Energy technologies and business model innovator Justine Jarvinen takes up role as Wattwatchers Chair

Energy technology pacesetter Wattwatchers is delighted to announce the appointment of Justine Jarvinen as non-executive Chair.

Ms Jarvinen is currently Chief Operating Officer of the Energy Institute at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and her prior corporate roles include Head of Emerging Technologies at AGL Energy.

Ms Jarvinen will lead the Wattwatchers Board during a critical growth stage following the company’s successful $4 million Series A investment round which closed in August.

The other directors on the five-member Board are:

●  Christopher Bean – Wattwatchers Founder

●  Gavin Dietz – Wattwatchers Managing Director and CEO

●  Dr Mark Bonnar – Managing Director at Southern Cross Venture Partners

●  Blair Pritchard – Director, Investment Development at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation

CEO Gavin Dietz said that Ms Jarvinen’s executive experience across the energy value chain, including in emerging technologies and the foundation of the ‘New Energy’ business unit at energy gentailer AGL, are immensely relevant for Wattwatchers.

‘Our growing team is excited to have an energy sector innovator of Justine’s stature and experience signing on to lead our Board at such an important time for our business and the whole electricity system,’ said Mr Dietz.

‘Justine has strong, contemporary and very hands-on understanding of the key themes for energy sector transformation that are most relevant to Wattwatchers’ technology path, including smart meters, distributed generation such as solar PV, energy storage, virtual power plants, demand-side management, electric vehicles, and the Internet of Things for energy management.’

Ms Jarvinen said she knew the business growth journey that Wattwatchers was embarked on.

‘I’ve seen it from the other side, in a large industry incumbent, leading initiatives to form “New Energy” partnerships and undertake strategic investments in start-ups,’ said Ms Jarvinen.

‘I’ve been aware of Wattwatchers for several years through my work on emerging technologies. After a quiet-achiever early-stage period, Wattwatchers has made outstanding progress, especially in the past 18 months, on becoming a proven behind-the-meter hardware and data platform for managing energy over the internet.

‘A key differentiation from competitors is Wattwatchers’ flexibility, based on its non-exclusive and “software-agnostic” approach, which allows its real-time data streams – and now its circuit-level over-the-air control capabilities – to be utilised in an expanding range of cloud-based services and solutions extending across residential, commercial and industrial, and utility applications.’

Ms Jarvinen said that Wattwatchers was emblematic of the potential for homegrown Australian energy technologies to have global impact, especially for applying intelligent solutions to today’s great challenges for transforming electricity grids – including integrating distributed energy resources, empowering consumers, and phasing out carbon emissions.