Alpine Energy chief executive cancels US conference trip

Friday, 30 May 2025

The chief executive of troubled South Canterbury lines company Alpine Energy has pulled out of a conference in New Orleans next week, a decision which has been met with appreciation from the company’s biggest shareholder.

Alpine Energy board chairperson Melissa Clark-Reynolds said the company’s chief executive, Caroline Ovenstone, had pulled out of attending on Thursday due to “personal reasons”.

Clark-Reynolds said the tour was a “completely appropriate study tour” organised by the Electricity Networks Association, was for board chairs and chief executives, and “most of the sector” was going.

“I chose not to go because I was leaving,” she said. “We did consider whether or not to send another board member but because we didn’t have the next chair elected yet it just didn’t seem appropriate.”

Clark-Reynolds, who resigned in April and leaves the role in August, said the trip would have been funded out of the operational budget, which had “nothing to do with dividends or not”.

“The reason we were going … most of the industry is going, it’s an opportunity for two big things, one way to learn about future networks and see how other places were thinking about the future of electricity, and particularly lines.

“And then the other one was that … our shareholders and us, we’ve been talking about wanting to do more collaboration, and the opportunity to spend more time with our New Zealand peers side-by-side, rather than in a 10-minute meeting somewhere, was completely appropriate.”

She said the only reason Ovenstone was no longer going was due to a “personal issue” which had come up on Thursday.

She said they would not send another staff member as it was specifically for chairs and chief executives and the trip was fully-insured so all costs would be recovered.

“There’s nothing to see here,” she said.

Ovenstone was also approached for comment.

A number of questions were sent, via the company’s communication team, asking about Alpine’s attendance at the conference, how much it would cost, and whether it was appropriate given the inability of the company to pay dividends.

It’s response was, “There is no one from Alpine attending Electricity Networks Aotearoa’s study tour.”

Asked when the decision was made not to attend and why, a similar response was forthcoming.

“Nothing more to say. Happy to have a discussion about the role of industry study tours, conferences on meeting the future needs of our South Canterbury network.”

Timaru District Holdings Ltd general manager Frazer Munro said as a shareholder it was not “TDHL’s role to be involved” in decisions around whether staff attended conferences.

However, Munro did acknowledge the decision not to send an Alpine Energy representative to New Orleans.

“In regards to Caroline no longer attending, it is appreciated that the board has recognised the importance for prudent use of funds within the context of the price path correction and no dividend.”

On Wednesday, Alpine Energy confirmed it would no longer hang Timaru’s community Christmas decorations citing “safety concerns” and a need to focus on delivering an “increased programme of work” on its network.

In September, Alpine Energy confirmed it would stop all community sponsorship in the wake of its overcharging saga, which saw customers overcharged to the tune of about $19 million over more than nine years.

The community-owned South Canterbury lines company had also suspended dividends to its shareholders.

In April, the Commerce Commission ordered the company to refund customers $16.9m following an investigation into the overcharge error.