Expert analyst appointed to Mighty River Power board

James Miller. Photo / Sarah Ivey

One of the country's most experienced electricity industry analysts and governors, James Miller, has been appointed to the board of Mighty River Power ahead of its partial privatisation this year, prompting his departure from the board of network company Vector.

Miller's appointment was announced yesterday by State-Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall, with the reappointment of Joan Withers as the chairwoman of the first of three state electricity companies to be partially privatised.

Also reappointed for a three-year term is professional director Keith Smith, while Tania Simpson, who has served on the MRP board since 2001, will stay for a further 18 months to provide continuity through the listing process.

Ryall said Miller had a "deep understanding of the electricity industry, combined with extensive skills in the capital markets, which will assist MRP as it becomes a listed company".

Miller is also a director of the sharemarket operator, NZX, and Auckland International Airport, where Withers is also deputy chairwoman, and is a member of the Financial Markets Authority.

Miller's MRP appointment is due to take effect from May 1 and is subject to gaining an exemption under the Electricity Industry Act allowing him to be a director at AIA, which is a regulated monopoly. He has resigned from the board of Vector because it is also a regulated monopoly, operating in the same industry as MRP.

He has served on the Vector board since mid-2009.

Meanwhile, Vector was back in the Court of Appeal yesterday as the Commerce Commission began its challenge to a judicial review in the High Court last October that overturned the way the commission develops the inputs used to set the so-called "default price path" for monopoly assets.