Official Event Advisory Panel
Quest Events would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the panel members below who are contributing their valuable time and expertise to ensure the conference agenda is timely and relevant for all stakeholders working in the Australian stationary energy sector.
Keith Orchison
Director
Coolibah (Chair)
Keith Orchison has been engaged in the Australian energy industry for 33 years, of which he spent 24 as chief executive of national industry associations representing the upstream petroleum and electricity supply sectors.
He was a founder of the Australian Industry Greenhouse Network, which he chaired in 2000. From 2003 to 2007 he served on the Critical Infrastructure Advisory Council set up by the Howard government and was chairman of its energy committee. He was also chairman of CSIRO's energy technology advisory committee in the late 1990s and was deputy chairman and the overseeing manager of the Australian Electricity Supply Industry Research Board through most of the 1990s.
In 2011-12 he was a member of the Federal Government's energy white paper reference group.
Keith was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2004 and was awarded the 2012 Sir Willis Connolly Memorial Medal by AusIMM for communication services to the resources sector. He also is a holder of the APPEA Gold Medal (now the Reg Sprigg Medal), awarded in 1994 for services to the petroleum industry.
Keith has been principal of consultancy Coolibah Pty Ltd since retiring from ESAA at the end of 2003 and has numerous clients for his communications services across the spectrum of energy stakeholders.
He edited the "Powering Australia" yearbook from 2007 to 2012.
He is a commentator on energy issues for "Business Spectator" electronic newspaper and has a new column in "Gas Today" magazine.
His "This is Power" blog and monthly newsletter on the Coolibah website are widely read in the energy industry.
In late 2012, in partnership with media company ArmstrongQ, he launched the "OnPower" website and yearbook to provide a new media focus on eastern Australia's electricity supply business.
Kate Farrar
Managing Director
QEnergy
Kate Farrar has substantial energy market experience, with more than 15 years in the industry.
From 1999 to 2007, Kate held the role of Chief Operating Officer of Ergon Energy’s Powerdirect Australia business. Under Kate’s leadership, Powerdirect Australia grew to become one of Australia’s top five energy retailers, covering a diverse customer base ranging from domestic and small business customers to large mines and airports. In 2007 Kate led the sale of Powerdirect to AGL for $1.2 billion – $0.5 billion above expectations. Kate was previously a Director with ABN AMRO Morgans (now RBS Morgans), a national financial advisory firm. In 2006 Kate won Queensland Business Review’s Public Sector ‘Women in Business Award’ and was a Queensland finalist in the Hudson Community and Government Award category of the Telstra Business Women’s Awards. This year, Kate was a finalist in the Entrepreneur of the Year awards. Kate is also a Director with Mater Health Services.
In her role as Managing Director of QEnergy, Kate drives the company’s aspiration to become the retailer of choice for all Australian small businesses. Beginning in Queensland, QEnergy now serves 17,500 business customers across the Eastern Seaboard and the Northern Territory.
Charles Popple
Executive Advisor - Industry Development
AusNet Services
Charles has extensive electricity industry experience, particularly in strategy and technical planning, related to networks and electricity market development and reform. He played a significant role in the Victorian ESI reform, in particular the creation and implementation of the transmission system arrangements and following disaggregation in 1994 held a number of General Management roles in the sector. He consulted internationally on energy market reform during a period as a Consultant with Ernst and Young from 1998 to 2001. He joined SP AusNet in 2001, and from 2008 to 2013 was General Manager, Networks Strategy and Development responsible for all the engineering, planning and regulation aspects of the business, managing the Division with 250 professional staff involved in these activities. He now fills an Executive Advisory role considering longer term regulatory reform to ensure compatibility with the rapidly evolving sector.
Chris Greig
Professor and Energy Initiative Director
University of Queensland
Professor Chris Greig leads the UQ Energy Initiative, a University-wide initiative to showcase UQ’s energy research capabilities across all faculties and institutes.
Chris is a UQ alumnus having obtained his BE, Masters and PhD in Chemical Engineering at UQ. As a graduate he was the cofounder and Managing Director of a successful company that commercialised innovative sugar processing technology internationally for over 10 years. He has since held senior executive and project director roles in construction, mining and clean energy industries both in Australia and abroad over a career spanning 25 years.
Prior to joining UQ, Chris was Project Director and CEO of ZeroGen, which conducted one of the world’s most comprehensive studies on the potential of a large scale, low emissions coal fired power project incorporating carbon capture and storage. The project also undertook Australia’s largest onshore carbon storage investigation and exploration program.