Speakers

Richelle Ashman

Richelle is Marketing and Communications Manager at Clarus, where she leads brand and communications strategy for Clarus, Firstgas, First Renewables and Firstlight Network. Over the past four years, she has led the development and evolution of these businesses’ brands, including the successful rebrands of Firstgas Group to Clarus and Eastland Group to Firstlight Network. Passionate about clear, transparent communication, she believes understanding public perceptions is key to building trust and supporting informed conversations about New Zealand’s energy future.

Richard Bartlett (BioGrid)

Richard Bartlett (CPEng, MBA) brings over 16 years of hands-on experience in the design, construction, and commissioning of biomethane & renewable energy projects.

Having managed the commissioning, certification and operational handover of some of the largest biomethane projects in Europe and North America, Richard is well placed to lean-in and support the establishment of a renewable gas industry in Aotearoa Recognised for his structured approach to project management and ability to navigate complex energy infrastructure programs, Richard combines deep technical expertise with strategic insight. He holds postgraduate qualifications in both renewable energy and business, enabling him to bridge technical and commercial domains to accelerate the clean energy transition.

Andy Bedford

As the General Manager of Ecogas Andy is responsible for managing the commercial realities of an anaerobic digestion business in New Zealand. From policy conversations, feedstock management to the day-to-day operations on site no two days is the same for Andy and the team. Ecogas is the first business in New Zealand to inject biomethane into our gas grid through our partnership with First Renewables – this journey has had its challenges, but Andy and the team are producing sustainable biomethane from organic waste which has huge growth potential in New Zealand”. Andy is passionate about Ecogas and the broader anaerobic digestion industry and the potential it has in New Zealand.

Larry Blair

Larry Blair is a seasoned project manager and offshore operations specialist with over 20 years of experience in the energy industry.

As the founder of LBC Consultancy & Project Management, Larry provides high-level project and technical services to large infrastructure, energy, and marine projects. His experience includes offshore operations & project management, shipyard construction management, dairy factory water treatment upgrades, drilling and engineering support.

Beyond consultancy services, Larry is a self-described specialist generalist and an insightful commentator on New Zealand’s energy system via his New Zealand Energy Substack newsletter. A newsletter originally started to explore New Zealand’s energy landscape and to assist readers to develop their own energy literacy. His recent analyses have focused on New Zealand’s energy security, the biological underpinnings of energy demand, and the merits of various fuel substitution initiatives.

With a deep understanding of thermodynamics and using wide boundary system level analysis, he brings a pragmatic and strategic perspective to energy transition and infrastructure development.

Holding a New Zealand Certificate of Engineering (NZCE) in Industrial Measurement and Control, Larry combines technical expertise with hands-on approach, strategic foresight, and a passion to see New Zealand thrive in an abundant, reliable, and cheap energy future.

Richard Briggs

Richard Briggs is Group Manager of Delivery & Partnerships at EECA (the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority), EECA focuses on improving energy affordability, strengthening supply resilience, and fuelling economic growth through energy efficiency, conservation, and scaling renewable solutions.

Since joining EECA in 2014, Richard has held a number of leadership roles across both business and transport portfolios before being appointed Group Manager in 2022. He now leads the Delivery & Partnerships Group, responsible for market engagement across all sectors, industry and product partnerships, and the delivery of major programmes including Warmer Kiwi Homes and EECA’s business and transport initiatives.

Richard brings more than 30 years of experience across the IT and telecommunications sectors, with extensive expertise in strategic partnerships, commercial delivery, and stakeholder management throughout New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. His career has centred on building strong collaborative relationships, enabling innovation, and delivering practical outcomes at scale.

With a strong focus on energy affordability, reliability, and practical delivery, Richard is passionate about helping New Zealanders access smarter energy solutions that strengthen communities, improve affordability, and support a more secure and self-reliant energy system for the future.

