Legend of Australian renewables John Grimes to resign as SEC CEO, take on regional role

John Grimes, a stalwart of the Australian renewable energy industry and key negotiator of game-changing policies like the Cheaper Home Batteries rebate, has called time on nearly two decades as CEO of the Smart Energy Council.

Grimes announced on Wednesday that he will retire from his role at the Smart Energy Council (SEC) on May 15, almost 18 years after taking the helm at the independent Australian renewables body back in 2008.

Renew Economy would like to acknowledge the enormous and hugely important role Grimes has played building up Australia’s renewable energy industry over this time, including buffering it against lumpy (and sometimes just-plain-bad) policies and adversarial politics.

Grimes is not hanging up his clean energy and climate boots entirely, however. Rather, he is taking on a new role as chief executive of the Renewable Energy Council Asia Pacific (RECAP), a standalone organisation created by the SEC that will operate as its regional strategic partner.

In this role, Grimes says he will continue to represent SEC members internationally, while also advocating for the accelerated deployment of renewables and storage across the Asia Pacific.

“The time is right. The Smart Energy Council has never been more impactful, financially secure or influential than it is today,” Grimes said in a statement on Wednesday.

Speaking with Renew Economy, Grimes said the state of current federal polling, which shows the pro-nuclear federal Coalition falling behind One Nation, has also helped to convince him now is a good time to pass the baton.

“For the first time, I feel like I’m able to breathe … it gives me permission to do something else.

“The major policy foundations are now in place. And while there will always be more to do, Australia has moved from climate wars to structural reform,” he says.

“So if I think about then, where can I have an impact? I think the transition in the Asia Pacific is so consequential – if that transition does not happen, then the world is fried, frankly. …And so that’s really why I’m stepping out to do that role.

“It’s bittersweet,” he adds. “It’s the end of an end of an era, you know, but also starting something new.

“I will eventually move into the Asia Pacific region, but I’ll be around for some time to come, and I’ve really committed to the [SEC] board that I’ll be here right through the transition to a new CEO.”

On that front, the SEC says its board will soon start the hunt for a replacement for Grimes, who it describes as “one of the most impactful clean energy leaders in Australia’s modern history.”

“For nearly two decades [John] has led from the front – defending the Renewable Energy Target when it was under threat, helping secure the Capacity Investment Scheme, championing the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, and relentlessly advocating for policy certainty that unlocked billions in private investment,” SEC chair Don Henry said on Wednesday.

“He has grown the Smart Energy Council into the peak independent body for Australia’s smart energy industry and elevated its voice nationally and internationally.

“His legacy is not simply policy wins – it is an industry that is larger, stronger, more potent and better organised because of his leadership.

Grimes will be formally farewelled at the SEC Conference Gala Dinner on May 06.