Innovation Opportunities and Barriers for Aotearoa - Ari Sargent from Octopus Energy NZ

Join Managing Director of Octopus Energy NZ, Ari Sargent, and the LUMO team to explore energy innovation opportunities in Aotearoa and unpack some of the existing barriers to innovate.

Ari is not new to innovation. A 30 year veteran of the energy industry makes him either a dinosaur or a guru. He describes his early career as being interesting and extremely rewarding - he set up Meridian Energy’s trading operation, negotiated the renewal of the Tiwai Point electricity contract and spearheaded the company’s renewable energy strategy. But he definitely felt like a square peg in a corporate round hole. No surprise, he leapt from that environment to create Powershop, one of New Zealand’s most loved consumer brands, and established the world’s first multinational energy franchise to take Powershop to the world. These days he is heading up UK unicorn Octopus Energy’s entry into the NZ electricity market and wants to make accessing clean energy easy and affordable.

This session will kick off with a conversation between Ari and Energy Academy Lead, Dee Anderson, followed by the chance for participants to contribute to the conversation and a Q&A session with Ari.

ABOUT LUMO

LUMO Energy Reimagined Symposium is the Energy Academy’s platform to explore the big ideas facing energy through a diverse voice. It invites the conversations happening at the edge of the energy sector and challenges the status quo in service of a positive energy future for Aotearoa. The aim is to have the conversations we are meant to be having about energy, and shift the national narrative to one that everyone wants to be a part of.

This podcast and online event series showcases over 50 esteemed speakers navigating our four big LUMO themes- Energy and Humanity, Energy Tomorrow, Just Transition and Energy's Future Story.

Thank you to our partners: Orion, Genesis Energy, Ara Ake, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), ChristchurchNZ, Ministry of Social Development and Ara Institute of Canterbury.

energyacademy.co.nz/lumo

Please note the Zoom event will be recorded.