Genesis' quiet achiever

Albert Brantley says Genesis Energy has been painted as slow off the mark. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Genesis Energy chief executive Albert Brantley acknowledges his appointment to the job came "out of left field" three years ago.

Although Brantley is a highly qualified engineer with an impressive CV, including major infrastructure projects in the Middle East and mining companies around the world and in New Zealand, little was known about him within the electricity sector when he took the top job at the state-owned enterprise.

And not much has since been revealed in public about the 62-year-old Canadian who has been happy to fly below the radar, in the media at least.

"It's a standing joke around the place about how quiet I am," Brantley said in a rare interview this week.

"I've worked with some of the best people in the world and the one thing I've been taught is that it's better to be effective than be noticed," he said.

"I have no hesitation about going out to sell the company's story when it's appropriate and when I need to but it's just as important for me to keep our counsel and get the job done."

The time for selling the company's story is arriving.

There is speculation about the order in which state energy companies will be partially privatised but Prime Minister John Key has twice mentioned Genesis as the first or second on to the market.

The Treasury estimates the sale of up to 49 per cent of Genesis could raise as much as $780 million, Meridian more than $3 billion and Mighty River Power $1.8 billion.

Both Meridian and Mighty River have been perceived as easier to sell with their more attractive renewable emphasis and Genesis chairwoman Dame Jenny Shipley could be a lightning rod for political opposition to the sales.

But Brantley says his company is ready to go.

"Genesis Energy was painted as perhaps not as progressive as some of our competitors, slow off the mark to do certain things and even now when the considerations of the mixed ownership came up it was automatically assumed we'd be the least attractive and the last out of the blocks."

Once the results of the scoping studies are known and if the sales go ahead, the Genesis story would surprise detractors, he said.

"What I've always told people is that it's not a beauty contest. It isn't about who's better or whose story is better. Each one of us is different."

Genesis has the biggest customer base of any power company, has bought part of an attractive South Island hydro system and is now reaping revenue from its 31 per cent stake in the Kupe gas and oil field.

Then there's the 1000MW coal burning station at Huntly.

It's a huge asset when hydro power is short and prices are high, but most of the time costly maintenance of its coal units is a huge financial burden.

How Genesis can support the rest of the industry by providing backup power while controlling its own costs has not been worked through.

Brantley said the most likely solution is to take the four coal units out on a staged basis, although they still have a future.

"I still think there is uncertainty in the market out there [as to] whether people building peaking generation are going to be able to recover cost."

Since taking over from often-quoted Murray Jackson in August 2008 Brantley has driven through big changes among his senior executive team, shaken up the Energy Online business and brought the Genesis customer call centre back in-house where the introduction of performance-based pay has led to some industrial friction.

He has the appearance and manner of a kindly grandfather but he and others who know him say that doesn't mean he shies away from the tough stuff. "I'm not hired to be a popular guy but I will do everything I can to do things in a pleasant amenable way - that's my style. If push comes to shove I have to make the decisions I have to make," Brantley said.

Former Genesis chairman Brian Corban was on the panel that appointed him and puts it a different way. Brantley was an "iron fist in a velvet glove" sort.

"The iron fist doesn't come out unless it's absolutely essential ... and he knows how to be tough when he needs to," Corban said.

Corban, who was on the Genesis board for more than a decade until 2009, said Brantley stood out from more than half a dozen candidates for his maturity and breadth of international experience, including executive roles in listed companies.

"What I saw in Albert was maturity. A strong ego but not an oversized ego."

Brantley is no stranger to tough engineering and commercial challenges, having worked in the Canadian Arctic, Australian Outback, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, South America and conflict-riven southern Philippines.

"I tended to get selected for the really difficult ones. The ones with unique challenges which could have been extremely complex." he said.

In New Zealand he was chief executive of L&M Mining from 1987 to 1991 and chief operating officer at OceanaGold before his Genesis appointment.

He was born in rural Georgia in the southern United States but spent most of his school years in Canada.

His father was a railroad engineer but both his parents died when he and his sister were young and they lived with their grandmother, who was big on self-reliance.

"She was fairly adamant that we were going to be able to look after ourselves so I was taught to cook, sew and clean simply because our grandmother knew she wasn't going to be able to see us through."

He returned to Georgia to study engineering before spending the early part of his career in Canada's north.

"The real reason for leaving Canada ... is that I got sick of freezing in the Arctic. Someone offered me a job in Western Australia and I've never gone back to Canada to live."

His biggest project was as executive managing director of CMS Power Company building a US$1.8 billion ($2.3 billion) 1600MW generation plant with associated desalination facilities in Abu Dhabi.

"They were great times," he said. "It is everybody's dream to be given the biggest Tonka toy and a budget that allowed you to actually do things and we broke a lot of new ground."

The main challenge of working in the Middle East was mistrust of Westerners.

"Once they learn to trust you, you become their brother which means it becomes a special relationship that you become more jealous about guarding," he said.

"That also changes in a heartbeat - it keeps you on your toes."

Brantley has worked at two listed New Zealand gold companies and married "Greymouth girl" Beverley, with home being a lifestyle block near Rangiora. They have two adult children in Canada and several years ago adopted a Guatemalan girl, now 11. He commutes to Auckland for the week.

He jumped at the Genesis job, where he says there is still a lot to do in spite of it being quieter than some of his other postings. "I don't miss anyone shooting at me."