Speakers

Hon Bill Johnston

Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Energy and Corrective Services
Western Australia

The Hon. Bill Johnston is Western Australia's Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Energy and Corrective Services. 
He has been a Minister for the McGowan Labor Government since March 2017, and has previously been Minister for Commerce, Industrial Relations, Electoral Affairs, and Asian Engagement.

So far, his achievements include cutting red-tape for the mining industry, introducing the Work Health and Safety Bill (industrial manslaughter provisions) and assisting in revolutionising Western Australia’s energy system. 

In Opposition he served as Shadow Minister for State Development and Energy from 2012, and Shadow Minister for Mines and Petroleum from 2013.

He was a Member of the Economics and Industry Standing Committee and Deputy Chair of the Inquiry into Domestic Gas Prices from 2010 to 2011.

Prior to entering Parliament, he was the State Secretary of WA Labor from 2001 until 2008, with responsibility for all State and Federal election campaigns.

Philip Andrews-Speed

Senior Principal Fellow, Energy Studies Institute
National University of Singapore

Dr Philip Andrews-Speed is a Senior Principal Fellow at the Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore. He has 40 years in the field of energy and resources, starting his career as a mineral and oil exploration geologist before moving into the field of energy and resource governance. His main research interest has been the political economy of the low-carbon energy transition. China has been a particular focus for his research for more than 25 years, looking at both domestic developments and international implications. His latest book China as a Global Clean Energy Champion: Lifting the Veil appeared early in 2019.

Sam Barbaro 

Chief Executive Officer
Western Power  

Sam has held senior positions since the 1990s and has experience across a wide range of industries. He has a law degree from the University of Western Australia and, after spending a decade practicing law in top tier firms specialising in corporate law, energy and resources, administrative law, compliance and governance, he moved in-house and held senior executive legal roles.

Sam is currently the Acting Chief Executive Officer at Western Power, taking over in February 2022.

Prior to this Sam held the position of Executive Manager Asset Operations at Western Power. This is the chief operations officer role at Western Power and is accountable for nearly 2000 operational staff across 27 regional and metropolitan offices and depots that are responsible for the planning, scheduling and delivery of work to expand and maintain the electricity network.

Sam has extensive experience advising corporations and Boards, including holding the position of Company Secretary at Western Power.  He has a diverse range of technical and management experience in strategic leadership, stakeholder management, legal and financial regulation and governance, culture and change management, and safety and compliance.

Sam is also a non-executive director of the Fiona Wood Foundation and Leadership WA.

Tom Baxter

Chemical Engineering Consultant, Visiting Professor and Senior Lecturer 
PDB

A 1975 University of Strathclyde Chemical Engineering graduate (first class honours). He is a Fellow of the IChemE. He started his career with ICI Petrochemicals, moved to fine chemicals with the Swiss company Ciba-Geigy before taking a position as a Process Engineer in 1980 with BNOC (British National Oil Corporation). Through privatisation and acquisitions BNOC became Britoil then BP. Here he worked as an Operations Engineer, Development Engineer and Research Manager.

In 1991 he left BP and joined Altra Consultants as Technical Manager. He accepted a position as Technical Director with Genesis Oil and Gas Consultants in 1998 and became the Aberdeen Business Unit Director in 2005.

He was instrumental in setting up a new Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Aberdeen. He taught there as a Senior Fellow/Lecturer. Since 2003 he has been visiting Professor of Chemical Engineering at Strathclyde University.

He is a founding member of the Hydrogen Science Coalition and is currently a Chemical Engineering consultant providing energy and greenhouse gas reduction expertise.

Paul Bloxham 

Chief Economist 
HSBC

Paul Bloxham is HSBC’s Chief Economist for Australia, New Zealand and Global Commodities and is a Managing Director. He is chief spokesperson for HSBC on forecasts and trends for the Australian and New Zealand economies and their interaction with global financial markets and international economies and a key spokesperson on HSBC’s unique view on global commodity markets. Paul is a regular commentator on local and international business television and a frequent contributor of opinion editorials to the Australian newspapers. In 2021, Paul's team won the Consensus Economics award for best forecaster for the Australian economy, having Focus Economics awards for both Australia and New Zealand in 2017. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Curtin University. Prior to joining HSBC in 2010, Paul spent 12 years as an economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia. Paul holds a Master's degree in public financial policy from the London School of Economics and Bachelor of Commerce in economics with honours from Curtin University.

