Former AGL chief executive Brett Redman to lead Transgrid
Brett Redman – who shocked the industry when he walked away from AGL Energy earlier this year – will take on the top job at Transgrid.
Brett Redman has been confirmed as the new chief executive of NSW electricity transmission operator Transgrid, marking a high profile return to the energy industry after his bombshell resignation from the top job at AGL Energy.
As revealed online by The Australian on Wednesday night, Mr Redman will start as CEO on November 16 and said he will focus on aiding the energy transition as the grid moves away from coal.
“Transgrid will play a pivotal role in Australia’s decarbonisation journey. As the backbone of our electricity market, transmission networks are critical to connecting renewable energy as the transition away from coal gathers pace,“ Mr Redman said in a TransGrid statement.
“I am committed to working closely with governments and other stakeholders so Transgrid can invest in and deliver the transmission projects that will transform the network.“
Mr Redman takes over from Brian Salter who assumed the top job on an interim basis after the resignation of Paul Italiano.
The NSW transmission grid owner is seen as a vital cog in building infrastructure that can deliver an expected surge in renewable power supply across the grid this decade.
TransGrid chairman Jerry Maycock, who held the same role at AGL, said Mr Redman had deep experience in managing complex change.
“His commercial acumen and focus on innovation will also be invaluable as we grow Transgrid’s energy services and telecommunications business, Lumea who continue to invest in new technologies including grid scale batteries, energy management systems, and the electrification of transport,“ Mr Maycock said.
Spark Infrastructure, which owns 15 per cent of TransGrid, said the former AGL boss was well placed to lead the company amid rapid change in the sector.
“His extensive experience in the energy sector and commercial acumen makes him the ideal executive to assist TransGrid in continuing to lead the transition to Australia’s clean energy future,” Spark CEO Rick Francis said.
Mr Redman plunged AGL into crisis in April after resigning just weeks after he laid out plans to split the company in two and less than three years after he took on the CEO role at Australia’s biggest electricity company.
The Sydney-based executive only officially signed off from AGL a week ago after acting in an advisory capacity to help guide a demerger that will hive off its coal arm and create a separate retail focused business.
Mr Redman was first linked with the role in July by The Australian although the move has surprised some observers in the industry given Transgrid is a smaller operator than AGL and holds a relatively low profile in the sector.
One of the company’s most important relationships is also with the NSW government, which could involve Mr Redman having to patch up his relationship with Treasurer and Energy Minister Matt Kean after the two traded barbs over the state’s new energy policy.
Mr Redman said last week he was proud of his near 15-year stint at AGL and gave a nod to the difficult task faced by the industry as it works through a complex renewable-led reworking of the grid.
“Transition is often difficult, both as an industry and personally. But it is how we move forward to an exciting future,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
Transgrid itself has also endured a turbulent period after Mr Italiano suddenly resigned in July after five years in the role, leaving the company just five days later.
Mr Salter, the power transmission company’s executive general manager, has been acting CEO in the months since but was not expected to fill the role on a permanent basis.
Mr Salter was dismissed from AMP in 2018 amid fallout from the fee-for-no-service scandal and joined Transgrid a year after.
Mr Italiano’s exit added to a bulging list of CEO departures from the nation’s big electricity companies so far this year. In addition to Mr Redman’s AGL move, EnergyAustralia’s Cath Tanna departed and the head of Queensland’s largest power company resigning in a coal row. Across the energy sector, Beach Energy boss Matt Kay quit on Tuesday while Woodside boss Peter Coleman stepped aside and Oil Search CEO Keiran Wulff left amid alleged bullying complaints.
Transgrid is owned by a consortium of Spark Infrastructure, Utilities Trust of Australia, Canada’s CDPQ, Tawreed Investments and pension giant Omers with the group buying the poles and wires company from the NSW government for $10.3bn in November 2015.
The company in May approved a $2.2bn, 900km power cable called EnergyConnect to transmit renewables between NSW and South Australia despite flagging concerns over difficulties sealing long-term financing.
EnergyConnect is seen as a critical link for NSW when old coal plants in the state retire by allowing cheap renewables to be imported from South Australia, avoiding big jumps in wholesale electricity prices.
The company is also moving ahead with plans to deliver 10 gigawatts of renewable power after splitting off its commercial arm and accelerating a shift to cleaner energy and lower emissions.
The new business, called Lumea, will build the infrastructure and electricity connections required for a flood of solar and wind in Australia as the power grid moves away from coal to a system of renewables backed by fast-start generation, including pumped hydro, gas and batteries.