1 February 2024
The Board of the CEFC has thanked retiring Board member Tony Concannon for his service and confirmed his ongoing contribution to the specialist CEFC Rewiring the Nation Investment Advisory Committee.
After extensive consideration, it was recognised by all parties that it had become increasingly difficult to manage Mr Concannon’s conflicts of interest (as an active and successful solar and storage developer) as they related to the affairs of the CEFC. These were compounded by the necessary pace and scale of the transition of the energy system and potential opportunities presented by current and anticipated Governmental energy policies that are relevant to the CEFC.
The 2022-23 year saw important developments for the CEFC at the start of its second decade, with an amendment to the CEFC Act extending the object of the CEFC to include a specific reference “to facilitate the achievement of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets”.
The Australian Government also approved an additional $20.5 billion capital allocation to the CEFC, the first increase since the CEFC was established in 2012. The new capital includes $19 billion to transform the Australian energy transmission grid through the Rewiring the Nation Fund, $1 billion to help householders reshape their energy use through the Household Energy Upgrades Fund and $500 million to back the ongoing growth and development of projects and companies in the climate tech sector through the Powering Australia Technology Fund.
In light of these developments, the CEFC Board strengthened its governance arrangements to reflect the organisation’s new scale. This has included the creation of the CEFC RTN Investment Advisory Committee to provide the Board with an additional level of review and evaluation of the more complex and large-scale transactions likely to be considered for potential investment by the RTN Fund. As a founding Committee member, the CEFC board is delighted that Mr Concannon will remain in this role and continue to provide his expertise to the CEFC and the Board.
