Kerry Schott exits Net Zero role to avoid AGL Energy ‘conflict’
Kerry Schott’s appointment to the AGL Energy board has triggered her resignation from a high profile Net Zero role in NSW.
Kerry Schott has resigned as NSW’s net-zero emissions chief to dodge a conflict of interest after her appointment to the board of AGL Energy.
The energy veteran said she had sent a letter of resignation to NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean given her concerns over the potential for any clash between the two high-profile roles.
“It was a conflict and while it might have been manageable I just didn’t want to be in a position where it could be perceived as a conflict,” Dr Schott told The Australian on Monday.
“The Net Zero board follows decarbonisation in various sectors, which of course includes electricity. The chance of there being a conflict is certainly there, so it was better to get out of it.”
AGL operates two of the state’s biggest coal plants – at Liddell and Bayswater – and plans to spend up to $20bn on renewable generation and storage before it quits the fuel by 2035.
Dr Schott was hired just under a year ago for the NSW role, replacing former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who was dumped from the same position amid internal acrimony within the Coalition.
She was one of four new directors appointed to AGL two weeks ago as Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes won a battle to refresh the board aimed at more ambitious delivery of green energy goals.
AGL is expected to hold its first board meeting with all nine directors next week after calls for the company to unite following a tumultuous year.
“It is all there to be done, but it needs everyone to do it – and it is not easy,” Dr Schott said when asked about the challenge of executing AGL’s green-focused strategy away from coal.
“I think the first step is to appoint the new CEO. For me, that’s the really first important thing that needs to happen so everyone can settle down and get on with it.”
The eight-day reign of Mr Turnbull as inaugural chairman of the state’s Net Zero Emissions and Clean Economy Board ended in recriminations all round. Former deputy premier John Barilaro said the ex-prime minister “owns this shitshow”; Mr Turnbull said it was caused by media “thuggery”; while Mr Kean blamed himself.
The board was formed to advise the state government on implementing its climate change plan to achieve 50 per cent emissions reduction by 2030, up from an original 35 per cent target, and net zero by 2050.
A high-profile set of business and policy heavyweights joined Dr Schott as the state seeks to become a renewable super-power with board members, including Macquarie chairman Peter Warne, Foreign Investment Review Board member Margaret McDonald and former Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Martin Parkinson.
Dr Schott said she had been pleased with how quickly work was progressing with the board, and electric vehicle progress remained a concern and still largely hinged on federal government initiatives. “Industry is getting on with it and some of the larger emitters are putting a lot of effort into it,” she said.
Dr Schott, a former Sydney Water boss, also steered the federal government’s Energy Security Board in the past few years.
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