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The former chief energy ombudsman and senior figures at EDF and Ovo are taking up director roles at the Electricity System Operator (ESO).
The ESO is strengthening its recently launched operations executive committee ahead of this summer’s transition into the National Energy System Operator (NESO).
Matthew Vickers, who led the Energy Ombudsman (now Trust Alliance Group) until December, joins the organisation this month as director of engineering and customer solutions. David Wildash, ESO’s head of customer connections, has been covering this role in an interim capacity.
Rebecca Beresford will join this summer as director of markets. It brings to an end her two decades at EDF, latterly as the company’s director of net zero strategy and policy. Matt Magill, who is in the position on an interim basis, will become resilience director when Beresford joins.
The third appointment is to the newly created role of customer director, which will be filed by Anu Gibson. Gibson spent just under three years at Ovo, firstly as customer experience and complaints director and then as customer inclusion lead, before leaving last month. She is currently acting as customer delivery director at South Staffs Water on a fixed term contract. Before Ovo, Gibson worked in customer roles at a number of companies, including Homeserve and Orange, having started her career at Thames Water.
The operations executive committee was launched in February, headed by chief operating officer Kayte O’Neill. It will oversee the transition to NESO and take responsibility for certain areas of the business plan, including key performance indicators, objectives and costs.
Welcoming the new appointees, O’Neill said: “Together we are ready and raring to go, building on the strong foundations of ESO as we become NESO, taking a whole system approach to energy system transformation and meeting the challenges of energy security, sustainability and affordability for everyone.”
The other members of the committee are Julian Leslie (strategic energy planning director and chief engineer), Craig Dyke (system operations director) and Colm Murphy (director of transformation and new projects).
Last week the incoming chair of NESO, Paul Golby, said the organisation’s headcount could eventually triple as it takes on a swathe of new responsibilities. O’Neill had already confirmed to Utility Week that the workforce would grow from 1,000 to 1,800 by this autumn. Golby told MPs that figure could eventually increase by another 1,000 to 1,500 employees.
One area in which ESO is seeking to build its skillset ahead of the transition is in hydrogen. The organisation is currently recruiting for a head of hydrogen to “lead development of NESO’s position on critical hydrogen policy and delivery questions”.
No date has yet been set for the official creation of NESO, which will see it separate back office functions from National Grid and become a public corporation with a wider set of responsibilities. Senior figures at ESO had originally been eyeing 1 July, however O’Neill told Utility Week in February that the deadline was more broadly “summer 2024”.
Earlier this year, Utility Week delved into the new roles and responsibilities NESO will take on.
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