Our Board of Directors
Ben Kepes
Chairman
Ben is a professional Board member, a globally-recognised technology commentator, and co-founder of successful workwear and equipment brand Cactus Outdoor. He is currently Deputy Chair of Kordia Group, Deputy Chair of Unimed and sits on the boards of Corde, Pegasus Health, and Paenga Kupenga. Ben is a Chartered Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Directors. He has been an investor in a large number of early-stage technology start-ups across three continents and has had successful exits to listed and privately held companies in Canada, the US, and the UK.
Garth Dibley
Director and CEO at WEL Network
Garth joined WEL Networks as CEO in 2014. His career in New Zealand’s electricity industry spans generation, retail, transmission, and more recently, distribution sectors. Previously Garth was GM Grid Performance at Transpower and also held a number of engineering and senior management positions at Meridian Energy, including GM Markets and Production. Garth holds an engineering degree and an MBA.
Paul Blue
Director and CEO at PowerNet
Oliver Kearney
Director and CEO at Network Tasman
Oliver Kearney is the CEO of Network Tasman and is a qualified chartered accountant. He is also a director of On Metering Limited & Nelson Electricity Limited.
Andrew Cameron
Director
Caroline Ovenstone
Director and CEO Alpine Energy
Caroline brings to Smartco more than 20 years of comprehensive expertise in managing and strengthening businesses through systems development and diversification, fuelled by strong organic and acquisition growth
Our Leadership
Guy Marquet
Chief Executive
Guy Marquet brings over 30 years of experience in New Zealand’s electricity industry to his role as Chief Executive at SmartCo. With a career spanning leadership, operations, and project management, Guy has a proven track record of driving growth and innovation.
Previously, Guy owned and directed an electrical and field services management company that pioneered smart metering deployment services in New Zealand. He also served as Operations Manager at SmartCo and held key project management roles at Alpine Energy Limited and On Metering Limited.
Guy is passionate about empowering people and leveraging data-driven insights to inform strategic decisions. His leadership focuses on fostering growth, enhancing team dynamics, and using advanced analytics to deliver operational excellence and sustainable outcomes for SmartCo’s stakeholders.
Natasha Gilison
Product Manager
Natasha Gillison is a product leader specialising in energy analytics and innovation within the electricity sector.
As Product Manager at Hiko Energy Insights, she plays a critical role in helping New Zealand’s electricity distribution businesses harness smart meter and network sensor data to make smarter, data-driven decisions. With a wealth of expertise, she is dedicated to using data to drive innovation, efficiency, and sustainability in the electricity industry.
Calvin Varney
Senior Software Engineer
Calvin brings 20 years of engineering and technical lead experience at IAG, AMI and Lyttelton Port Company to our team.
Calvin is interested in how data science and software engineering can improve network management. He works to extract insights from billions of data points, to support networks with decision making, progressing new initiatives like carbon reduction, and improve quality of service.