On the move: Elexon CEO departs, new board member at Centrica

Our latest round-up of appointments across the utilities sectors includes a change of chief executive at Elexon and a new board member at Centrica. There have also been appointments at engineering consultant Atkins and smart metering specialist IMServ.

Elexon

Elexon has appointed an interim chief executive following the announcement that Simon McCalla is stepping down from his post on 4 September.

McCalla leaves Elexon after a year and a half. His departure follows the introduction of a new corporate strategy for Elexon, as described in the company’s 2022/23 annual report and financial statements.

This strategy will now be taken forward by Peter Stanley, who will step into the role of interim chief executive.

Stanley currently acts as Elexon’s executive director responsible for digital operations.

In his current role, Stanley is responsible for the operational performance of the products that deliver Elexon’s obligations under the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) and for realising the product vision for the Elexon Kinnect Platform that is digitally transforming the business comprising customer management, settlement and insight services to support net zero.

An Elexon spokesperson said: “The board would like to thank Simon for his work over the past year and a half, and in particular his efforts concerning the strategy work which plays a critical part in shaping our future development.”

Centrica

Centrica has appointed Philippe Boisseau as a non-executive director with effect from 1 September.

Boisseau will also become a member of the company’s Safety, Environment and Sustainability Committee, Audit and Risk Committee and Nominations Committee.

Boisseau is a former CEO of CEPSA, and has more than 15 years of experience in the energy transition space.

Scott Wheway, chair of Centrica, said: “I look forward to welcoming Philippe to the board as a non-executive director.

“Philippe will bring deep experience of the energy industry, particularly of energy assets, energy infrastructure and the renewable energy transition, that will be of great benefit to the board.”

Atkins

Engineering consultant Atkins has appointed Mike Hughes to the board of directors overseeing the Atkins Nuclear Secured (ANS) subsidiary.

Hughes has been appointed as an outside director to provide oversight for corporate activities and security compliance.

He has more than 35 years of nuclear operations experience. Prior to joining the ANS board, Hughes supported the US Department of Energy (DOE) in developing the One System approach, creating consistent operational requirements across all contracts enabling performance tracking. Hughes has also previously overseen operations at the Sellafield nuclear plant as well as numerous projects in the US.

The president of SNC-Lavalin – Atkins’ parent company – Joe St. Julian said: “Mr Hughes has a reputation for operational excellence within the nuclear industry.

“His career-long commitment to safeguards and security, high-level accountability and strong governance bolsters ANS’ mission to clean and protect the planet’s land, air and water, while enabling prosperity and improving community’s standard of living.”

IMServ

Energy data collection and metering specialist IMServ has appointed Lacey Montague as chief strategy officer to drive new growth across the energy sector.

In this new role, Montague will be responsible for IMServ’s corporate planning, strategy formulation and management. She will also oversee and manage new product development for the energy market.

She brings more than 15 years’ experience in the utilities industry, having begun her career at Npower. Montague has also held senior roles at Evolve Analytics, Gentrack and Social Energy and provided strategic advisory to Zoa, a spin-out of Bulb Energy.

Montague said: “The energy industry is going through a significant transition as we build momentum towards a cleaner and greener planet, and as new technology and services flood the market. Challenges are hitting us from all sides.

“Meeting these challenges will depend on a large amount of critical, granular, and accurate data to be collected, managed, and used to deliver truly valuable insight.

“IMServ has been an ever-evolving fixture within the energy industry. I am excited to be joining a business with so much expertise, to have the opportunity to build on this and help customers respond to an influx of market changes.”

She added: “The MHHS programme is a key example of this and I’m looking forward to enhancing our proposition in this area, allowing our customers to transform how they monitor and analyse their data, whilst complying fully with the regulatory change.”