Speakers

The Hon. Bill Johnston is Western Australia's Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Energy, Corrective Services and Industrial Relations. He has been a Minister for the McGowan Labor Government since

Mr. Kohei Toyoda is Director General for Energy Transformation Strategy, Energy and Natural Resources Finance Group, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) from July 1st 2022 where he is taking charge of global hydrogen and ammonia value chain creation as well as individual finance transactions.

Kate Ryan is responsible for leading the Western Australia function and AEMO’s corporate strategy. Kate joined AEMO in February 2022, and has extensive knowledge and experience built over decades in the energy industry.

Jai Thomas is the Deputy Director General - Coordinator of Energy, a statutory role that leads Energy Policy WA. As Coordinator of Energy, he is also the designated Hazard Management Agency for disruption to electricity, natural gas or liquid fuel supplies in Western Australia.

Sam was appointed Western Power CEO in August 2022. He has been a member of the Executive team since 2014 serving firstly as the Executive Manager of the Governance & Assurance and then the Executive Manager Asset Operations.

As Chief Executive Officer of Horizon Power, Stephanie Unwin leads Australia’s only vertically integrated energy utility and is responsible for the largest geographical catchment of any Australian power provider, covering an area more than one quarter of the Australian continent.

Pierluigi Mancarella is Chair Professor of Electrical Power Systems at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and Professor of Smart Energy Systems at the University of Manchester, UK.

Ruby Heard is a versatile and ambitious entrepreneur and electrical engineer with global experience and an affinity for sustainability. She began her career with Arup designing electrical and lighting systems for iconic buildings in Melbourne. In 2015 she transferred to San Francisco to follow her passion into the renewable energy sector, designing complex solar arrays and microgrids for Google campuses. 

Chris is a member of the Western Australian Expert Consumer Panel and Market Advisory Panel, where he advocates for consumers on a range of network regulatory, retail market and energy transition issues.

Supporting the energy transition. Specialties include strategy development, commercial negotiation, renewable projects, gas, electricity, hydrogen, asset sales and acquisitions.

Jacinda Papps is a regulatory, policy and government relations professional with over 20 years’ experience in energy markets across multiple jurisdictions, including 15 years in Western Australia.

Bobby Ditric has over 15 years’ experience in energy sector market operation, reform and development. He has extensive expertise in market design and regulatory instruments for reliability of supply, including capacity mechanisms/markets, scarcity payments, and reserve capacity instruments. He has advised on direct sales transactions frameworks (governance and market design implications) as well as the corresponding market rules and contracting instruments. He has advised commercial, regulatory, and policy stakeholders on crucial market reforms in the Western Australian, Eastern Australian, Northern Territory, Singapore, Peninsular Malaysian, and Oman electricity sectors. Prior to joining TLG he worked in a governmental electricity sector reform unit and before that was involved in the settlement of transactions in the WA Electricity Market (WEM) including review of the associated complex mathematical and financial calculations, verification of energy market data integrity, and troubleshooting market database issues. Bobby holds a BCom from Curtin University, Australia.

Katie is an energy policy, regulation and stakeholder relations specialist pursuing her passion for a clean, consumer-centric energy transition.

Rob Chandler is Program Manager – Access Solutions in the Western Power Customer Decarbonisation business unit. His focus is transmission connected renewables and storage, working with commercial and industrial customers to connect new facilities to the SWIS. Before joining Western Power he was involved in the construction industry, initially onshore commercial and industrial projects before moving to an offshore construction contractor specialising in subsea infrastructure. He has a broad range of experience in construction contracting and project controls with a focus on commercial management.

Sally McMahon is an economist with more than 25 years’ experience in energy and industry reform programs.

Martin Wilkes is the Managing Director of RISC, an independent International Energy Advisory company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia.

Yolande Strengers is a digital sociologist and human-computer interaction professor investigating the sustainability, energy and inclusion impacts of digital and smart technologies, including emerging forms of AI.