Michelle Slater
AGL investors a staged boardroom shakeup this morning when shareholders voted-in four new independent board directors backed by by tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes.
Mr Cannon-Brooks’ Grok Ventures nominees Mark Twidell, Kerry Schott, Christine Holman and John Pollaers have been appointed as additional AGL board directors as supported by shareholders.
However, the company only endorsed only one of the nominees, former Tesla energy programs director Mark Twiddel.
Shareholders also supported retaining four existing board members including Patricia McKenzie and fellow directors Graham Cockroft, Vanessa Sullivan and Miles George.
Mark Bloom remains a member of AGL’s Board.
Grok Ventures owns 11.3 per cent of AGL, and the four new directors could mean the company takes another look at its coal-fired power station closure dates.
It comes as Mr Cannon-Brookes had previously stated AGL should get out of thermal coal by 2030.
Current AGL chair Patricia McKenzie said the board had carefully considered the other Grok-nominated candidates, and acknowledged they were “respected directors in their own right”.
But Ms McKenzie said “their skill set was either already present on the board or not aligned to the priority skills that were being sought through the existing board renewal process”.
“The board welcomes these new directors to the board and will work constructively with them in the best of interests of shareholders,” Ms McKenzie said.
“Each member of the AGL board shares an ambition for AGL to play a leading role in Australia’s energy transition, moving away from fossil fuels and towards a low-emissions economy.
“This means embracing the opportunities presented by the electrification of the economy, building new renewable and firming assets and providing products and services to help customers lower their emissions and reduce their energy bills.”
Grok Ventures had run a campaign urging shareholders to vote in the new blood, as the existing AGL board “needs help, particularly with executing on strategy and fresh ideas”.
“Today, AGL only has five directors on its board,” Grok said in a statement.
“We consider this unacceptable for a company of AGL’s scale, let alone a company operating in a rapidly transforming industry that has failed to keep up.
“We believe AGL requires a larger board with new and capable independent directors who bring diverse skills and much needed experience to undertake urgent transformation.”
Greenpeace Australia Pacific senior campaigner Glenn Walker said the renewed leadership was an “important step” in the company’s energy transition, but AGL must significantly pick up the pace.
“The exciting new leadership at AGL signals the start of a potential transformation of Australia’s biggest climate polluter to a renewable energy powerhouse, but there’s a need for speed,” Mr Walker said.
“The opportunities here are boundless. In addition to bringing the closure of its ailing coal fleet forward to 2030, there’s immense potential for AGL to use its reach into millions of households and businesses to accelerate the electrification of homes, helping Australians get off polluting and expensive gas and breaking the stranglehold gas companies have on energy prices.”
