Five non-executive directors have been appointed to the start-up board for the government’s Great British Energy company.
The start-up board for the publicly owned energy company will set a strategy for how the company will work with the energy sector and communities.
The appointees are Frances O’Grady, who was general secretary for the Trade Union Congress between 2013 and 2022 and is a member of the House of Lords, former CEO for SP Networks Frank Mitchell, Kate Gilmartin, CEO of the British Hydropower Association who founded and is a director of Community Energy England, Dr. Nina Skorupska, the former chief executive of the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA), and Valerie Todd, who is a HR professional and currently non-executive director of the Digital Catapult.
Working with chair of GB Energy, Juergen Maier, the group will scale up the state-owned energy company and build its organisational structure and Aberdeen headquarters. They have joined the board on initial contracts between 18 months and two years.
The company will be led by its own CEO and overseen by an independent fiduciary board rather than ministers. Who will make up that board and head the company as CEO remains unknown.
One of the government’s key commitments since coming to power has been Great British Energy, which will own and invest in clean energy projects across the UK. It will receive £8.3 billion from the government over the course of this parliament, and is part of the Plan for Change to boost energy security and protect against energy price spikes.
GB Energy chair Juergen Maier said: “This is an important milestone for Great British Energy, as we bring together an expert board to rapidly scale up the company and get to work in delivering a UK-wide clean energy revolution.”
The government is currently legislating through the Great British Energy Bill to give the company the powers it needs to “rapidly deliver”. According to energy secretary Ed Miliband, who will own GB Energy, the “highly-skilled” start-up board will help GB Energy “hit the ground running”.
The Great British Energy Bill is currently going through the House of Lords and is at the committee stage. Any and all news about GB Energy has been keenly awaited by the energy industry, but it could be argued that while the bill is a pivotal step in establishing the company, it does little to move the project forward materially: its ‘long title’ is A Bill to make provision about Great British Energy.