Changes to Orion board announced

21 August 2006

Changes to Orion board announced

Christchurch based electricity network company Orion New Zealand has today announced the appointment of two new directors to its board, Michael Andrews and Bill Heaps, and the retirement of long serving chairman Linda Constable from the board.

Craig Boyce has been appointed as Orion’s new chairman following Ms Constable’s retirement. Mr Boyce is chairman of three other Christchurch companies, Smiths City, Connexionz and Snowy Peak and is a director of Christchurch City Holdings Ltd, and has been an Orion director since August 2002.

Mr Boyce welcomed the appointment of Michael Andrews and Bill Heaps to the board and also paid tribute to Ms Constable. “Linda has been an outstanding director of Orion and its predecessor entities since 1988 and has, with great skill, led the Orion board as chairman since 1999. It is no coincidence that Orion today stands as one of New Zealand’s leading energy companies” he said.

“We welcome Michael and Bill to the board and look forward to working with them. Both gentlemen bring breadth and depth to the board in terms of both industry and governance experience” said Mr Boyce. Both of the new Orion directors were appointed by its 89% shareholder, Christchurch City Holdings Limited (which is owned by the Christchurch City Council).

About Orion New Zealand Limited Orion distributes electricity to more than 180,000 homes and businesses in Christchurch and central Canterbury. Orion charges electricity retailers for this network delivery service and retailers, in turn, charge electricity consumers. Orion’s electricity network is rated as one of the most reliable and efficient in New Zealand while Orion’s non-core investments have in total yielded over $800m in profits for its ultimate owners, the Christchurch City and Selwyn District Councils, since corporatisation in 1993. About Michael Andrews

Mike Andrews was with Fletcher Challenge for 30 years, including 11 years as Executive Director and three as CEO. He retired as Fletcher Challenge CEO in 2001. He is currently a director of Tenon Limited, Eastland Infrastructure Limited, Eastland Network Limited, Eastland Port Limited and the National Centre for Advanced Bio Protection Technologies hosted by Lincoln University.

His previous positions include Chair of the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development, member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and member of the World Economic Forum. Mike currently lives in Auckland.

About Bill Heaps Bill Heaps has over 30 years experience in the electricity industry in both New Zealand and overseas. He is managing director of Strata Energy Limited, a consultancy that provides services to the infrastructure and energy industries, and is chairman of the Electricity Commission’s retail market advisory group and the wholesale market advisory group.

He has formerly held executive positions with Contact Energy, Transpower Limited, CentralPower Limited, Energy Brokers Limited, and been a director of d-cypha Limited. Bill currently lives in Wellington.

ENDS

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