Lines boss says goodbye

He’s most effectively often called the person who led the Christchurch earthquake restoration.

However Roger Sutton has been on the helm of arguably an important firm within the Ashburton District for the final 4 years.

He has been accountable for conserving the lights on in Mid Canterbury because the chief govt of EA Networks, the regionally owned cooperative working the electrical energy distribution and fibre optic communications networks.

However now he is getting ready to depart for brand spanking new pastures, abandoning an organization he believes is effectively positioned to deal with challenges sooner or later.

“I’ve at all times loved working within the vitality sector, the place we all know what we do counts.”

His enthusiasm for vitality effectivity and decarbonisation is figure he’s set to proceed in his new function, becoming a member of Deta Consulting.

Deta is a Christchurch-based agency that assists companies throughout Australia and the Pacific to manage vitality use and scale back vitality prices.

He might be changed by Onno Mulder, who takes over in March.

Sutton began within the sector at what was Southpower in Christchurch in 1996, with the corporate turning into Orion in 1998.

He later grew to become its chief govt in 2003, accountable for an organization spanning the Rakaia River to the Waimakariri river.

Orion was greater, whereas EA is extra group targeted, he stated.

“At Orion, you had been extra distant from the true points however right here I’ve needed to become involved in issues like site visitors administration.

“The smallness means I’ve needed to roll up my sleeves extra.

“It’s been extra hands-on and dealing with all kinds of individuals.”

He has usually stepped out of the workplace to “get on the instruments”.

“Not fairly getting up a ladder however often helped digging a ditch.

“I’m thought-about competent sufficient for that however not competent sufficient to climb the ladder.”

Whereas being greater, Orion nonetheless had the identical problem of conserving the lights on.

Then got here the Canterbury earthquakes.

Sutton was chosen by the Authorities to be the primary chief govt of the Canterbury Earthquake Restoration Authority (Cera) in 2011.

“That was an enormous change.

“The setting was so troublesome. There was a lot to do and understanding tips on how to prioritise what you probably did was so essential.

“There was no template of what to do subsequent.”

He had the mammoth process of steering the restoration plans, and looking out again there have been issues he would do in a different way.

“All these vacant tons, I’d have been rather more deliberate and constructed low cost buildings shortly.

“The identical method we constructed a brief rugby stadium, we must always have constructed short-term places of work and lodging that may have had the CBD populated.

“That method we might have had much less improvement on the fringes of the town, which I believe has dispersed the town in a method that isn’t good for the long term.”

Whereas there have been issues he is aware of he may have completed higher, “general issues went fairly effectively”.

Sutton resigned from Cera in 2014 after a employees member made a proper criticism about him. The high-profile investigation into the criticism made headlines on the time. Sutton moved on to grow to be a Christchurch Anglican missioner, working the church’s social companies arm, which he stated “was grounding for me”.

He then took over as the pinnacle of EA Networks in 2020, changing Gordon Guthrie who retired after 20 years as chief govt – and 44 years with the corporate.

The corporate is stuffed with passionate individuals who commonly get away from bed within the worst of climate to repair faults and get individuals’s energy again on, he stated.

In comparison with different rural areas, Sutton believes EA Networks is among the finest for guaranteeing minimal disruption.

The Ashburton District Council is almost all shareholder (95%), and it’s a firm owned by its clients who need the lights to stay on, and in the event that they do exit, they need data on when they may come again on, he stated.

The altering world and a rising reliance on digital gadgets means individuals are much less tolerant of energy outages, he stated.

“Individuals settle for there are nonetheless going to be energy cuts however they’re going to be particularly illiberal to lengthy energy cuts.

“You do have to go in your pc, cost your cellphone, and cost your automobile.”

Reliability is a key duty of a strains firm and at EA Sutton feels that has continued to enhance throughout his tenure – “by way of principally quite a lot of good work that was began lengthy earlier than I used to be right here”.