Paul Bull

Paul leads EECA’s Business engagement programme with a team of Regional Managers (6), plus Industry and Sector leads to access a wider business audience. Prior to joining in EECA in 2014, have engaged with energy sector through time spent at a large NZ energy generator and retailer (Contact Energy) in both a Key accounts and Regional Sales Manager role, with wide portfolio of Electricity, Natural Gas & LPG customers, plus 18 years working for a multi-national fuel company (Caltex) in wide variety of roles. This has built strong networks and industry knowledge to help drive better outcomes today for New Zealand business.

Mike Casey

Mike Casey is an entrepreneur and cherry orchardist from Central Otago who has electrified all the machines on his farm and demonstrated how the transition away from diesel can save farmers tens of thousands each year and significantly reduce emissions. He is also the CEO of Rewiring Aotearoa, a New Zealand charity dedicated to electrifying millions of fossil fuel machines across the motu as quickly as possible, and was awarded the Kiwibank Sustainability Leader of the Year award in 2026.

Jeffrey Clarke (GasNZ)

Jeffrey Clarke is Chief Executive of GasNZ, where he represents the organisations shaping New Zealand’s gas future. With a background spanning commercial law, the energy and wine sectors, and scientific research, and experience in both senior leadership and governance roles across industry associations, he brings a pragmatic perspective to New Zealand’s energy challenges and opportunities.

Jeffrey works with government, regulators and industry on the policy and commercial challenges of balancing energy security, affordability and sustainability. He is a strong advocate for raising the level of public understanding of New Zealand’s whole energy system, so that the country can make better, more-informed decisions about the choices facing us. He also champions renewable gases and the role they can play in delivering a resilient, low-emissions energy system.

David Darby

David is OMV New Zealand’s government engagement and regulatory affairs expert. Prior to joining OMV, David worked for MBIE in a number of roles including managing the NZ Battery Project and a stint in the Beehive as Private Secretary for Energy for Hon Dr Megan Woods. He has also worked in science and management roles for GNS Science, and in the upstream petroleum industry internationally for Maersk, BG Group, and Ikon Science. David is a geologist by training, and has a PhD from Glasgow University.

Don Elers

Don leads the Powerco Gas Team, ensuring the planning and operations of our Gas networks are aligned to deliver the energy mix that customers want today and in the future. This includes the development and integration of biogas and other renewable gases to reduce New Zealand’s emissions and increase renewable energy to help Aotearoa ‘grow to zero’.

With a trade background, starting as an engineering cadet in the gas industry 30 years ago, Don has hands on experience in construction and maintenance, project management and contract management.

He has held senior service delivery and operational roles in the gas sector within New Zealand and is experienced in asset strategy and planning, management of safety and operational risk.

Don joined Powerco in 2010 as the Gas Service Delivery Manager and has successfully led a transformation of an asset-centric delivery model to a customer-focused operations model.

“The challenge for New Zealand to move to a more sustainable energy future is significant. With that challenge comes opportunity, and our gas business is well placed to provide leadership and solutions to transition to a net zero carbon energy mix in New Zealand. It’s more than opportunity – it’s our responsibility. We service New Zealand communities, these are our whānau, so we have a responsibility to ensure the pathway to a sustainable energy future is an affordable one.”

Lukas Erasmus

Lukas Erasmus is a mechanical engineer and LPG Asset Manager at Genesis, with over 14 years of engineering experience across the energy, industrial and manufacturing sectors in New Zealand and South Africa. Since joining Genesis in 2022, he has held roles as LPG Technical Specialist and LPG Engineering and Maintenance Manager before moving into his current asset management role.

His experience spans project delivery, maintenance, asset integrity, regulatory compliance and the safe management of LPG infrastructure. At the GasNZ Forum, Lukas will contribute to the session on 222 kg LPG Installation Compliance and Code of Practice, sharing practical perspectives on compliance requirements and the application of the new Code of Practice to real-world installations.

Peter Gilbert

Trained as a Gas Engineer by British Gas. Executive Director of the LPG Association of NZ from 1990 to 2021, also the Executive Officer of the Gas Association of NZ from 2011 to 2021. Retired in 2021 but still involved with Industry representing GasNZ on 3 Australia/NZ Standards, as well as facilitating the Technical and Gas equipment Supplier committees. Member of the New Zealand Standards Approval Board from 2016 to 2025.

