Electricity Authority has new chair

Former electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) frontwoman Anna Kominik has been appointed Electricity Authority chair.

Kominik has been appointed by the Governor-General for a five-year term starting July 13, 2023.

She has resigned as independent chair of the Electricity Retailers’ Association of New Zealand, a position she has held for four years, to take up her new role.

Kominik is an experienced business leader who has worked for a wide variety of public and private sector organisations during her career, including as the former Asia Pacific director of Wisk, part of an international organisation developing an electric self-flying air taxi which is undergoing trials in Canterbury.

She is a Dawn Aerospace director and advises in the New Zealand aviation and aerospace sector, and currently chairs the Edmund Hillary Fellowship and Hillary Institute,

Kominik has a Master’s Degree from Northwestern University, Chicago, where she was a Rotary International Scholar, has a Certificate of Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Stanford University, and was a Commonwealth Foundation Emerging Pacific Leader.

“I welcome Anna to the authority and the breadth of her experience in corporate governance, senior management and innovation that she brings to the role,” says Electricity Authority chief executive Sarah Gillies.

Kominik says she looks forward to supporting New Zealand’s transition to a clean energy future.

“As New Zealand works towards our decarbonisation goals, there is an opportunity to innovate to equitably and securely deploy renewable electricity across the economy,” she explains.

She succeeds Dr Nicola Crauford who was authority chair since November 2020.

The independent Crown entity comprises six members: Anna Kominik (chair), Allan Dawson, Lana Stockman, Erik Westergaard, Paula Rose and Ara Ake’s Dr Cristiano Marantes.

The Electricity Authority’s main statutory objective to promote competition in, reliable supply by, and the efficient operation of, the electricity industry for the long-term benefit of consumers. An additional objective is to protect the interests of domestic consumers and small business consumers around electricity supply.