By SHARON FULLER
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
FIVE Port Macquarie-based senior managers from NorthPower have been appointed to executive management positions with Country Energy.
The state’s newest power business springing from the merger of NorthPower, Advance Energy and Great Southern Energy will be headed by managing director Mr Craig Murray of Orange whose executive team will include Col Ussher, Rod Wilkes, Ron Craggs, Paul Topfer and John Adams, all of Port Macquarie.
Mr Ussher will be one of eight regional general managers, having been appointed to Grafton, while former Advance Energy executive Mr Stuart Liddell of Bathurst will be the regional general manager for Port Macquarie.
Country Energy’s 10 executive managers include Mr Wilkes as corporate operations executive, Mr Craggs as group general manager for corporate services and company secretary, Mr Topfer as group general manager corporate strategy and development and Mr Adams as group general manager retail.
The senior management team, appointed yesterday, will act in designated roles until the new company starts on July 1.
Irene Brown, the personal assistant to NorthPower’s former CEO Tom Parkinson, has been appointed personal assistant to Country Energy chief Mr Murray.
While NorthPower executives have been included in the new management structure, , Mr Parkinson yesterday announced his departure. He has left the organisation to pursue family and personal interests.
Meanwhile, Mr Murray said his executive team would work from decentralised locations across the Country Energy distribution area, which represents 72 per cent of New South Wales.
“The executive managers will be based in Country Energy centres at Port Macquarie, Bathurst and Queanbeyan but will have constant and strong involvement with regional communities across NSW,’’ Mr Murray said.
“These managers will be responsible for the business’s corporate activities, including customer service, network reliability and service delivery.
“My priority has been to ensure that local management can make decisions based on knowledge of the region in which they work,’’ he said.
Country Energy will have 700,000 customers and 2500 employees along with an extensive network of field service centres and customer centres as well as the three corporate offices.
Country Energy’s new five-member board has also been appointed.
It includes the former NorthPower chairman Ms Barbara Ward of Sydney.