Tony Cudmore

Senior Vice President Strategy & Climate
Woodside

Tony was appointed in 2022 to lead Strategy & Climate for Woodside Energy. Prior to joining Woodside, Tony held a number of senior roles with BHP including, Group Sustainability & Public Policy Officer and Chief Public Affairs Officer. He also served as Director of the BHP Foundation.

Previously, Tony spent 13 years with ExxonMobil where he held a wide range of senior and global Corporate Affairs roles both in Australia and the United States. Earlier in his career, Tony held the role of Assistant Director of the Australian Institute of Petroleum, and was a Media Relations and Policy Adviser before becoming Principal Adviser to then Premier of Victoria, The Hon Jeff Kennett MP.

Tony holds a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Economics and a Graduate Certificate of International Relations from Deakin University. 

Ross De Rango

Head of Energy and Infrastructure
Electric Vehicle Council

Ross De Rango is the Electric Vehicle Council’s Head of Energy and Infrastructure. Based in Melbourne, he qualified as a robotics engineer in 2006 and spent some time teaching engineering at Deakin University prior to spending 13 years working in the electrical industry, during the last 5 of which he’s been focussed primarily on EVs. Ross sits on EM-001 and EL-054 Standards Australia committees, and gets involved in working groups wherever the standards, codes and regulations relating to the electrical infrastructure supporting EVs in Australia are being considered. Ross has owned a 2014 Outlander PHEV for the last few years and has taken it all over country Victoria and NSW on family holidays – his next vehicle is yet to be determined, but will certainly be electric!

Steve Edwell

Chair
Economic Regulation Authority  

Steve took up the position as Chair of the ERA in August 2021.

Steve is an economist specialising in the energy sector. Most of Steve’s work has been on behalf of Federal and State Governments across Australia, where he has held various senior appointments. He has many years of professional experience working with the public sector, industry Agencies and Associations and private industry at the highest levels.

Before joining the ERA, Stephen completed a term as Chair of the Energy Transformation Taskforce. He brings to the role extensive experience specialising in the reform and access regulation of utility services, having previously been the inaugural Chair of the Australian Energy Regulator and a member of the ERA governing body from 2006 to 2017.

He has a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) and a Master of Business Administration.

Jason Froud 

Manager, Strategy and Corporate Affairs, Synergy

Jason Froud is the Manager, Strategy and Corporate Affairs at Synergy, Western Australia’s largest government owned electricity gen-tailer. He has been instrumental in developing Synergy’s current corporate strategy, working closely with government on Synergy’s recent decarbonisation announcements.  Jason is responsible for Leading Synergy’s involvement in the Western Australian energy market reform, energy policy position development and advocacy, and stakeholder engagement with government agencies and other key stakeholders. Prior to working at Synergy, Jason was the Manager of Corporate Affairs at Western Power.

Jo Garland

Partner and Energy Transition Lead
Holman Fenwick Willan

Jo is HFW's global energy transition lead, with extensive experience in carbon trading, climate and energy transition project matters.  She regularly acts for offtakers, utilities, power project developers and large energy users in the transition to greener and more sustainable energy sources and lower emissions supply chains.

Andrew Harpham

Director
Frontier Economics 

Andrew is a Director of Frontier Economics Pty Ltd and works in Frontier Economics’ energy practice and its legal and competition practice. Andrew has advised public and private sector clients on a range of policy, regulatory, commercial and competition law issues.

Andrew’s work in the energy sector has included advice to Governments, regulators and businesses in areas such as economic regulation, demand and price forecasting, commercial and strategic analysis, energy security and policy, and energy market design and operation. Andrew leads Frontier Economics’ work in the gas sector and hydrogen sector He advises on issues across the entire supply chain including the development of wholesale gas markets, the regulation of gas pipeline and retail tariffs, and the role that gas plays in the energy transition.

Mary Hendriks

Battery Storage Consultant & Electric Vehicle Advocate
GoBizGreen

Mary Hendriks has over twelve years’ experience in the renewable and clean energy industries. Until 2020, she held the role of Industry Executive of the Australian Energy Storage Alliance, and her previous roles include working with Renewable Cities Australia, the Australian Solar Council and All-Energy Australia.

Mary holds a Science degree from the ANU and has extensive business experience in her own ventures.  She currently volunteers as committee member of the AIE Sydney Branch and co-chairs the Rotary Sydney Cove Climate & Peace committee.

