Board of Directors

Roger J. Urwin, PhD, C.B.E.

CHAIR AND NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dr. Urwin is the Chair of ATCO Australia Pty Ltd. He has worked in gas, electric and telecom utilities throughout his career. He retired at the end of 2006 as Group Chief Executive of National Grid plc. He played a key role in establishing National Grid's international strategy and its successful expansion into the U.S., creating one of the largest investor-owned utility companies in the world. Dr. Urwin was the Managing Director and Chief Executive of London Electricity from 1990 to 1995. He was non-executive Chairman of Utilico Investments Limited until October 2015 and has been a special advisor to Global Infrastructure Partners, an international infrastructure investment fund. He was Chair of Alfred McAlpine plc from 2006 to 2008.

Dr. Urwin is a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Dr. Urwin has a Physics degree and a PhD from the University of Southampton, U.K.

Robert J. Routs PhD

Non-executive Director

Dr. Routs is Lead Director for the Board of ATCO Ltd. Until his retirement in 2008, Dr. Routs was an Executive Board Member at Royal Dutch Shell plc. He was responsible for the global refining, chemical, marketing, trading and renewables businesses. During his career, he held various senior management positions at Royal Dutch Shell in the U.S., Canada and The Netherlands. Dr. Routs is also a director of ATCO Structures & Logistics Ltd. and Neltume Ports S.A. Dr. Routs graduated in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University of Eindhoven in The Netherlands, where he also obtained a PhD in Technical Sciences. He completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School in 1991.

Robert Hanf

Non-executive Director

Mr. Hanf served as an executive leader within Emera Inc. and its group of companies for almost 20 years.  Until his retirement in 2020, he was Executive Vice President, Stakeholder Relations and Regulatory Affairs responsible for strategy and alignment of stakeholder and regulatory relations, communications, and government relations. During his career, he held positions as President and Chief Executive Officer of Nova Scotia Power Inc., Chief Legal Officer of Emera Inc., Executive Chairman of Barbados Light & Power Holdings Ltd., and President and COO of Bangor Hydro Electric Company.  Previously he worked in Western Canada’s construction and energy sectors for over a decade and was a partner in the Calgary office of McCarthy Tetrault LLP. Mr. Hanf is currently a director of Canadian Utilities Limited, LUMA Energy, LLC and Mancal Corporation, and is the Chair of the Board of Governors of Dalhousie University. Mr. Hanf is also a former director of the Canadian Electricity Association and the Energy Council of Canada. Mr. Hanf has a law degree from Dalhousie University and has held an ICD.D certification since 2008.

Karen Nielsen

Managing Director, Global Renewables

Ms. Nielsen was appointed to Managing Director, Global Renewables in November 2021 after rejoining ATCO in June 2021 as Senior Vice President, Renewables North America. Based in Sydney, she is responsible for ATCO’s global renewables business with a key focus on Australia. With over 30 years’ experience in the global energy sector, Ms. Nielsen brings a wealth of experience in strategy, innovation and project execution. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree with distinction in Electrical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan and is a licensed professional engineer of APEGA, and APEGBC, as well as a certified Corporate Director (ICD.D)

Patrick Creaghan

Outgoing Country Chair, ATCO Australia
Director, ATCO Australia & ATCO Gas Australia GP

Mr Creaghan joined ATCO in 2011 and was appointed President, Pipelines & Liquids in 2013. He then served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, before being appointed Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of ATCO Australia in June 2017. Mr Creaghan has more than 25 years’ experience in a variety of operational and leadership roles and prior to joining ATCO held executive positions with Shell Canada and Royal Dutch Shell Group. He has served as a Director of the Canadian Energy Research Institute, Chair of the Canadian Petroleum Producers Institute (CPPI) Ontario division and as Director and Vice Chair of the Technical Safety and Standards Authority (TSSA).​

SIMON BYRNE

GENERAL COUNSEL, ATCO AUSTRALIA & COMPANY SECRETARY

Mr Byrne joined ATCO in October 2010 as Senior Legal Counsel and Company Secretary at ATCO Gas Australia.  In late 2013 he was appointed to the role of General Manager, Corporate Services & Legal at ATCO Australia, and later General Counsel, retaining his Company Secretary duties across the ATCO Australia companies.  After returning from the United Kingdom where he spent 14 years, including senior positions as Head of Legal and Company Secretary with Thames Water, the largest regulated water and waste utility in the UK serving over 14 million customers in London and the Thames Valley, Simon worked in private practice with a national law firm in Perth. Mr Byrne is a qualified lawyer and holds Bachelor of Jurisprudence and Bachelor of Law degrees from the University of Western Australia.

John Ivulich 

Country Chair, ATCO Australia,

Director, ATCO Australia & ATCO Gas Australia GP

John was appointed Country Chair of ATCO Australia in March 2023, and is the first Australian to be appointed to the position for the Canadian based company.  John will also continue as Chief Financial Officer, a position he has held since August 2014.  John joined ATCO as Director, Finance when the company acquired WestNet Infrastructure Group in 2011, having been with the organisation since 2006, when it was Alinta. 

As Country Chair, John is responsible for stewarding and representing the company’s broad interests with government and regulatory stakeholders across all lines of business in Australia. In his role, John will continue to hold the strategic financial planning responsibility for ATCO in Australia and oversees the delivery of all common group functions that support our Distribution, Renewables and emerging Transmission business in Australia. 

John is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree, majoring in Accounting & Finance from the University of Western Australia and completed an Executive Leadership programme at Ivy Business School in Canada.  John is also a member of the Institute of Company Directors in Australia and completed an Applied Finance & Investment Diploma with FINSIA. 

John was born in Western Australia and is married with two adult sons.

Laura A. Reed

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Ms. Reed is the Chair of Epic Energy South Australia Pty Ltd, which owns the Moomba to Adelaide gas transmission pipeline in South Australia. In December 2021, Ms. Reed was appointed Chair of the Spark Infrastructure Group, also joining the boards of Victoria Power Networks Pty and SA Power Networks Partnership and their wholly-owned subsidiaries. Ms. Reed was the Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of Spark Infrastructure from 2008 until May 2012. Before joining Spark Infrastructure, she spent nine years at Envestra Limited in a number of senior financial roles including Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Reed was previously appointed to the board of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, which assists with the funding of clean energy projects. Ms. Reed is currently a director of Canadian Utilities Limited. She holds an MBA from Deakin University and a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) and is a fellow of CPA Australia. 

Charles W. Wilson 

Non-executive Director

Mr. Wilson is a former President and Chief Executive Officer of Shell Canada and is also a Director of AKITA Drilling Ltd. Mr. Wilson graduated from the University of New Mexico with his M.Sc. in Engineering and held several senior executive positions in refining and marketing, chemical, oil & gas production and corporate planning during his career at Shell.