New Board appointments to Electricity Authority

Three new appointments have been made to the Board of the Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko.

The Minister for Energy, Hon Simon Watts, has today appointed Anthony Baldwin, Benjamin Bolot and Murray Parrish to our Board.

The Minister has also appointed existing Board member Erik Westergaard as Deputy Chair.

Their appointments follow the resignation of former Chair Anna Kominik and Board members Lana Stockman and Dr Cristiano Marantes at the end of 2025.

Stronger powers for Electricity Authority

The Minister has also provided more details about the stronger powers for the Authority under proposed changes to the Electricity Industry Act. These stronger powers were announced as part of the Government’s response to the Frontier Report last year.

The Authority welcomes the proposed stronger powers which will help ensure we have the right tools to enforce competition, regulate for long-term resilience, improve the Authority’s ability to update rules, and monitor the market to boost competition and protect consumers.

This is something the Authority has been seeking, as we know driving through change requires a robust and proportionate enforcement regime.

Our organisational design review that is currently underway will advise on how we can best incorporate additional powers, while delivering our statutory objectives and regulatory responsibilities.