Power boss celebrates 'success story'

LONG REIGN: Erc Angelo begins his seventh sitting as Northpower chairman.

ERC Angelo is at the helm of the Northpower Electric Power Trust for the seventh time after first being elected as chairman in 1993.

His former deputy chairman Richard Drake was also re-elected at a recent NEPT meeting.

Mr Angelo said that since 1993, Northpower Limited had grown from a company with a net asset value of $47 million to $249 million and annual revenue of $282 million.

Along the way it had expanded to have 15 depots in the North Island (from Whangarei to Wellington), established a growing Australian business (West Coast Energy), completed considerable projects in the Pacific Islands and was about to complete New Zealand's first ultra-fast broadband fibre network in partnership with the Crown.

Mr Angelo said his re-election was pleasing and he was looking forward to continuing to assist in the growth of Northpower.

"Northpower has grown considerably over the past 20 years and the future is looking bright. I am looking forward to leading the NEPT over the next three years," he said.

"The company is a Northland success story and there are plenty of opportunities ahead. There will always be challenges but that is the nature of the electricity and contracting sectors."

Mr Angelo said Northpower kept making progress because of the strength of its directors and executive management team, and skilled specialists doing the work in the field.

"It is a privilege to hold a governance position like this. Along with the important responsibility of appointing directors, our primary role as trustees is to oversee the shares of Northpower on behalf of its consumer owners, those people connected to Northpower's electricity network in Kaipara and Whangarei, to ensure their investment continues to be enhanced for the current and future generations of Northlanders."

Mr Angelo said being able to give back $182 million over 20 years - most recently through a $70 distribution to every Northpower consumer - is testimony to the success of the consumer trust ownership model and the growth of Northpower.

On the board with Mr Angelo and Mr Drake are trustees Ross Provan, Bill Rossiter, Sheena McKenzie, Irene Durham and Tony Davies-Colley.