Chase Hancock

With a foundation in mechanical engineering, Chase has diverse career experience across energy policy, infrastructure planning, technology commercialisation, strategy, and portfolio management.

Passionate about unlocking the significant potential of renewable gas, he is focussed on enabling scale for sustainable gas solutions to empower regional economies and strengthen energy security in New Zealand. Chase led the GasNZ project to develop the Biomethane Strategy and Action Plan.

Xavier Hey

Xavier Hey is the Program & Process Performance Manager in the Powerco Gas Operations team. This team has a range of responsibilities including scheduled maintenance planning, asset information and as-building, engineering drafting, field mobility support and asset settlement.

Xavier started with Powerco as a Graduate Gas Engineer after completing his mechanical engineering degree at the University of Canterbury. Shortly after starting, he discovered his true passion for business operations and process optimisation, where he can operate at the interface between contractors, regulation, standards and digital systems. Currently he is focused on bringing the Gas Operations team and their contractors further into the digital age, promoting real-time data collection, delivery and availability to enable insights for informed decision making.

Tim Kerr

Adviser at Gas Industry Company. He joined Gas Industry Company in 2016 having previously held roles in the electricity sector in New Zealand and overseas.

Sheree is the Portfolio Lead – Energy and Extractives at the Energy and Infrastructure Industry Skills Board. With more than 15 years’ experience across New Zealand’s energy and labour market sectors, she has worked with industry, education providers and government to strengthen workforce development and vocational pathways. More recently she was the project manager and author of Re-Energise 26, a workforce report and industry skills action plan for New Zealand’s energy sector.

Linda Mulvihill

Linda Mulvihill is the Head of Energy & Climate in Fonterra’s Global Sustainability team. Linda grew up on a sheep and beef farm in rural New Zealand, which embedded a passion for the land and agriculture. Linda gets to pursue both of these passions in both her professional and personal life.

Linda works for Fonterra, NZ’s largest dairy co-operative, where she leads the strategy and program to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions across the manufacturing sites, while also ensuring that the company has an economic and secure supply of energy. Personally, she has a farm where they are passionate about creating a great product, minimising the environmental impact of beef production, and leaving the land in a better state for future generations to enjoy.

Ramu Naidoo

Ramu is the Head of Security of Supply and Forecasting at Transpower New Zealand, where he leads the System Operator’s assessment of New Zealand’s electricity security of supply. He is responsible for the annual Security of Supply Assessment which provides industry with an assessment of energy and capacity margins for the next decade, operational energy risk outlooks which provides risk triggers for industry action and the development of market insights. Together these help support industry operational preparedness, investment decisions and policy development. Ramu works closely with industry participants, government agencies, and regulators to identify emerging risks and opportunities as New Zealand transitions to a low-emissions electricity system. He has extensive experience in electricity markets, modelling, forecasting and planning with a strong focus on balancing reliability and efficiency in a rapidly evolving energy sector.

Jen Nolan

Jen is the founder of public affairs consultancy At Large and brings over 25 years of experience in corporate affairs and proactive stakeholder engagement at the Cabinet and C-suite levels.

She has extensive crisis and issues management credentials, drawing on her corporate, public affairs and media background. Jen has held several roles for large international corporations and government agencies and is a former broadcast journalist and producer, reporting and producing on the Holmes Show, Close Up, 20/20, and 60 Minutes.  

Prior to founding At Large, Jen spent nearly a decade as the Director of External Affairs for Rio Tinto in New Zealand. Jen has also worked in government agencies and departments while working with the Ministry for the Environment, the Climate Change Commission cited her stakeholder engagement and consultation advice as an exemplar.  

