About us
Our Board
Our Board consists of senior executives from some of the UK’s leading energy companies. Energy UK draws on this diverse expertise to achieve its strategic goals.
The Board is responsible for setting the long-term direction for Energy UK including identifying priorities, establishing goals and objectives, finding resources, and allocating funds to support the decisions that need to be made around strategic planning. The Board is also responsible for monitoring the execution of the strategic plan, and takes decisions regarding remit, composition, chairs, and budget.
Energy UK Board
Rajarshi Roy
Managing Director, CentricaRaj was appointed Interim Group General Counsel & Company Secretary of Centrica plc with effect from 1 October 2020, and subsequently appointed as the permanent Group General Counsel & Company Secretary on 3 March 2021.
Raj has overall responsibility for legal, regulatory, compliance and secretariat activities across the Group, the effective operating of Centrica plc’s Board and advising on key issues of corporate governance and compliance. Raj joined Centrica in 2014 as the Legal Director for Residential Energy, before becoming General Counsel for the UK and Ireland region in 2017. He has led legal, regulatory and compliance teams at Centrica in various formations across the UK and Ireland region or the Consumer division. Prior to joining Centrica, Raj spent 9 years at Vodafone, holding a number of senior in-house legal roles in the Group and UK legal functions. Raj started his career in private practice, qualifying as a solicitor at Slaughter and May in London and subsequently working for Freshfields in Brussels.
Raj became an EUK board member in March 2022.
Miguel Veigapestana
Chief Sustainability Officer & Corporate Affairs, DraxWith over 30 years in major global corporations and ‘not-for-profit’ organisations Miguel focuses on building and protecting reputation, enabling a purpose-led organisation, and embedding sustainability into core strategy.
Contribution and experience
Bringing a blend of commercial and not for profit international experience, Miguel provides strategic insight and advice to the Executive Committee and the Board, fully integrating sustainability and reputation building into organisational strategy. With great global connections he can reach and bring a wide range of stakeholders to Drax. His international reputation enables him to work at the highest levels with country leaders, investors, CEOs of global businesses and global not-for profit organisations.
Prior to coming to Drax Miguel has most recently held the ExCom role of Chief Sustainability Officer and Head of Corporate Affairs at Reckitt Benckiser. He has also been Chief Communications Officer at the Executive Leadership level for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest philanthropic organisation, and worked for 11 years at Unilever where he was Vice President of Global External Affairs and Sustainability.
Chris Norbury
Chief Executive Officer, E.ON UKAfter a career spanning over 20 years working for major international organisations, Chris joined E.ON in 2014 where he undertook a number of leadership roles both in the UK and internationally before being appointed Executive Board Member (Chief People Officer) in 2018. Chris was appointed E.ON UK’s Chief Executive Officer in 2023.
Chris believes that energy is central to people’s lives and that brings an incredible responsibility. There are real challenges – in the short-term making energy more affordable and longer term, the urgent need to decarbonise our economy. By tackling these challenges together, we have the opportunity to deliver for customers and make a difference to our society.
Having achieved considerable success in business transformation, Chris has vast experience in developing the culture and diversity of businesses to reflect that of their market, deliver on ESG commitments and create social value.
Chris attended both Exeter University and the University of Glamorgan.
Philippe Commaret
Managing Director of Customers, EDFPhilippe COMMARET is Managing Director of Customers for EDF in the UK, a position which he assumed in January 2020.
This role oversees EDF’s entire residential customer, business customer and wholesale optimisation activities in the UK.
EDF is Britain’s biggest generator of zero carbon electricity, generating zero carbon electricity from wind, nuclear and solar and is one of the largest suppliers to British businesses and a leading supplier of innovative energy solutions. In addition, the company’s energy services business, Imtech, is one of the largest technical service providers in the UK and Ireland.
Philippe joined EDF Group in 2000, prior to this he was a Consultant. He has held various roles within the Customers division in France and was appointed Marketing Director for the B2B market in 2008. In 2014, he moved to Strasbourg, and was appointed Managing Director of ES (Energies Strasbourg), a subsidiary of EDF Group in the East of France (0.5 million customers, mainly dual-fuel).
Since 2018, he was Director of Sales, East of France, EDF Group.Philippe graduated from Ecole Centrale Paris (1996), he is married and has 3 children.
David Laws
Chair, Energy UKDavid studied economics at King’s College Cambridge, and then worked at JP Morgan and Barclays de Zoete Wedd, before being appointed as Economics Adviser to the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party in 1994.
David became Lib Dem Director of Policy and Research in 1997, and in 2001 he was elected as MP for Yeovil Constituency.
David served on the Treasury Select Committe, and then held a variety of Shadow posts – in the Treasury, Work and Pensions, and Education portfolios.
David was one of the negotiators of the 2010-2015 Coalition Agreement, and he served as Chief Secretary, Schools Minister and Cabinet Office Minister.
