AGL board clean-out continues, with new chair – and a new renewables champion

Australian renewables champion Miles George has joined the non-executive ranks of AGL Energy, as part of a long-drawn out and major overhaul of the board at the big three gen-tailer.

AGL said on Monday it had appointed existing board member Patricia McKenzie as the company’s new chairperson, effective immediately, to replace outgoing chair, Peter Botten, who had decided to step down.

Botten’s resignation from AGL was first announced in May, alongside that of CEO Graeme Hunt, after the board and management team failed to win shareholder backing for a proposed demerger plan.

The ill-fated plan had been to split the company into two – carving out the bulk of the company’s fossil fuel assets into a new entity, Accel Energy while leaving the core AGL brand to focus on electricity retailing, renewable electricity generation and providing carbon neutral services to customers.

But the demerger had some weighty opponents, including billionaire shareholder Mike Cannon-Brookes, who fought to prevent it after a takeover offer led by the Atlassian founder was rejected by the AGL board.

Cannon-Brookes has spent $650 million of his own money – through Grok Ventures – amassing an 11 per cent personal stake in AGL, making him the single biggest shareholder, while also winning the support of major institutional investors like superannuation fund Hesta to build a blocking stake.

The effort was a success – but as Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley wrote here last month, the bungled demerger has since devolved into “an ongoing trainwreck” where both the chair and CEO had resigned, but not yet left the control room, putting off “long overdue board and leadership renewal.”

That renewal now seems to be gathering pace, finally, with McKenzie stepping into the role of chair, and bringing with her experience that ranges from roles as chair of Essential Energy, and a director of APA Group, AEMO, Macquarie Generation and Transgrid.

New to the AGL board, meanwhile, is Miles George, an appointment – as Independent Non-Executive Director – which the gen-tailer says resulted from a quest to find a director experienced in renewable energy project delivery.

As the former managing director of what was once Australia’s largest wind farm owner, Infigen Energy (since bought up by international giant Iberdrola), George certainly ticks the box on that measure. But he is also widely considered one of the Australian renewable energy’s industry’s strongest advocates.

In addition to his role at Infigen, George was a former chair of the Clean Energy Council and adviser to the AEMC and AEMO on the energy transition.

“Mr George’s appointment as Non-Executive Director will enhance AGL’s renewable energy credentials and leadership to help drive further the deployment of renewable and firming technologies required for the decarbonisation of AGL’s energy portfolio,” McKenzie said on Monday.

On the replacement of Hunt as CEO, AGL says that process is “continuing as planned,” with the establishment of a short list of Australian and global candidates.

In the meantime, AGL CFO Damien Nicks will fill in as interim CEO when Hunt finishes up on September 30, with Gary Brown stepping in as interim CFO.

“The company has been through a period of significant change and uncertainty, and I am stepping into the Chair role to provide clear direction and stable experienced leadership as we redesign our energy portfolio and deliver the outcomes of the review of strategic direction,” McKenzie said.

“This is an important time in AGL’s 185-year history and for the future of energy generation, not just in Australia but around the world. We must all work together to decarbonise and change our energy portfolio.”