Ian McLeod

CEO of Ergon Energy Corporation Ian McLeod has more than 30 years experience in the power industry. “I initially started in the field and then moved on to manage various project, engineering, business development, finance, and construction departments,” Ian says. “I moved around and worked for the State Electricity Commission in Victoria for some time. I then went to Powercor Australia. Afterwards, I established a contracting company called Electrix in 1996. I’ve been with Ergon for 13 years and have been CEO for six years.”

Throughout Ian’s tenure, Ergon has faced two major challenges that have helped shape the organisation. “The first challenge was the economic boom Queensland experienced in the past decade with the resources boom and the construction of enabling infrastructure such as ports and water. Immigration and sea change were quite big drivers of significant growth in regional populations and therefore new subdivisions. The economic prosperity saw increasing penetration of lifestyle appliances such as air-conditioners, plasma televisions, and computers, which in turn increased demand and consumption on the network. It was a huge growth phase for Ergon. At that time, my role was about delivering the infrastructure and services to support the boom. By the time I assumed the CEO role, we were pretty much at the peak before the global financial crisis.”