Mary is active on Twitter @MaryEHendriks and @GoBizGreen.

Allison Hortle

Research Group Leader – Energy
CSIRO

Allison Hortle is the Research Group Leader in the CSIRO Energy Business Unit.

As a Research Group Leader Allison provides scientific leadership to a group of around 25 scientists and engineers working across the value chain of carbon storage, fugitive emissions and hydrogen technologies. Allison’s own research has focused on the impacts of large scale CO2 storage and the need to develop cost-effective techniques for long-term, scientifically valid monitoring strategies. More recently Allison was a co-author on the CSIRO CCUS Roadmap looking at cost effective strategies for utilising captured CO2.

Louis Kent 

Practice Lead Group Decarbonisation
South32

Louis has 15 years of experience in energy and climate change, working within multinational mining companies and consultancies. This year he joined South32 as Practice Lead Group Decarbonisation where he leads the development of operational decarbonisation strategy and its integration throughout the business.

Before the move to South32 he spent four years at BHP working on development and implementation of group operational decarbonisation strategy - leading establishment of BHPs Zero Emissions Material Movement and Zero Emissions Electricity strategies and co-chaired the greenhouse gas workstream of ICMM’s Innovation for Cleaner Safer Vehicles program. Prior to BHP, Louis spent a decade in consulting with Energetics and GHD, and was Chair of the Perth Branch of the Australian Institute of Energy from 2016 – 2019.

James Koerting

Manager, Energy 
Goldfields 

 James Koerting is a mining and energy professional, leading the regional energy supply strategy for Gold Fields Australia. He manages the power supply portfolio for the Agnew, Granny Smith, St Ives and Gruyere gold mines and is actively involved with integrating innovative renewable energy and storage solutions with these remote mining operations. He has experience with contracting for remote power generation, gas transportation and natural gas as well as project studies and delivery. Projects include the 55-60% renewable Agnew wind, solar, battery & gas hybrid (with funding from ARENA) and the Granny Smith and Gruyere solar, battery & gas hybrids which combined are contributing a 66,000 t CO₂-e annual reduction in Gold Field’s carbon emissions.  James has a Bachelor of Engineering in Instrumentation and Control from Murdoch University, a diploma in Project Management and an MBA from Curtin University.

Peter Lambert

Partner 
McKinsey & Company

 Peter Lambert is a Partner in McKinsey & Company’s Oil and Gas Practice based in Sydney. He joined McKinsey in 1997 and spent 18 years based in London serving a range of energy clients on issues related to performance and growth across the gas value chain. 

Peter moved to Sydney in 2015 to lead McKinsey’s Energy Practice in Australia and its Gas Service Line in the Asia Pacific.

Before joining McKinsey he worked as an economist for Ofgas, the UK gas industry regulator, where he was involved in developing competitive markets in gas supply, trading and shipping and in negotiating price controls.

Peter graduated with an honours degree in Economics from Trinity College, Dublin in 1995.

Steve McGill

Group Carbon Management team
BHP

Steve McGill is in BHP’s Group Carbon Management team and is leading BHP’s group decarbonisation planning process across all operated assets, major projects, and legacy assets. He works with assets to develop and optimise their decarbonisation plans in line with company commitments and external expectations. He has a background in mechanical engineering, energy, and emissions management, and he has a passion for finding value through decarbonisation.

Richard McKenzie

Head of Strategy
Western Australian Treasury Corporation

Richard is currently Head of Strategy at Western Australian Treasury Corporation (WATC).   A key element of this role is leading the development of a Sustainability Bond Framework that will enable the issuance of Green or Sustainability Bonds to aid financing WA Government expenditure on eligible projects including those aimed at decarbonisation. Over 2021, Richard led an inter-governmental taskforce of 25 agencies in preparing the publication Supporting Continuous Improvement in ESG Outcomes for Western Australia – released by the Premier in November 2021 and aimed at informing international investors in WA Government debt of the key policy commitments and current actions in progress addressing the environmental and social challenges facing Western Australia.

Richard holds a Masters of Applied Finance from Macquarie University, and prior to WATC has held roles as Head of Economic Indicators at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Director of Producer Inflation Measurement at the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Mark Paterson

Managing Director, Australia / Lead Systems Architect
Strategen 

Mark Paterson is a globally-respected energy system transformation leader with over 25-years of experience in power systems, applied science, systems architecture and thermal and fluid systems. Mark is known for his expertise in leading the navigation of complex and contested issues, systems thinking and the co-design of transformation pathways that foster social license and deliver future-resilient outcomes. 

