In two decades of dedication to the clean energy industry, Hannah Heath has witnessed plenty of change. Now in her role as principal at Energy Global Company, she uses that experience to help others plot their renewables course, writes Gavin Dennett.
A passion for the machinations of how things work has led Hannah Heath on a vocational path in energy that encompasses her skillset in the strategy, policy and advisory spectrum. With the experience of a career spanning two decades in energy, she brings a wealth of know-how to her role as principal at Energy Global Company (EGC).
“I have been in energy for 20 years after starting at NSW Treasury as a graduate,” she tells EcoGeneration. “I studied applied economics, and the [Treasury] energy team was my first placement – I fell in love with it.
“I’m very passionate about understanding how stuff works. With energy, there is physics, physical engineering components of electrons moving around and keeping systems in balance overlaid with the market, consumer expectations and needs as an essential service.
“There is a unique dynamic of bringing all those things together. I love creating things and figuring out strategies for them.”
In 2005, after three years at Treasury, Hannah took a senior advisory role at the Australian Energy Market Commission. This was followed by a move to Origin Energy in 2009, and during the ensuing decade she worked in a number of senior policy roles at the company.
“I spent almost 10 years at Origin working across electricity markets, gas markets, wholesale, retail and emerging markets,” she says. “I gained an understanding of how regulators, government and businesses talk.”
In 2019, Hannah moved to energy startup Nectr, which is backed by South Korea’s Hanwha Energy, where she spent two years as chief strategy officer before commencing in her current role as principal at EGC.
“We are an energy consultancy firm with a team of really passionate people who are experienced in energy retail and starting up businesses to help them grow in scale,” says Hannah.
“We take that diverse experience and help clients build and launch a retail business and then scale that business.
“Once they are operational, it is about transforming that business through a variety of advisory and operational services, including how to enter the market; strategic advice of which markets to target; licencing advice and assisting with retail authorisations; risk and compliance advisory services; and operational back-office services such as billing and choosing IT system providers.
“We understand how retailers work and know where the pain points are and the icebergs we have all hit that others should avoid. We advise our clients on achieving objectives, and once they are up and running, we do project management services.
“It is a pretty exciting business in which we have pivoted a lot. When I joined two years ago, it was a lot of engagement with solar retailers getting into energy, but the past six to 12 months the energy market has gone a bit crazy.
“The market as a whole has hit a turning point due to things such as high gas prices, floods in Australia, high electricity prices, and retailers exiting the market, and the cascading effect of that.
“We are working with retailers about finding operational efficiencies and helping them connect with strategic partners to do revenue assurance and back-office improvement services, looking at operational efficiencies and where businesses can gain competitive advantages in those aspects.
“Often businesses have a compliance solution, an operational solution and a tech solution, but we bridge the gap to ensure those areas are all speaking the same language.”
Aiding energy businesses to navigate an ever-changing regulatory landscape is a significant part of Hannah’s role at EGC, including reinforcing the mindset that compliance is not a box-ticking exercise but rather a critical component that can inform strategic and investment decisions.
“I was brought to EGC to set up the strategy, risk and compliance function of the practice,” she says.
“We provide compliance advisory services and management services, helping businesses understand changing regulatory frameworks and policy implications; helping with compliance advice; and assisting people update policies, procedures and regulatory reporting.
“A big focus is helping clients understand their compliance obligations, and empowering them to develop strategies that embed compliance consciousness into strategic and operational decision making.
“The more you can bring compliance into the front end of your strategy development and use it as an enabler, the more likely it will deliver outcomes to benefit the business and consumers.”
In Hannah’s two decades of working in the energy industry, she has seen a lot of progress and shifting priorities firsthand, although some of the renewables and climate change dialogue is the same now as in the mid-2000s.
“A lot of the conversations we are having now were being had 10 or 15 years ago, but now we have more evidence,” she says. “However, the materiality of those issues have now come to light so there are different outlooks and solutions.
“It’s great to see Australians embracing the benefits of renewable energy. I was born in England and grew up in the US, but we used to come to Australia to visit family and think, ‘There is so much sunshine here – why are there not solar panels everywhere?’
“But in the past 15 years with government incentives and a shift in mindset, there is a thriving renewables industry here.”
Another big change in the past 20 years has been the increasingly significant role of women in the clean energy space.
“I’ve definitely gone from being the only woman in a room to one of many,” says Hannah.
“Programs such as the Clean Energy Council’s ‘Women in Renewables’ [Hannah was awarded the 2020 Women in Renewables Australian Institute of Company Directors Scholarship] are about recognising the benefit of diversity of thought, whether it be gender, race, background or just different experiences. Sustainable and innovative business outcomes come from a variety of perspectives.
“There is nothing better than mentoring a young woman and seeing them achieve something they did not think was possible.
“Women can tend to have a bit more self-doubt and I enjoy instilling confidence in them to go a long way. Help doesn’t necessarily have to be internal [within companies]. You can use networks and lean on the people who have travelled before you.
“Female role models are important, but so are male champions of change.
“My managing director at EGC, Tom Gilpin, and the managing director of Nectr, Andrew Butler, are two examples of those who empower quality individuals to reach their potential. They are very passionate about supporting women to find the balance between the competing and conflicting priorities in life, such as when I had my son. I take pride in the fact that when we are playing ‘I spy’ he will call out rooftop solar panels or look for houses with batteries.
“It’s all part of educating the next generation.”