Speakers

Nikki is the Chairman of Northpower Ltd, and has been on the board for more years than she cares to remember – a board that has taken the company through the late 90s reforms, and grown the business from a small distribution business to one that now has both electricity and fibre networks, as well as a large distribution and transmission contracting division.  Nikki is also a director of Landcorp Farming Ltd, Farmlands Co-operative Society Ltd and WorkSafe New Zealand.

Vic has significant executive and governance experience in technology and innovation. She brings a strong customer focus, and a track record of leading and implementing strategy, and building organisational culture.  Vic was previously the Managing Director of Xero, NZ and New Markets, following executive roles at Chorus and Telecom New Zealand.   She has been an Independent Director on the Boards of a number of companies and organisations in the technology sector, including RedShield, Figure.NZ, Creative HQ and the Hi-Tech Trust.

Philippa leads the development of Delta-ee’s Flexibility Research. She also manages and works on a wide range of consultancy projects, for a variety of clients, on demand response, smart buildings and low carbon heating.  Previously she worked in the Heat Research Team at Delta-ee – managing the Pathways Service and working on the Heat Insight Service, which quantified market disruptions, forecasted the future of residential heating and analysed customer needs and wants.

Erik has extensive experience providing assistance to clients on the development implementation and evaluation of strategies and advice on all aspects planning, funding, implementation and operation of initiatives that arise from those strategies.  This work has included as a CEO and Director, where he has led executive teams and worked with his Board.

Once an architect, then a curator and now an analyst, as Head of Product at Dexibit, Alex Garkavenko magically combines the three to help the world's museums become data driven through big data analytics and artificial intelligence. Alex is fascinated with the intersection of data, storytelling and the urban
context and believes that the cultural institution plays an important role in the future of the smart city.

Co-founder, owner, and director of Serato, Steve West is passionate about promoting New Zealand business success, sustainability, and energy independence. His current focus is on accelerating the transition away from fossil fuel based transportation. Putting his money where his mouth is, he founded ChargeNet NZ to build the largest Fast DC Charging network in the southern hemisphere.

Toby is a Consulting Director with international economics consulting firm Sapere Research Group. His expert area is electricity trading and risk management and he established himself as an independent energy consultant in 2004. Toby was the General Manager Electricity Trading at Contact Energy from its inception in 1996 to 2003 and has held a number of industry governance positions.

At Mercury we are on a mission to inspire New Zealanders to enjoy energy in more wonderful ways. Roxanne is leading the digital transformation of Mercury’s next generation energy services, to define and create the best imaginable customer experiences. Roxanne is a passionate leader and a strong customer advocate who believes in leaving a lasting legacy. Before joining Mercury, Roxanne gained wide experience in the digital world, in banking (ASB), telecommunications (Spark) and publishing industries.

Steve has been helping disruptive ideas become great businesses for more than 20 years in a number of utility industries.  He has experience in both the NZ market and in a number of large international markets.  Aside from Flick Electric, Steve’s energy industry experience includes driving innovation and new ventures to market for Meridian Energy.  Prior to founding Flick Electric Steve was CEO of Creative HQ, Wellington’s business incubator and innovation centre.

Ms Cameron joined ERANZ from the Brewers' Association of Australia and New Zealand where she held the role of Director of External Relations. Prior to this, Ms Cameron served as a diplomat with the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade including a posting in Tokyo, and an assignment in Manila. She provided policy and legal advice in areas of trade policy, bilateral relations, international agreements, and environmental law. Before joining MFAT, Ms Cameron practiced law at Jacobs Florentine in Palmerston North.

Ms Cameron holds a BA (Psych) and LLB from Victoria University.

Tim Fairchild is the Director of the SAS Global Communications and Energy Practice. In this role he leads a team responsible for developing global product strategy and defining and delivering market-driven offerings for the Communications and Energy industries. His team works closely with global customers, alliance partners, and SAS Research & Development to ensure that SAS Communications and Energy solutions meet the needs of the market.

Stephen currently holds the role of General Manager - Grid Development for Transpower, where he is accountable for the long term strategic plan and engineering of the transmission grid. 

Previous to this he held senior management roles in the power and investment banking industries, including technical design and consulting with Mitton ElectroNet and PB Power, asset management and maintenance at Meridian Energy, analysis and equities at Kleinwort Benson, and a variety of research, engineering, and operations within the nuclear arm of the CEGB.

Recently Mike has worked on the effect of competition regulation on business and markets.  Mike has extensive experience in the application of economic frameworks to a wide range of areas including business case analysis, financial management, information technology, operational risk, and credit risk.

John Hancock is an independent consultant to utility companies and their suppliers, drawing on his valuable combination of deep experience in both technology and deregulation as key dimensions of the strategic environment in the sector. He has a 20 year career in the utilities industry including 14 years with Ernst & Young, Capgemini and Hewlett Packard (HP) in the Asia Pacific. John has worked with over 50 clients in the utility industry across 11 countries.