Mark’s theoretically robust but pragmatic approach is grounded in his electro-mechanical technology origins together with Engineering, Business and Master of Enterprise qualifications. Mark has been formally trained in Systems Architecture & Engineering disciplines at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Power Systems Architecture methodologies developed under US Department of Energy’s Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortia (GMLC). 

Working with strategic clients, Mark leverages his experience leading several national energy system transformation projects and technology innovation firsts. At CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, he chaired the Future Grid Forum and directed the Electricity Network Transformation Roadmap program At Horizon Power and Energex he led technology innovations for deploying new energy technologies in large meshed networks, regional microgrids and remote off-grid applications. 

Internationally, he is a Fellow of the Pacific Energy Institute (PEI), contributing author for the IEEE Power & Energy Society, an invited Associate of the US Department of Energy’s GridWise Architecture Council (GWAC) and an expert contributor to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grid resilience activities.

Greg Ruthven

Associate Director
Rennie Partners

Greg Ruthven is an Associate Director with Rennie Partners, having joined in late 2021.

Greg has strong electricity regulatory and market design experience, having played an active role in the evolution of both the National Electricity Market (NEM) and Western Australian Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM). He has provided strategic input and leadership across various aspects of the markets to support the energy transition, including through policy development, rule changes and advising on system issues.

Greg has worked in electricity markets for the past 12 years – as a specialist in energy market regulation and a strategic adviser at the Australian Energy Market Operator, developing spot market design policy at the Public Utilities Office, and as a manager at the WA Independent Market Operator. He also worked for more than 10 years at energy technology company Schlumberger.

Kate Ryan 

Executive General Manager
Australian Energy Market Operator

Kate Ryan is an Executive General Manager with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), responsible for leading AEMO’s Western Australia function and corporate strategy. Kate joined AEMO in February 2022, and has almost two decades of experience in energy policy, reform and market operations. Kate is passionate about enabling an orderly energy transition so that all Australians can enjoy reliable, affordable and sustainable energy supplies.

Prior to joining AEMO, Kate was the Coordinator of Energy at Energy Policy WA, where she oversaw the strategic policy, reform, regulation and market design for Western Australia’s energy markets.

Genevieve Simpson

Program Leader and WA Node Leader
RACE for 2030 Cooperative Research Centre

Genevieve Simpson is Program Leader and WA Node Leader for the RACE for 2030 Cooperative Research Centre, an industry-led collaboration aiming to invest $350 million in energy-related research by 2030. RACE’s research stretches across energy innovation in businesses, homes, electricity networks and Genevieve’s area that include cross-cutting themes of trust, foresighting and the energy workforce of the future.

Genevieve Simpson holds a PhD from the University of Western Australia with her research focusing on renewable energy policy, and was previously the WA State Relationship Manager for the CSIRO and led the Western Power government relations area. She is Vice Chair of the Australian Institute of Energy - Perth and a Board Member of Carbon Positive Australia.

Tamatha Smith 

General Manager, Corporate Affairs
Energy Networks Australia

Tamatha Smith is the General Manager, Corporate Affairs and Western Australia at Energy Networks Australia.

She is an external affairs and government relations professional with a career that has spanned government and public relations, corporate affairs management, journalism and executive positions at senior levels of the Commonwealth and Western Australian governments. 

Tamatha has worked in leadership roles managing internal and external communications for private and publicly listed companies across a range of industry sectors including resources and infrastructure, government and not-for-profit organisations. Tamatha’s expertise includes issues and crisis management, strategic planning, policy development and brand and reputation management.

Dr Mary Stewart 

Chief Executive Officer
Energetics 

Dr Mary Stewart is Chief Executive Officer of climate and energy transition risk experts, Energetics, which works with ASX200 and all levels of government. Energetics offers advice on net zero targets and pathways to achieve them, strategies for climate resilience, sophisticated data analytics and reporting, and procurement and investment insights as Australia transitions to clean energy. Mary is recognised globally as an expert in decision-making for sustainable development and has assisted some of Australia’s largest energy users to develop climate and energy risk management strategies. She is an international expert on life cycle assessment as it applies to resources and in the development of carbon footprints and carbon neutral positions. Mary is the BINGO (business, industry, NGO) observer on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Technology Executive Committee’s Implementation taskforce. She was invited to take up this position by the International Chamber of Commerce. She is the president of the Energy Efficiency Council of Australia and a member of the International Energy Board of the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE).

