Transgrid names former Origin Energy head as new chairman

The energy company has appointed former Origin Energy boss Grant King as its new chairman – a job that will see him join ex-AGL Energy chief to help transform its operations.

Transgrid has appointed Grant King as its new chairman, tasking the former head of Origin Energy with overseeing the company as it embarks on delivering much of Australia’s energy transition.

Mr King, former managing director of Origin Energy and current chairman of the Climate Change Authority, will replace Jerry Maycock as chairman.

The appointment will see Mr King pair with Transgrid’s chief executive Brett Redman – the former AGL Energy CEO to deliver Australia’s energy transition.

Transgrid is playing a pivotal role in developing Australia’s new transmission lines, which if completed as expected will unlock a plethora of new renewable energy developments, but the high-voltage transmission lines are particularly contentious and work has been painstakingly slow as developers work to secure landowner approval.

Mr King said he was delighted to join Transgrid.

“It’s a great privilege and opportunity to join one of Australia’s most critical energy infrastructure businesses at a time when Australia has a significant challenge ahead of it to deliver a timely transition to a clean energy future,” he said.

Mr King, who is also the chairman of HSBC Bank Australia and Sydney Water, will join Transgrid on August 5.

The appointment of Mr King comes as Australia’s transmission lines are under pressure to accelerate progress on critical infrastructure while also keeping costs down and allaying community concerns,

Renewable energy developers are waiting for transmission lines to be finalised before accelerating work on renewable energy projects, but pockets of local communities have vowed to oppose the infrastructure.

Opponents insist the transmission lines will substantially reduce the value of their properties, disrupt their farming operations, and the compensation they have been offered is inadequate.

Developers like Transgrid insist they are understanding of the needs of landowners and are gradually securing landowner approvals, a process smoothed as states and territories heighten their offers of compensation.

But new developments are also high inflation, which has increased the cost of the infrastructure.

Transgrid’s HumeLink transmission line, which will join Snowy 2.0 to the National Electricity Market, has increased in costs by 30 per cent to around $5bn.

Those costs will eventually be borne by households and businesses either through their bills or tax receipts, it also threatens to delay Australia’s energy transition.

The Albanese government has set an aggressive target of having renewable energy generate more than 80 per cent of the country’s by 2030 – a target that is in peril as new large-scale solar and wind projects wait for planning approvals and certainty that they will be able to connect into the grid.