Speakers

Professor Ken Baldwin is the inaugural Director of the Australian National University Energy Change Institute, and Director of the ANU ECI Grand Challenge:  Zero-Carbon Energy for the Asia-Pacific.

He has held the following energy-related appointments:
- Project Steering Committee, Australian Energy Technology Assessment, Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (2011-2013)
- Board member, South East Region of Renewable Energy Excellence (SERREE, 2014-2019)
- Socio-Economic Modelling Advisory Committee, South Australian Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission (2015-2017)
- Chair, Energy Cluster, the Australia-Indonesia Centre (2015-2018)
- Founding Chair, Energy Research Institutes Council for Australia (ERICA, 2018-2019)
- Steering Committee, CSIRO Hydrogen Research, Development and Demonstration Report (2019)
- Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA) Steering Committee, Australian Energy Transition Research Plan (2019-2020).

Professor Baldwin is an inaugural ANU Public Policy Fellow, and winner of the 2004 Australian Government Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding of Science, for his role in initiating and championing “Science meets Parliament”.

In 2007, he was awarded the W.H. Beattie Steele Medal, the highest honour of the Australian Optical Society.  In 2010 he was awarded the Barry Inglis Medal by the National Measurement Institute for excellence in precision measurement.

Professor Baldwin is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Institute of Physics (UK), the Optical Society of America and the Australian Institute of Physics.

Benn Barr has over 15 years' experience in energy and climate change policy and has a deep understanding of the national energy market and opportunities for renewable energy. He has expertise in the energy market and regulation, with a track record of providing strategic policy advice to government across a diverse range of resource management areas, as well as contributing to the national Council of Australian Governments (COAG) energy agenda.

Mr Barr has a strong interest in effective modern governance having recently undertaken professional development at the John F Kennedy School for Government at Harvard.  He was the Secretary of the Council for the Australian Federation, a collaborative intergovernmental group of state and territory First Ministers, and has served as the Queensland Government’s senior official for the COAG Energy Council.

Mr Barr joined the AEMC following six years as Deputy Director General in the Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy.

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.

Prior to joining CS Energy, Andrew worked for Origin Energy in a range of roles including 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.

Chris Briggs is a Research Principal at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology and Technical Director, Business Renewables Centre-Australia. Business Renewables Centre – Australia is a not-for-profit collaboration between ISF, WWF and Climate-Kic to assist organisations undertaking renewable energy power purchase agreements established with funding from ARENA, the NSW, Queensland and Victorian Governments to provide independent information, education and training on Corporate Renewable PPAs. Chris has a combination of climate, energy and labour market expertise developed over 20 years of experience working in roles as a political adviser, policy maker, program leader and researcher.  Recent and current projects include a State of the Market report on Corporate Renewable PPAs, a survey of jobs in renewable energy for the Clean Energy Council, the implications of just transition for the finance sector (NAB and Global Compact Network) and learnings from ARENA-funded DER projects.

In his current marketing role, Anthony has Executive responsibility for electricity and gas market trading, corporate risk management, regulation and strategic planning.  

Anthony 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, Anthony has held senior roles in the marketing and planning areas, with the last 9 years in an Executive position.

Louis de Sambucy is Managing Director of Neoen Australia. Neoen, a renewable energy and battery storage company, owns the landmark Tesla big battery Hornsdale Power Reserve, as well as large scale solar and wind plants across Australia. Neoen is actively developing further large scale storage and renewable energy projects both in Australia and across the world.

Andrew Dickson is Development Manager for the Asian Renewable Energy Hub (www.asianrehub.com), a large wind/solar/hydrogen/ammonia project in northwest Australia. He has been a renewable energy project developer since
2004, working on wind, solar PV, solar thermal, microgrid and hydrogen projects in South Australia, Queensland, the ACT and Western Australia.

He has a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical and Electronic) from the University of New South Wales and a Master of Science and Technology Commercialisation from the University of Adelaide.

Outside of work, Andrew is passionate about sustainability in many forms: transport, housing, energy, water, food production and community sufficiency.

Commissioner Karen Douglas is serving her third term on the California Energy Commission. She served as chair from February 2009 to February 2011. Commissioner Douglas also served as director of the California Climate Initiative at the Environmental Defense Fund. Before going to the Environmental Defense Fund, Commissioner Douglas spent four years at the Planning and Conservation League. Commissioner Douglas graduated from Stanford Law School in 2001 and has a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Gavin has been as a consumer representative in the energy sector for over 25 years. During this time, he has undertaken research electricity disconnections; documented changes in energy pricing and its impacts on households; and been involved in the development of state and federal 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; the Australian Energy Market Commission’s reliability panel; AGL’s national customer council; the AER’s customer consultative group; and board member of Energy Consumers Australia.