Since leaving Parliament in 2015, David has been Executive Chairman of the Education Policy Institute and Education Partnerships Group. David is an Adviser to GK Strategy and a Non Executive Director of Fable Data.
David holds a number of voluntary posts, for example as Chair of the Unlocked Graduates charity.
Dhara Vyas
Chief Executive, Energy UKDhara joined Energy UK in November 2022. She is an expert in energy consumer issues and the energy transition. Prior to joining Energy UK Dhara led work on net zero, the future energy system and decarbonisation at Citizens Advice.
Dhara began her career in local government and has worked across a broad range of policy areas from civil society to community building and deliberative democracy. She has been an active member of several Government and academic advisory boards, is on the Board of Green Alliance and is a primary school governor.
Juliette Sanders
Chief Communications Officer,
Energy UKJuliette joined Energy UK in January 2022. She holds a Masters in Engineering from Cambridge University, and has held a variety analytical and communications roles across low carbon generation at Equinor, Orsted and EDF Energy, winning awards for her work.
Juliette is passionate about inspiring and developing others in the energy sector; she was part of the initial team that set up Women in Nuclear, and is a founding member of the TIDE initiative – set up to improve Equity, Diversity and Inclusion across the energy industry. She is also an honorary lecturer at the University of East Anglia.
Rich Smith
Chief Operating Officer,
Energy UKRich joined Energy UK in November 2023. He has been in the energy sector since the turn of the millennium, and in his early career undertook a variety of engineering, analytical and commercial roles. He has worked in the Executive teams at Ofgem and National Grid ESO, where he led a range of operational functions, with responsibilities spanning decarbonisation, network development, and security of supply.
Rich has been a member of several academic and research institute advisory boards; has served as a Trustee Board member of a pension scheme; a primary school governor; a Parish Councillor; and is currently serving as a Trustee Board in the education sector
Miya Paolucci
Country Manager and Vice-President Member of the Executive Committee of Global Energy Management & Sales, ENGIE UKMiya has been a leader within the ENGIE group for two decades and has held the role of UK Country Manager since December 2023, representing the company and leading its UK strategy to support business growth.
She is also Vice President Member of the Executive Committee of Global Energy Management & Sales (GEMS), the worldwide entity within ENGIE in charge of asset optimisation, wholesale trading, risk management and B2B supply activities.
One of the few female executives in this field, Miya began her career as a strategy consultant and held a range of different roles across Europe, working in Germany, Paris, Romania and the UK. Most recently she was ENGIE’s Managing Director for Energy Management in the UK.
Miya has a multicultural background and family, she speaks six languages and is a strong advocate of diversity and inclusion in the energy sector.
Marguerite Sayers
Deputy Chief Executive, ESBMarguerite Sayers was appointed Deputy Chief Executive of Ireland’s Electricity Supply Board (ESB) in July, 2022. ESB is a state-owned electricity company, founded in 1927, and is a vertically integrated utility with €16Bn of assets and 8,500 employees across ROI, GB and Northern Ireland. Marguerite has worked for ESB for over 30 years, and previously held the positions of Generation Manager, Executive Director Customer Solutions and Managing Director of ESB Networks DAC, the ROI Distribution System Operator. She has a degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from University College Cork, is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow and Past President of Engineers Ireland, a Fellow of the Academy of Engineers and a Governor of the Irish Times Trust.
David MacDonald
Chief Legal Officer, InterGenA solicitor with 20 years’ experience in corporate and energy law. In private practice David advised clients in various sectors on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and joint ventures. He has experience across the energy sector, from upstream transportation and production to thermal and renewable power generation.
Before joining InterGen, David worked in private practice with Macfarlanes in London and McGrigors (now Pinsent Masons) in Edinburgh. He was previously regional counsel at InterGen, supporting our UK and Netherlands operating business.
Rhian Kelly
Executive Director, UK, National GridRhian oversees all National Grid’s ESG activities. This includes sustainability and how we are reducing our emissions, our investment in the communities we serve and how we support and develop our people. Prior to this, Rhian was responsible for corporate affairs activities on behalf of National Grid Ventures (NGV), National Grid’s commercial arm which invests in green technologies such as renewable energy. Before joining NGV, Rhian oversaw all corporate affairs activities on behalf of National Grid’s UK regulated businesses and led the Corporate Affairs support for the RIIO 2 price control.Rhian joined National Grid back in 2017, to lead our UK & EU Public Affairs and Policy team; managing senior relationships across Whitehall and Westminster on strategic issues like Brexit, nationalisation and transport and heat decarbonisation.
Before joining National Grid, Rhian was the Director of Infrastructure at the CBI, spearheading their campaigns to boost investment in infrastructure, the low-carbon economy and construction. Having joined the CBI in 2006, she helped to deliver the CBI’s ground-breaking report on climate change in 2007, which helped shift the perception of the role business can play in the low-carbon economy. After this she set up and led the CBI’s climate change team before becoming Director of Infrastructure.
