supplement its traditional engineering business.

Prior to working at Aurecon, Alex was the executive director responsible for CSIRO’s research and development in environment, energy and resources.

Tony Wood AM, has led the Grattan Institute’s Energy Program since mid-2011. Since then he and his team have delivered 20 major reports on energy and climate change and he has developed a strong profile with governments and industry, and is a regular contributor in major media on key energy issues.

From 2009 until mid-2014, he also had a role as Program Director of Clean Energy Projects at the Clinton Foundation, advising governments in the Asia-Pacific region on effective deployment of large-scale, low-emission energy technologies such as solar and CCS. Prior to these roles, he spent 14 years working at Origin Energy in senior executive roles covering retail and LPG line management and corporate affairs. In 2008, he was seconded to provide an industry perspective to the first Garnaut review.

In January, 2018 Tony was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his significant service to conservation and the environment, particularly in the areas of energy policy, climate change and sustainability. In October 2019, Tony was elected as a Fellow to the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.