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 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 system that facilitates a smooth transition into a clean, reliable and affordable energy future.

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.

Paul Gleeson, Aurecon Managing Director, Energy, Resources & Water – Australia and New Zealand, helps organisations to be at the forefront of the transition to a low carbon future.

He has worked on some of the most significant projects in the Australian energy market; advising on the successful acquisition of TransGrid, the development, design and delivery of Australia’s largest solar farms, and the ongoing implementation of the Government of South Australia Clean Energy Transition, which led to the installation of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery.

Paul is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He holds a Certificate in Design Led Innovation from Stanford University.

He is also a member of The University of Queensland’s Master of Sustainable Energy Advisory Board and continues to work closely in partnership with The University of Queensland to lead change for students and business.

James’ suite of expertise and interests span across renewable energy development and operations, commercial law, government relations, corporate governance, general management, policy, risk management and disaster recovery.

James’ career extends from private to public sectors, across Australia and New Zealand. His extensive experiences range from energy network and infrastructure, project development, policy and regulatory settings, financing and trading, stakeholder relations, dispute resolution, risk management and governance.

Currently, James leads the NSW energy, climate and sustainability agendas. He manages a diverse portfolio and drives NSW Government’s top priorities in the Energy and Environment space, including the NSW Electricity Strategy, the Net Zero Plan, the 20 Year Waste Strategy and the Plastics Plan.

Alex Hewitt is the Co-founder and Chairman of CWP, an integrated renewable energy developer and asset manager with a combined track record of over 3,200 MW of global renewable energy experience. 

Engineer by degree, entrepreneur, and keen surfer. With over three decades of experience built from spectacular successes across five continents and the odd humiliating failure, Alex has developed and financed over 2,000MW of wind energy projects in Europe and Australia since 2005. CWP is currently operating the largest renewable energy platform in NSW providing renewable power to its corporate and government customers. 

During his long career, Alex has been involved in the delivery of major power and water infrastructure across Asia, Australia, Europe , and Africa. He is now focussed on the development of CWP’s massive green hydrogen projects across the globe.

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.

Timothy Meyers is the Head of Power Sales for MAN Energy Solutions in the Australian and Pacific markets. He has been in sales and business development at MAN for ten years and lived in Germany from 2008 to 2018. Prior to moving back to Australia, he was responsible for the sales and business development of power plants in the Caribbean for MAN. He has been involved in power projects in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia.

On top of power generation projects, Tim is passionate and active in developing a hydrogen industry in Australia that complements current and future power generation solutions.

Gavin has been working with utilities companies for 17 years. After working as an SAP consultant for 11 years across Europe, the United States, Brazil and finally Australia, Gavin joined SAP itself in 2014 as a solutions advisor focusing on the Utilities industry.

Gavin is passionate about renewable energy, clean tech, EVs and the way these technologies are disrupting the industry. He now works with utilities to reimagine their business models and processes so they can adapt to these industry transformations and remain relevant in a changing and volatile market environment.

Gavin has a masters degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Cambridge.

Lucy has worked for bp since 1998 in Australia, the US, UK, Europe and Singapore. She spent 13 years in refining and manufacturing, including as the plant manager for the bp Wilmington Calciner in Los Angeles before moving to London to be the executive assistant to the bp CEO of Downstream. She then joined bp’s trading organization working on terminal strategy and M&A projects in Europe before moving to Singapore as a trading manager for Asia, the Middle East and Southern Africa.

Lucy returned to Australia to become the Vice president of midstream Asia Pacific covering supply, wholesale marketing and terminals for downstream businesses in the region before becoming the CFO and Head of Strategy for Asia Pacific Fuels.

In January 2021 Lucy was appointed to the position of Vice President of regions, cities and solutions, Asia Pacific – a new division of bp focused on providing integrated and decarbonized energy solutions to corporations, cities, regions and bp’s own businesses in support of bp’s Net Zero commitments. 

Lucy is a director of BP Australia, BP Maritime Services Singapore and Ocwen Energy. She has a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Adelaide and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance from the Australian Securities Institute.

Mr Parker has over 35 years of experience in the energy industry with a focus on network strategy, asset management and network regulation.

From 2009, prior to his role as Executive General Manager – Regulation and External Affairs at the AusNet Services Group, Mr Parker was Executive General Manager - Regulated Energy Services, General Manager – Asset Management and Director – Regulation and Network Strategy.

