Our people sharing their safety stories
Strengthening safety capability, Northpower shared critical risk stories to reinforce controls and empower teams to prevent life‑threatening incidents.
Annual Report 2026
28 May 2026
Sharing our voice globally
This year, we continued to share Northpower’s experience, perspective and leadership beyond our regions — contributing to important conversations across the energy sector in Aotearoa and internationally.
From global conferences to industry publications, our people represented Northpower in spaces where the future of energy, safety and skills is being shaped.
Contributing to the global energy transition
Northpower appeared on the international stage at the 25th Conference of the Electric Power Supply Industry in Singapore, a flagship event for the Asia Pacific power sector.
Our Chief Operating Officer – Network, Michael Gibbs, joined a panel discussion focused on getting to net zero and the role of the electricity grid as an enabler of a sustainable future. The conversation explored how modernising and expanding grid infrastructure can support the transition to cleaner energy, while maintaining reliability, resilience and affordability.
Michael shared New Zealand’s perspective, including the challenges of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and the importance of collaboration across the electricity industry to meet that goal. With thousands of delegates from across the region in attendance, the discussion provided an opportunity to contribute local insight to a global audience and learn from utilities operating at scale around the world.
Shaping the future of skills and training
Closer to home, we were proud to see General Manager – People, Safety & Training, Andrea O’Brien, appointed to the Energy and Infrastructure Industry Skills Board.
The board is one of eight established by the Government to help shape Aotearoa’s vocational education system. It brings industry voices together to ensure training pathways remain relevant, practical, and future focused for learners and employers.
Andrea’s appointment recognises her experience, leadership and long standing commitment to developing clear pathways into meaningful careers. It also reflects Northpower’s role in supporting a strong, capable workforce for the future of the energy and infrastructure sectors.
Sharing financial leadership in industry publications
Our approach to balancing affordability, reliability and long term investment was also featured in Association of Chartered Certified Accountants’ AB Magazine this year.
Chief Financial Officer Ollie O’Neill and Accounting Manager Paresh Prabhu contributed to an article exploring the financial strategy behind our renewable energy projects. The piece highlighted how we are using green financing tools and community ownership models to support large scale renewable investment, while keeping customer impacts front of mind.
By sharing our experience, we contributed to a wider conversation about how organisations can fund the energy transition in a way that is both ambitious and responsible.
Learning from global leaders in safety and operations
In the health and safety space, our Chief Operating Officer – Energy Services, Josie Boyd, represented Northpower at the FIT Human Operational Excellence Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The conference brought together global leaders to explore how organisations can strengthen safety outcomes by better understanding how work is actually done. Josie reflected on the importance of listening to those doing the work, learning proactively from everyday operations, and building trust through thoughtful leadership responses.
These insights continue to shape how we think about safety, people and systems across our business.
Study tour provides overseas industry insight
Our General Manager – Customer and Operational Excellence, Rachel Wansbone, was invited to attend the DTECH conference in San Diego as part of Electricity Engineers’ Association study tour.
DTECH is a transmission and distribution event that addresses the technologies used to move energy from power plants to transmission and distribution network.
The New Zealand contingency learned, collaborated and shared ideas with other professionals in the industry. San Diego Gas & Electric hosted the group at their wildfire and climate resilience centre and University of California San Diego opened their doors to the distributed energy resources connect centre.
Sharing our journey, strengthening our practice
In February, our Operational Excellence and Digital team represented Northpower at the Agentforce World Tour in Sydney.
Energy Services Platforms Manager, Chané Ballantine, and Head of Operational Excellence and Digital Deba Biswas from Energy Services Operational Excellence and Digital team contributed to an industry panel alongside peers from across the energy and utilities sector.
The invitation to speak reflected growing recognition of Northpower’s pragmatic, people-centred approach to field service transformation sharing how the organisation is implementing Salesforce Field Service and its Agentforce capabilities to improve response times, reduce cost to serve, and strengthen technician safety in the field.
Our delegation visited New South Wales network owner Endeavour Energy and participated in the Energy and Utilities Summit, providing valuable peer benchmarking and exposure to how leading utilities are designing field, data, and customer platforms as connected ecosystems. These engagements reinforced Northpower’s strategic direction and returned practical insights to inform the next phase of the programme. As a community-owned utility, we are committed to delivering operational excellence that benefits the customers and communities we serve.
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Recognising wellbeing and safety excellence
Receiving national recognition, Northpower was recognised for wellbeing and safety excellence, reflecting strong teamwork, collaboration and a people‑first culture.
Shared learnings for better outcomes
Through its National Safety Forum, Northpower strengthened safety culture by enabling open discussion, shared learning and collaboration across teams.