John Pagani

John Pagani consults in sustainability and energy working on gas, geothermal and infrastructure projects. He was previously on the senior management team at dual-listed New Zealand Oil & Gas (now Echelon ASX:ECH). He is well-known to the gas sector from his work with Gas Industry Company on transition and sector engagement. He is a member of the government’s Gas Advisory Panel advising on investment of the $200 million gas security fund.

John’s career started in media, where he won multiple awards as executive producer of the Paul Holmes radio news programme before moving to work at Parliament, where his senior strategy roles included chief of staff and chief press secretary.

He has a qualification in business from the University of Chicago, in politics from the University of Auckland and in law from Victoria University of Wellington. In 2026, John completed a masters in law at the University of Waikato.

Justin Post

Justin Post is the Chief Operating Officer of New Zealand Energy Corporation (NZEC), where he is responsible for the company’s production operations, field development activities and the delivery of the Tariki Gas Storage Project.

Justin has more than 30 years’ experience in the upstream oil and gas industry, spanning production operations, engineering, asset integrity, major projects and executive leadership. Prior to joining NZEC, he held senior leadership roles at Todd Energy, where he led production operations across the company’s producing assets and was responsible for the safe and reliable delivery of critical energy infrastructure.

At NZEC, Justin is focused on maximising value from mature assets while advancing strategic energy infrastructure that supports New Zealand’s long-term energy security. He has a particular interest in integrating domestic gas production, underground gas storage and future LNG import capability to improve market resilience, reduce price volatility and support the country’s transition to a lower-emissions energy system.

David Reeve

David Reeve is a Director at Sapere Research Group. David specialises in electricity markets, power-system operation and security of supply. His gas-sector work focuses on the role of fuels in maintaining a reliable electricity system, including the interaction between gas availability, generation and dry-year risk. David was a co-author of Rewiring Aotearoa’s report From Faultlines to Resilience and is also an electricity-industry educator through Whiteboard Energy.

Aneesh Shinde

Aneesh Shinde is the Business Manager – Engineering New Zealand for Linde, leading the engineering functions that support BOC and Elgas operations across New Zealand. He is responsible for engineering strategy, project delivery, maintenance, compliance, and technical services associated with industrial gas and LPG infrastructure. Over his career, Aneesh has held leadership roles across engineering, maintenance, project delivery, and national service operations, with experience spanning industrial gases, energy systems, and critical infrastructure.

In addition to his role at Linde, Aneesh serves as a Non-Executive Director of Liquigas Ltd, contributing to the governance and strategic direction of one of New Zealand’s key LPG infrastructure businesses. Prior to rejoining Linde, he held a senior leadership role at Windsor Energy, leading teams delivering industrial energy, process heat, combustion, boiler, burner, and engineered thermal solutions across New Zealand and the Pacific. He holds postgraduate qualifications in Engineering and a Master of Energy from the University of Auckland and is passionate about advancing safe, reliable, and innovative engineering solutions across New Zealand’s energy sector.

Stacey Shortall

Stacey has more than 25 years of experience successfully representing financial institutions, other corporate clients, public sector entities, and directors and officers in significant litigation and regulatory matters. She has been recognised as a leading lawyer in New Zealand by Chambers Global and Asia-Pacific, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Legal Media Group, and NZ Lawyer.

Alongside a broad regulatory and litigation practice, including substantial trial and appellate experience, Stacey also provides legal and strategic advice on a wide variety of matters to directors, executive management, and in-house counsel. She is frequently instructed to conduct internal reviews and self-assessments for clients and their boards.

Co-author of the Thomson Reuters book titled Health and Safety at Work in New Zealand: Know the Law, Stacey is particularly experienced with health and safety matters. She regularly assists clients with coronial inquiries, internal and WorkSafe investigations following incidents, prosecutions, and crisis management.

Cory Spence is Director of Linde New Zealand & Pacific Islands, leading industrial gas and energy businesses across New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. With nearly 20 years of experience in the industrial gases and energy sectors, he has held leadership roles spanning sales, operations, engineering, safety, governance and general management across New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific.