Before moving to Australia, Mr Parker spent 15 years with National Grid in the UK, initially as an engineer then moving into commercial roles. In 2000, he became a consultant with Ernst & Young in New Zealand before moving to PricewaterhouseCoopers in Australia, ultimately as Melbourne Energy Economics Practice Leader.

Peter Price was appointed to the Energy Queensland Executive in November 2016 and is responsible for leading the Group’s engineering and asset management strategies, which includes the safe and efficient management of the Group’s electricity distribution networks.

Prior to joining Energy Queensland, Peter was a member of Energex’s executive management team for ten years. His career with Energex included managing and leading capital planning and program delivery, asset management, procurement, regulatory issues and the growth of new commercial businesses.

Peter holds both a bachelor (honours) degree and a masters degree in Engineering at the University of Queensland, and is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Peter is also Chair of Energy Skills Queensland and sits on the Board of Redback Technologies.

Angus offers a wealth of technical expertise and commercial experience drawing on 25 years working with project developers for gas, power, solar, storage and mining sectors.  He has in depth knowledge of industry cost structures.

Kerry Schott is Chair of the Energy Security Board and a Director of NBN.  She is also a member of the Direct Assets Committee for Aware Super.

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 and since retiring from Sydney Water she has been an adviser to governments and a chair and director of several public sector owned companies. 

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.

João joined AGL in August 2019.

With more then 19 years' experience, João brings a wealth of international energy sector expertise, most recently from the global team leading McKinsey & Company’s thinking on energy transition. João headed up the company's Electrical Power and Natural Gas Professional Practice in Australia and New Zealand since 2016.

João holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal, and completed his Masters of Business Administration at Northwestern University in the USA.

Angus entered politics in 2013 when he was elected as the Liberal Federal Member for Hume in New South Wales.

Building on his background in economics, Angus was appointed to parliamentary committees on employment, trade and investment, and public accounts. He was also chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties.

Angus was promoted to Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister with special responsibility for Cities and Digital Transformation in February 2016. He was reappointed to the frontbench after the 2016 Federal election and became Minister for Law Enforcement and Cyber Security in December 2017.

Angus was promoted to Cabinet as the Minister for Energy in August 2018, and reappointed as the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction in May 2019. 

With a passion for cutting edge technology and the benefits for citizens of the digital age, Angus authored an essay The Promise of Digital Government which was published by the Menzies Research Centre in 2016.  

He has gained a reputation amongst his constituents as a keen problem solver, focusing in his electorate on growth opportunities for regional communities and improving telecommunications.

Prior to entering parliament in 2013 Angus was a Director at Port Jackson Partners where he was a strategy and business advisor on the resources, agriculture, energy and infrastructure sectors. Prior to this he was a partner at global consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

Angus has a Bachelor of Economics (First Class Honours and University Medal) and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Sydney. He also has a Master of Philosophy in Economics from Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. His thesis was in the field of competition policy.

In his private capacity Angus has founded or advised a number of small, fast growing start-up businesses, particularly in the agriculture sector.

He lives at Goulburn with his wife Louise and their four children.

Dr Cau Thai has over 20 years experience in the energy/utilities industry with a background in energy markets, power system engineering, optimisation, economics, business management and applied finance.

Greg has over 40 years experience in the electricity sector and also in gas. Greg assists businesses and market authorities operating under a range of different industry structures and market designs used in Australia and internationally. He sits on panels available to hear disputes under electricity and gas rules in Australia and Singapore.  Hi background includes time in network planning, system operation, market design, M&A advice and reliability assessments.

Dan van Holst Pellekaan was elected to the South Australian Parliament as the Member for Stuart in 2010.

He was appointed as the Minister for Energy and Mining in the Marshall Government, in March 2018.

Dan previously served as the Shadow Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources from 2014 to 2018 and has developed a broad understanding of these portfolios.

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.

Rachel is the Chief Executive Officer of PHPL.

Rachel Watson joined Pacific Hydro in April 2006 as Corporate Lawyer.  She has held a range of roles within Pacific Hydro, including Executive Manager Finance and Legal, Head of Commercial, GM Group Services, GM New Business and GM Australia. Various of her roles included responsibility for aspects of Pacific Hydro’s business in Chile and Brazil.

Prior to joining Pacific Hydro, Rachel worked as in-house counsel in Sydney and Melbourne for Orica Ltd, and spent three years in Japan working for a major turbine supplier. She has over 20 years’ experience in major contracting transactions and other general commercial law issues.

Rachel has been a director of the Clean Energy Council since 2014 and she currently chairs the Board of the CEC.  She has a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws (Hons), and an MBA from the University of Melbourne.

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.