Rhian spent five years in Beijing, where she worked for the European Union Chamber of Commerce providing a bridge between European Business and the Chinese government, and a year working in Taiwan.
Jeremy Sainsbury
Director, Natural Power
Clementine Cowton
Director of External Affairs, Octopus EnergyClem Cowton is Director of External Affairs at Octopus Energy Group, heading up the company’s advocacy on policy, government affairs and Net Zero.
Clem led Octopus Energy’s campaign for an energy price cap and has worked closely with government to help drive policy for the decarbonisation of heat and support the transition to a more renewable grid.
Clem joined Octopus from a career in political consultancy for the renewable energy and clean tec sectors.
Mary Starks
VP Regulation, Policy and Risk, Ovo EnergyMary leads Ovo’s policy, regulation and risk functions. She has a background in regulatory and competition economics and previously held senior roles at several regulators including Ofgem, where she was Executive Director for Consumers and Markets and a member of GEMA. At Ovo
Mary leads on policy and advocacy around the retail energy market and decarbonisation in the home, and oversees risk and compliance.
Thomas Glover
UK Country Chair, RWEAs RWE’s UK Country Chair, and Chair of the RWE UK Renewables Boards, Tom is the most senior representative of RWE in the UK responsible for representing the company at the national level (UK, Wales and Scotland) and managing senior stakeholder engagement.
Tom’s earlier roles as Executive Board member in each of RWE’s main operating companies provides him with the ability and insight to ensure that the company has a co-ordinated strategy and that RWE’s UK portfolio is well-positioned for net zero.
Tom has worked at RWE since 2003 and held a variety of senior commercial, trading and business development positions including Chief Commercial Officer of RWE Renewables, RWE Generation and RWE Supply & Trading. In his most recent role, Tom had responsibility for the commercial management and optimisation of RWE’s 10GW global renewable portfolio together with having responsibility for all power purchase agreements, M&A transactions, partnerships and the development of new markets. Prior to that, Tom was commercially responsible for RWE’s European conventional generation fleet, a 40GW portfolio of coal, biomass, gas, hydro, nuclear and other conventional power stations which produced around 200TWh per annum.
Prior to RWE, Tom worked at Barclays Capital, Enron and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Andrew Ward
CEO, Retail Division, ScottishPowerAndrew heads up the retail energy business for ScottishPower and in his 30+ years working for ScottishPower he has held many roles. An individual who is committed to creating a sustainable energy market and in doing so addressing the challenges we have across Great Britain to move us from a carbon intensive energy consuming country to one which achieves its low carbon ambitions.
Gareth Brewerton
Head of Legal, Regulatory & Compliance, Company Secretary, UK, SembcorpGareth oversees the legal, regulatory, compliance and company secretarial functions at Sembcorp which comprising large-scale industrial assets on the Wilton International site and a portfolio of flexible gas engines and battery energy storage systems across the UK.
Prior to joining Sembcorp, Gareth held the roles of General Counsel at Utility Group, South Staffordshire Plc, which owns two of the UK’s water companies and subsequently UK & EU General Counsel at FTSE Top 20 plc, Sunbelt Rentals / Ashtead Group plc.
Gareth was the runner up at the Global Leaders in Law Awards in the category of Outstanding Innovation & Collaboration and has led several successful internal transformational initiatives aligning legal teams to corporate strategy.
He is a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.
Martin Pibworth
Chief Commercial Officer, SSEMartin joined SSE in 1998 as an energy trader, which was followed by a series of commercial roles before becoming Managing Director, Energy Portfolio Management, and a member of SSE’s then Management Board in 2012.
In 2014, he was appointed Managing Director, Wholesale, and a member of SSE’s Group Executive Committee. In 2017 he joined the Board as Group Energy Director, a role which was expanded to Group Energy and Commercial Director in November 2020. This role was subsequently re-titled Chief Commercial Officer in March 2022, with no change in underlying responsibility or remit.
Pauline Lawson
Head of Political Affairs and Communications UK, UniperDr Pauline Lawson is a senior leader at Uniper, an international energy company.
Head of Political Affairs and Communications UK, Pauline leads a team of highly qualified and experienced professionals to represent Uniper‘s diverse activities across the UK, and its role in a reliable and sustainable energy system, to both internal and external stakeholders.
Pauline has extensive experience in the energy sector, gained across a range of business areas and spanning generation, retail and distribution operations. She’s also spent time living and working internationally, both in Germany in the company’s corporate office, and in Brussels in its EU representation office.Pauline holds a PhD in Power Systems Engineering from UMIST | University of Manchester, an M.Sc. in Physics, a B.Sc. in Maths, and is a Chartered Engineer.