Independent
Stakeholder
Group

Team Members

• • Chris Murray – Chair

    Chris’s expertise stems from over 45 years of experience in the UK Energy sector where his remits covered Customer and Employee Engagement, Network Operations, Asset Management, Change and Stakeholder Management, Health and Safety, Gas and Electricity Transmission, Gas Distribution, Regulation and Commercial. In addition to being a 3-time CEO Chris has over 25 years of Non-Executive experience and is currently Chairman at Water Resources South East as well as holding Non-Executive Director positions at the Low Carbon Contracts Company and The Electricity Settlements Company. He is also a Trustee Board Member of the MS Society and the Leicestershire Hospice.

    

  • Graham Oakes

    Graham has a PhD in Satellite Image Processing and a background in tech, working with firms such as Cisco, Intel, Skype and Sony.  In 2013, he created Upside Energy, a tech platform for managing flexibility on the grid.  Upside raised £10m of funding and grew to 35 staff by the end of 2018, at which point Graham stood down to focus on enabling people to participate in the Energy Transition.  Upside was subsequently sold to Octopus Energy, where it now forms the basis for its KrakenFlex platform.  Graham now supports a number of EnergyTech startups and works on local and municipal energy projects across UK and EU.  He was a member of BEIS’ Engineering Standards Review and Ofgem’s Design Advisory Board for Half Hourly Settlement, and is currently a board member of FlexAssure, the ADE’s code of conduct for demand response aggregators.  His book Project Reviews, Assurance and Governance is published by Routledge.

    

  • Henri Murison

    Henri brings his expertise on the importance of electricity infrastructure and the transition to Net Zero in the wider economy to the ISG. Chief Executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, he works across the wider infrastructure agenda, education, skills and wider industrial policy to drive the agenda on how to close the North – South divide. He has led work on the role of decarbonisation in driving economic growth, specifically focused on energy sector. Previously, he advised a financial services business on their government and international regulation interest as well as having wider roles in the voluntary sector and as Cabinet Member for Quality of Life at Newcastle City Council.

    

  • Jenny Saunders

    Jenny Saunders is an independent consultant with over 30 years working in the energy and charity sectors. Previously Chief Executive at National Energy Action, based in the North East but operational across the UK, Jenny is currently Chair of the Customer Engagement Group for NGN and has experience of Ofgem’s enhanced stakeholder engagement process for RIIO2. She was a member of the Government’s Fuel Poverty Committee from 2016 to 2022 and sat on the Advisory Group from 2018 to March 2023 to Innovate UK’s £200m PFER programme. Jenny is a Non-Executive Director of Affordable Warmth Solutions which delivers heating and energy efficiency programmes. She has previously sat on a number of energy industry stakeholder groups including Northern Powergrid’s Northern Inclusive Energy Group (former Social Issues Expert Group).

    

  • Mike Kay

    Mike worked at Electricity North West for 38 years, the last eight of which he was Engineering and IT Director. He chaired  the Distribution Code Review Panel for over a decade , and was a member of the Grid Code Review Panel for eighteen years. Since leaving Electricity North West in 2015 he has worked as an independent consultant on a number of projects for the regulated electricity network industries in the UK and internationally. He is a member-elected trustee of the Electricity North West pension fund.

    

  • Jo Coleman

    Jo Coleman has over 30 years’ experience in the energy industry, initially working in the oil and gas sector in Europe, the Middle East and Far East in roles spanning oil and gas field development, national energy planning, economics and business development.  has previously been an Observer to the Board of Shell UK and an independent member of the Government’s Net Zero Innovation Board as well as chairing or being a member of numerous academic and sectoral Advisory Boards and Committees. 

    She is currently a Board Member of the British Geological Survey, and member of the EPSRC Supergen High Level Group and an ambassador to both the Clean Energy Ministerial Equality in Energy Initiative and POWERful Women. Executive roles have included Strategy Director at the Energy Technologies Institute and Director of whole Systems Analysis an the Energy Systems Catapult. Jo was awarded an OBE in 2018 for services to the energy sector and is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the IMechE.

    Jo is also the Chair of Northern Powergrid’s’ Distribution System Operation (DSO) Review Panel.

    

  • Melanie Taylor

    Melanie is the Founder of Just Strategy, a northern-based consultancy focussing on place-based, customer-centric net zero transitions. She’s a specialist in designing fair and inclusive sustainability strategy, services and customer journeys; incorporating customer insight and engagement, participatory governance, and customer experience optimisation. She holds non-executive board positions on a range of organisations delivering a just climate transition, including Solutions for the Planet, the Yorkshire Climate Commission and the North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub.

    Melanie draws on over 17 years of experience in leading energy and climate change programmes across the public sector and industry. Her career started in Local Government, where she led Climate Change and Energy for West Yorkshire Combined Authority. Subsequently, at KPMG, Melanie supported public sector clients to design and deliver complex and politically sensitive change programmes. Working in the utilities sector, she led stakeholder relations for Northern Gas Networks, and directed pioneering sector projects including the first Green Retail Bond and Customer Experience for Redcar Hydrogen Community.

    

  • Monica Collings

    Monica Collings, award-winning former Chief Executive of retail energy supply challenger So Energy, played a pivotal role in the merger with ESB Energy in 2021. Before that, she led Vattenfall’s UK retailer, and has enjoyed a diverse career spanning markets such as retail home improvement, property, and automotive. Having transitioned from executive roles, Monica now engages in a pluralistic approach, enjoying a portfolio of non-executive and strategic board advisory roles including Chairing the board at entech, Swarm. Monica is a fervent advocate for gender diversity in the workplace having served as the sole female Chief Executive leading a domestic energy supplier. In 2024, Monica will represent the UK as a delegate at the United Nations’ 68^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.