New members appointed to Electricity Commission

Energy Minister David Parker today announced four appointments to the Electricity Commission.

The new Electricity Commission Chair is David Caygill. He takes up his position on 15 October.

"David Caygill will make a valuable contribution to the Electricity Commission. He has a mix of legal, regulatory and governance experience as well as a deep understanding of the electricity sector," David Parker said.

David Caygill has extensive governance experience through serving on numerous public and private sector boards and as an industry regulator in his current position as Deputy Chair of the Commerce Commission. His extensive electricity sector experience includes chairing the Ministerial Inquiry into the Electricity in 2000, chairing the Grid Security Committee and chairing the industry’s attempt at establishing self-governance through the Electricity Governance Establishment Committee.

Three new members are Richard Bentley, David Bull, and Linda Constable. They take up their appointments on 10 November.

Richard Bentley is an experienced company executive and director with a comprehensive background and understanding of corporate governance in the private and public sector. "His business skills will be a considerable asset to the Electricity Commission," David Parker said.

Richard Bentley is a civil engineer by training and from 1989 to 2000 he was Chief Executive of Natural Gas Corporation. He was also a Director of NGC from 2000 until 2005. He has held an extensive number of other public and private sector directorships in recent years. Currently his directorships include Chair of NZ Institute for Crop and Food Research, Chair of the Carter Observatory and Chair of Karori Wildlife Sanctuary Trust.

David Bull is a Martinborough vineyard owner and operator. He has an excellent understanding of the New Zealand electricity system from 21 years as a power system engineer at ECNZ and predecessor organisations. "His electrical engineering knowledge will be very valuable to the Board," said the Minister.

David Bull is also experienced in central government processes and stakeholder and community relations from 15 years as a Wellington City Councillor or Wellington Regional Councillor and five years as General Manager in the Department of Internal Affairs. David’s governance and commercial experience includes chairing numerous city and regional council committee, as member of the NZ Fire Service, Wellington Polytechnic Council and Director of Wellington International Airport Ltd.

Linda Constable is a professional director and a self-employed legal and resource-management consultant. "Her previous involvement with the energy sector and service on numerous government and community bodies will be of considerable value to the Commission," said the Minister.

Linda Constable was chair of the electricity lines company Orion for seven years until retiring from the Board in 2006. Her current directorships are with ONTRACK (NZ Railways Corporation) and Ngai Tahu Holdings Corporation (Director of the Holdings Company and Ngai Tahu Fisheries, Ngai Tahu Tourism, and Chair of Ngai Tahu Property). Linda has a great deal of experience with local government and community organisations. She was a Christchurch City Councillor for nine years from 1986 to 1995.

The three new members replace David Close and Graham Pinnell, who have come to the end of their second terms, and Doug Dell who has resigned. The Minister paid tribute to the three retiring members all of whom have served the Commission since its establishment four years ago.

"I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the valuable contribution these members have made to the Commission’s set up and ongoing work over the past four years. During that time the Commission has made significant progress on many major issues, including some long standing issues that had not been resolved under the previous electricity industry self-governance regime."

The appointments are all for a three year term.

The Electricity Commission is a Crown Entity established in 2003 to take responsibility for the governance and regulation of electricity sector. There are six Commissioners. The other two are Peter Harris and Stan Rodger.