A big a part of that’s the work going into placing the ability strains underground, and in comparison with different districts, Mid Canterbury is forward of the sport, he stated.

“We’re greater than 90% by way of the community.

“A few of that can take the following 10 years to do as a result of it’s work we do when we have now the spare capability.

“It prices a bit extra, but it surely’s extra dependable.”

EA Networks faces the identical challenges any strains firm does, he stated.

“Attempting to arrange the community for decarbonisation and masses changing to electrical energy, whether or not it’s industrial masses utilizing electrical boiler or individuals shopping for electrical autos.”

Trying to the long run, the corporate will proceed to play a key function within the district.

“Going ahead, electrical energy goes to grow to be much more essential.

“It permits us to maintain our telephones going, run wifi, and people kinds of issues but additionally as individuals transition to electrical automobile as effectively.”

The district has additionally had quite a lot of city improvement, requiring new strains and connections to be put in.

“We now have seen extra development in the previous couple of years than we have now seen for a few years which is a optimistic signal.”

EA Networks is effectively positioned to satisfy the rising demand, he believes.

“New Zealand wants to extend the output of its electrical energy by about 60% over the following 25 years to satisfy the wants of electrifying transport and changing coal and gasoline boilers across the nation.

“We’re going to want to attach much more renewable electrical energy and [Mid Canterbury] is in a greater place than most different locations to attach it as a result of our community has been constructed huge and powerful for the irrigation masses.”

In easy phrases, the community is 5 instances greater than a typical rural community, he stated.

“If you wish to go and construct a photo voltaic or wind farm, it’s a lot simpler and cheaper to attach it at scale to this community than it’s to virtually another rural community within the nation.”

A big-scale photo voltaic farm is deliberate at Lauriston by Genesis Vitality.

The 90-hectare website will maintain roughly 80,000 photo voltaic panels with a capability of 60 MW and generate round 90GWh of renewable electrical energy yearly – sufficient to energy near 13,000 homes.

“They haven’t began however are hoping to have it commissioned by Christmas subsequent 12 months.”

There’s a want for extra renewable vitality sources, but it surely must be balanced by the truth that Mid Canterbury has good productive land.

Renewable vitality sources have to be numerous and unfold across the nation, he stated.

“If all of us have photo voltaic on our rooftops, then how are we going to maintain the lights on in Auckland on a cloudy day.

“We want to ensure they’re distributed in locations the place it is sunny when it is cloudy in different components – like on the West Coast when, on common if it is sunny there it isn’t raining within the hydro lakes”

“We want wind and photo voltaic which produce when it’s not raining within the hydro lakes.”

Throughout his time with EA Networks, he has additionally labored with most of the huge boiler homeowners within the district to assist them decarbonise, together with Ashburton Hospital and Ashburton School that are already within the means of decommissioning coal boiler techniques.

He beforehand acknowledged that shutting down the district’s coal burners would cut back the identical quantity of emissions as all of the autos within the district produce.

“We now have had plenty of discussions with all these huge industrial customers about how we may also help them decarbonise and people have been good discussions.

“We really feel we’re extra prepared than most are to assist them change.”

Relating to decarbonisation, it’s typically higher to hunt huge reductions than to hunt zero, he stated.

“We have to be rational about how we pursue local weather change and we do issues that make financial sense and don’t simply do issues that make us really feel good.

“Generally 5 initiatives to cut back emission by 50% are higher than one which reduces by 100%.”

The “political slogan” is commonly the enemy of reaching issues with local weather change, he stated.

“Whether or not you consider local weather change or not, there’s a robust view that except our producers are producing meals which are decrease carbon, we in the long term can have hassle promoting our stuff into many markets.”

As he prepares to depart EA, he praises the individuals he is labored with.

“I’ve loved being part of the group, a part of a enterprise stuffed with enthusiastic, passionate individuals who need to do one of the best for the group they reside and work in.”

By Jonathan Leask