Holly Taylor 

Head of Projects
Energy Efficiency Council

Holly leads a team that focuses on strategic projects that build the market for energy management and facilitate the transition to an affordable and reliable energy system that underpins a prosperous, net zero economy. This includes facilitating engagement with key stakeholders on strategic research, business literacy and sector development activities. 

Holly has worked internationally with private and public sector clients that work on innovative solutions to tackle climate change. While in Europe, she worked for the UN, CDP and Salix Finance, where she worked with councils, facilitating the development and delivery of energy and carbon management plans through energy upgrades.

Jai Thomas

A/Coordinator of Energy 
Energy Policy WA 

Jai Thomas is the Acting 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.

Prior to this, Jai held the role of Program Director, Energy Transformation, overseeing Energy Policy WA’s day-to-day delivery of the Government's Energy Transformation Strategy work program.

Jai is an energy sector professional with expertise in electricity regulation and distributed energy projects, and has held regulatory and project delivery roles at both Horizon Power and Western Power.

Kylie Turner

Program Impact Manager
Climate Works

 Kylie is the Program Impact Manager for both the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative (Industry ETI) and the Industry system at Climateworks Centre. The Industry ETI brings together leaders from Australian industry and business to share knowledge, develop industry-backed pathways, and accelerate action towards net zero emissions across critical supply chains of the Australian economy.

The program targets pathways to decarbonisation in the heavy industry supply chains or iron ore and steelmaking, aluminium, LNG, selected metals and chemicals (fertilisers and explosives). 

Kylie has worked in government, business, and the not-for-profit sector in public affairs roles, focusing on stakeholder engagement. Her speciality is building collaborative relationships and alignment between parties, to facilitate transformation.

Kylie has a graduate certificate in business administration and is currently studying for a Masters in Business Administration.

Stephanie Unwin

Chief Executive Officer 
Horizon Power 

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.

Under her leadership Horizon Power is transforming the energy landscape across regional Western Australia, delivering increasingly decentralised, digitalised, cleaner and greener energy solutions to support vibrant and prosperous communities. 

Stephanie is a Board Member of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), a member of the CSIRO Energy Advisory Group, and a Senate member of Murdoch University. She is also a Director at Energy Networks Australia and a member of the investment committee at Kilara Capital.

Martin Wilkes

Managing Director
RISC

 Martin Wilkes is the Managing Director of RISC, an independent international energy advisory company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia.

Martin is a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered Environmentalist and has a Master of Engineering Degree from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and a Member of the Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN).

Martin has worked in the energy industry for over 30 years, holding a range of international positions including project development, business leadership, corporate governance, and technical training. Since joining RISC in 2010 he has provided advice to clients on hundreds of projects, including over 30% of the world’s LNG projects, and several multi-billion-dollar transactions.

Bryn Williams 

Network Strategy Manager
SA Power Networks

Dr Bryn Williams is responsible for SA Power Networks' Network Strategy, a strategic blueprint for transforming the South Australian distribution network and services to support, enable and accelerate South Australia’s world-leading transition to distributed renewable energy. This includes our goal to double the amount of solar the network can accommodate by 2025 and to help customers maximise the benefits of new technologies like batteries, smart devices, virtual power plants and electric vehicles.

Robert Wilson

Executive Director | Head of Western Australia and Resources
Clean Energy Finance Corporation 

Robert Wilson is Head of Western Australia and Resources at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, working to accelerate the development of clean energy investment opportunities in Western Australia. Robert has extensive experience throughout the business investment cycle, from concept through to operations, as well as mergers and acquisitions, advisory and commercial experience across the renewables, infrastructure and resources sectors. Robert has held leadership positions in the Macquarie Capital’s African infrastructure business and Atlas Iron, and worked on the establishment of Climate Investor One, a European climate fund focused on emerging markets. Robert holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, and an MBA from the University of Cape Town.

Tony Wood

Energy and Climate Change Program Director
Grattan Institute 

Tony has been Director of the Energy and Climate Change Program since 2011 after 14 years working at Origin Energy in senior executive roles. From 2009 to 2014 he was also 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. In 2008, he was seconded to provide an industry perspective to the first Garnaut climate change 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.