Cory has a strong track record in business transformation, operational improvement, M&A integration and leadership development. He currently serves on several South Pacific boards including BOC and ELGAS and is a director of Liquigas New Zealand. He is Chairperson for Linde’s Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands businesses. A Chartered Director and graduate of Massey University, he is passionate about building high-performing teams, strengthening safety cultures and supporting the future growth and sustainability of New Zealand’s energy sector.

Caitlin Tromop van Dalen

Caitlin Tromop van Dalen is the Gas Network Reliability Engineer at Powerco. She holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s in Energy Studies and has worked across the energy sector in roles spanning electricity market operations, gas market policy, and energy security. Before joining Powerco, Caitlin worked at Transpower on security of supply and at Gas Industry Co, where she specialised in gas supply, demand, and the energy transition. She now draws on this experience to explore the future of gas distribution in New Zealand and the challenges facing the energy system as it evolves.

Tim Ussher

Tim Ussher is a Future Fuels Engineer at Clarus, based in New Plymouth. His role is focused on the delivery of renewable gas projects as well as providing technical and operational support for the Reporoa Biomethane Upgrading Facility. Tim is a chemical and process engineer, with more than fifteen years’ experience across petrochemical, oil and gas, utilities and renewables. Tim is passionate about identifying practical, scalable, aggregated, wholistic and optimised solutions that supports New Zealand’s energy transition.

Erik Vandenberg

Erik Vandenberg is General Manager – Growth & Energy Transition at Verbrec and an engineer with more than 20 years’ experience across the energy, resources and infrastructure sectors. His work spans engineering, asset management, project development and commercial strategy, with a current focus on the practical development of renewable gas, bioenergy and low-carbon fuels in Australia. Erik brings a strongly technoeconomic perspective to the energy transition, focusing on how emerging technologies, existing infrastructure and viable commercial models can be brought together to develop investable projects and new industries.

Andrew Walker

Andrew joined Gas Industry Co in 2008 and has been a Principal Adviser since 2020. He previously worked in financial services in London and has a background in Mathematics and Economics.

Debate Moderator Lloyd Burr

Lloyd has been a journalist for 15 years working across online, radio, and television. He was based at Parliament’s press gallery for seven years before heading to London as Newshub’s Europe Correspondent (where he got stranded during Covid).

Since returning, it’s been quite the journey. He hosted Lloyd Burr Live on Today FM, only for the station to be axed a year later. After a brief stint back at Newshub covering the 2023 election, Lloyd was appointed as the co-host of Three’s AM Show, only to lose the job a few months later when Newshub was shut down by management. But he’s back on his feet with his latest jack-of-all-trades gig at Stuff Digital: occasional Explainer Editor, occasional political reporter, occasional Three News anchor, occasional Three News weather presenter, and occasional aviation reporter. He’s currently on a three-month secondment as the site’s Head of News.

Confirmed presenters include:

Richelle Ashman

Richard Bartlett

Andy Bedford

Larry Blair

Richard Briggs

Hon Simeon Brown MP

Matt Buckle

Paul Bull

Reuben Cairns-Morrison

Mike Casey

Brennan Chappell

Jeffrey Clarke

John Cockburn

Simon Court MP

Neil Crookes

Dave Darby

Mo Ehsan

Don Elers

Lukas Erasmus

Ben Gerritsen

Peter Gilbert

Paul Goodeve

Chase Hancock

Derek Haywood

Andreas Heuser

Xavier Hey

Christo Janse van Rensburg

Hon Shane Jones MP

Tim Kerr

John Kidd

Chris Kilby

Sheree Long

Stuart Metcalf

Linda Mulvihill

Ramu Naidoo

Jen Nolan

John Pagani

Matt Parry

Justin Post

Greg Price

Stuart Price

David Reeve

Aneesh Shinde

Stacey Shortall

Cory Spence

Caitlin Tromop van Dalen

Tim Ussher

Erik Vandenberg

Matt Verry

Andrew Walker

Bob Weston

Scott Willis MP

Hon. Dr Megan Woods MP

Alan Young