Peter Birk Email & Phone Number

Peter led a 300+ strong division that set the strategic direction for Ausgrid, including positioning the corporation to maximise its regulatory outcome (about $2b per annum), optimising its pricing arrangements for 1.6m customers, ensuring prudent investments were made through efficient and effective planning of Ausgrid’s capital expenditure and maintenance programs (about $1.8b per annum), growing non-regulated business activity and improving productivity and lowering operational risk by implementing broad scale technology innovation. Peter was also responsible for managing Ausgrid’s critical operational IT and telecommunications functions, its demand management and energy efficiency activities, R&D activities with universities and the delivery of the Federal Government funded ($100m) Smart Grid Smart City initiative. A key element in the success of the Smart Grid Smart City initiative has been the good stakeholder management and community engagement, and the good program governance arrangements that have been implemented. Another factor has been the establishment and management of a multi-party consortium that included: an energy Retailer, a number of international ICT and engineering vendors and a number of other local corporations and organisations. In this role he was recognised for his thought leadership, stakeholder management, change management and delivery tenacity.

Peter led a 180+ business unit that was responsible for Ausgrid’s critical operational IT systems and communication systems, demand management and energy efficiency activities, business development activities and establishing strategic partnerships with a number of major technology vendors to develop innovative products.A key focus of the role was to transform operational processes, reduce risk and establish a new business model using technology to achieve sustainable productivity improvements. This resulted in the development and implementation of a technology innovation program that included: enhancing a number of critical information technology and communications systems and applications; improving the security infrastructure and the hosting environment for these critical systems and developing and deploying a range of new systems and applications to improve the real time monitoring and control of the electricity network. These new ICT solutions provide a best practice platform for improved analytics and have significantly lowered Ausgrid’s risk profile. In addition to the focus on improving internal business practises, the program also developed a number of initiatives to facilitate smarter, customer focused energy services.This program was awarded winner of the Asia Pacific T&D Best Company of the Year 2010 (by the New Economy publication) and has been internationally recognised for its innovation.As a result of the success of this program and the superior proposal Peter’s team developed, Ausgrid was awarded the $100m grant from the Federal Government to deliver the Smart Grid Smart City initiative. This was to be Australia’s first end-to-end smart grid development project, demonstrating on a commercial scale a number of innovative activities to transform the electricity industry. Peter also spearheaded the establishment of research and development centres with the University of Sydney and University of Newcastle.

Peter was responsible for establishing a business unit tasked with transforming a number of critical, under-performing business activities, including:Establishing the $200m of public lighting assets as a stand-alone business that improved the commercial returns from these assets and significantly improved operational outcomes.Implementing a strategy to transform the provision of operational and corporate telecommunications services that involved the deployment of a world first technology solution, which has delivered a significant positive return on investment and a material reduction in operational risk of critical operational IT systems and telephony services.Improving EnergyAustralia's business development activities with a focus on increasing returns from existing commercial access arrangements (with Telstra, Optus, etc) and developing new commercial arrangements.Enhancing the investment governance process by incorporating the consideration of demand management to reduce investment required to address increasing peak demand.Implementing a strategy to address customer, community and stakeholder concerns with the lack of energy efficiency information and tangible options for customers to undertake to reduce their energy consumption and costs.

Provided strategic, commercial and structuring advice for a number of commercial opportunities, these included: Retail M&As, investment in PowerTel, green energy initiatives, gas supply arrangements, investment in generation projects and other start-up telecommunication initiatives.

Enhanced the commercial and governance framework under which the NSW owned electricity corporations operated and provided commercial advice to the shareholder on the on going performance of these corporations. Also was a member of the task force advising government on the privatisation of these corporations.Managed a capital structure review and debt-raising initiative covering the six government owned electricity corporations that increased the debt of these corporations by $2.4b.

Implemented a value-based business planning framework for the airports in the lead up to their privatisation, which included developing a reporting system based on value based key performance indicators to track on-going implementation of business plans.Worked with airport senior management to develop and refine their business plans and strategic initiatives as part of the privatisation process.

Bsc Electronic Enginerring

Master Of Business Administration (Mba)