Our Board of Directors
Chairman
Jim is an experienced director, chief executive and executive manager. His governance experience includes past Chair of MCom and Intilecta. He is currently chair at Payments New Zealand, ComplyPro and Tubman Heating and a director at Lyttleton Port and Ngai Tahu Tainui Go Bus. His executive career included being the inaugural CEO of KiwiRail, Chief of Strategy at Auckland Council, and CEO of Express Couriers joint venture between New Zealand Post and DHL. He has had General Management roles in New Zealand Post, Advantage Group (EFTPOS Industry), WEL Energy, QED Software and New Zealand Couriers.
Jim Quinn
Director and CEO at WEL Network
Garth joined WEL Networks as CEO in 2014. His career in New Zealand’s electricity industry spans generation, retail, transmission, and more recently, distribution sectors. Previously Garth was GM Grid Performance at Transpower and also held a number of engineering and senior management positions at Meridian Energy, including GM Markets and Production. Garth holds an engineering degree and an MBA.
Garth Dibley
Director and Chief Executive at PowerNet
Jason joined PowerNet in 2012 as Chief Executive. Previously he worked in a variety of senior roles for Rio Tinto and the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (ECNZ). While with Rio Tinto, Jason held a number of commercial roles in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. These roles included the management of the energy arrangements for Rio Tinto. Jason’s experience with ECNZ, followed by 14 years experience in the industry as a major electricity user with Rio Tinto, led to his appointment as Chief Executive for PowerNet. Jason has held a number of industry positions, including as an executive committee member of the Major Electricity Users Group and a member of the Wholesale Advisory Group for the New Zealand Electricity Authority.
Jason Franklin
Director and CEO at Network Tasman
Oliver Kearney is the CEO of Network Tasman and is a qualified chartered accountant. He is also a director of On Metering Limited & Nelson Electricity Limited.
Oliver Kearney
Caroline Ovenstone
Director
Director and General Manager New Zealand Energy Development & Strategy at PowerNet
Kavi joined the SmartCo board in 2019. He has been the General Manager New Energy Development & Strategy role since 2018 when he returned from the UK, where he held executive roles with global energy and analytics companies. Prior to that he worked for both Mercury Energy and Vector in management and operational roles. Kavi is a highly accomplished and entrepreneurial executive, with extensive experience in global energy markets. He has a strong background in commercialisation, operations management and strategic planning. Kavi has an engineering degree, a PhD in operations management and optimisation, and is a member of the NZ Institute of Directors.
Kavi Singh
Our Leadership
Chief Executive
With 30 years’ experience within New Zealand’s electricity industry, Guy brings a wealth of knowledge to the team. Guy previously owned and directed an electrical and field services management company that was one of the first providers of smart metering deployment services to the New Zealand market. He has more recently been performing the Operations Manager role at SmartCo and project management roles at Alpine Energy Limited and On Metering Limited.
