Our People

Our Board Members

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Chair

Frank Calabria

Chief Executive Officer, Origin

Deputy Chair

Erin Van Maanen

Executive General Manager Strategy, Hydro Tasmania

Board Directors

Andrea Bernand

Managing Director Retail, ENGIE ANZ

Dennis Barnes

Chief Executive Officer, Snowy Hydro

Nigel Clark

Chief Executive Officer, Aurora Energy

Mark Collette

Managing Director, EnergyAustralia

Jeff Dimery

Chief Executive Officer, Alinta Energy

James Harman

Chief Executive Officer, EDL

Tony Keeling

Chief Executive Officer, Shell Energy Australia

Damien Nicks

Chief Executive Officer, AGL Energy

Catrina Cresswell - (Non-Voting Representative)

Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer, Snowy Hydro

Libby Hawker - (Non-Voting Representative)

GM Regulatory Affairs & Compliance, Shell Energy Australia

Our Executive Team

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Louisa Kinnear

Chief Executive Officer

Louisa Kinnear assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Energy Council in September 2024.

Prior to this, Louisa was the Chief Executive Officer at Jacana Energy, the largest energy retailer in the Northern Territory. She has also held senior roles at Synergy, Western Power and Water Corporation and previously worked for the Department of the Premier and Cabinet in Western Australia.

For the past 15 years, Louisa has helped governments, businesses, and customers across various jurisdictions navigate and benefit from the renewable energy transition. She is a strong advocate for fostering collaboration across the energy sector to ensure a successful transition.

Louisa Kinnear

Chief Executive Officer

Ben Barnes

General Manager Corporate Affairs

Ben Barnes joined the Australian Energy Council in 2018, and has more than 15 years of energy market and policy development experience. Ben has held a range of roles at the AEC, including GM Retail Policy, Interim CEO, and currently is General Manager Corporate Affairs and Company Secretary, with responsibilities including Government Relations, Media, Communications, Finance, and Governance.

Prior to joining the AEC Ben spent eight years at Red Energy, with experience in regulatory affairs, compliance, customer experience, and new energy areas of the retail business. Ben is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a Director of the Financial Counselling Industry Fund.

Ben Barnes

General Manager Corporate Affairs

David Feeney

General Manager Wholesale & Environment

David joined the AEC as the General Manager, Wholesale and Environment in August 2023. David was most recently the General Manager, Policy at Transgrid, leading a small team of policy experts focussed on transmission policy both nationally and in NSW.

Prior to this, David was at the Australian Energy Market Commission as an Executive General Manager, initially focussing on Retail and Wholesale Markets, and later leading the networks team. David led policy teams responsible for rule changes and reviews, with extensive stakeholder engagement key to the AEMC processes.

He has more than 25 years’ experience across the telecommunications, energy and government sectors. David’s previous roles include both regulatory and commercial roles with Telstra and managing industry engagement and commercial management for NBN Co. He has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Newcastle and a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Sydney.

David Feeney

General Manager Wholesale & Environment

Jo De Silva

General Manager Retail Policy

Jo De Silva is the General Manager Retail Policy at the Australian Energy Council. Jo was most recently a senior leader at the Australian Energy Market Operator (ISP Consumer Panel) and Energy & Water Ombudsman SA, experienced in representing the long-term interests of different cohorts of energy consumers in regulatory and technical processes. Jo has served as a member of the Energy Security Board Stakeholder Steering Group and the National Customer Code Council for Comparators and Moving Services.

Jo was a member of the Australian Energy Regulator Consumer Reference Group, all four Energy Security Board National Energy Guarantee Technical Working Groups and the Australian Energy Market Commission System Security Technical Working Group. Heading up energy policy at the South Australian Council of Social Service for around a decade, Jo convened the National Consumer Roundtable on Energy and was an inaugural member of the AER’s Consumer Challenge Panel. Jo is a former Judge of the South Australian Premier’s Mining and Energy Awards.

Jo De Silva

General Manager Retail Policy

Team Members

Carl Kitchen

Communications Manager

Sylwia Kautz

Finance Manager

Graham Pearson

WA Policy Manager

Rhys Thomas

Policy Manager

Tom Monaghan

Senior Advisor

Anna Ortiz

Executive Assistant / Office Manager

We're hiring!

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Our People

Our Board Members

Frank Calabria

Frank Calabria

Erin Van Maanen

Erin Van Maanen

Board Directors

Andrea Bernand

Dennis Barnes

Nigel Clark

Mark Collette

Jeff Dimery

James Harman

Tony Keeling

Damien Nicks

Catrina Cresswell - (Non-Voting Representative)

Libby Hawker - (Non-Voting Representative)

Our Executive Team

Louisa Kinnear

Louisa Kinnear

Ben Barnes

Ben Barnes

David Feeney

David Feeney

Jo De Silva

Jo De Silva

Team Members

Carl Kitchen

Sylwia Kautz

Graham Pearson

Rhys Thomas

Tom Monaghan

Anna Ortiz

We're hiring!

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