Executive Management

Doug Heffernan has been Chief Executive of Mighty River Power since it was formed in December 1998 and now has over 38 years’ experience in the New Zealand electricity industry.  He has led the Company through a period of sustained growth and evolution from its beginnings as a hydro-only operator to a diversified electricity generator and retailer with a significant geothermal business.  In 2012 Doug was named the Energy Executive of the Year at the Deloitte Energy Excellence Awards.  Doug is a director of Tuaropaki Power Company and was, until 2012, Chair of Rotokawa Joint Venture and the Nga Awa Purua joint venture.  Doug was formerly Chief Executive of Power New Zealand (a distributor and retailer which was formerly listed with NZX) from 1991 to 1997, leading it through the processes of corporatisation, merger and listing with NZX through demutualisation and initial development of the Rotokawa geothermal field.  Prior to that Doug held roles in national transmission grid and generation development and sales and marketing at ECNZ. 

William Meek joined Mighty River Power in 1999 and heads the finance, treasury, investor relations and information services functions.  William was previously responsible for the Company’s generation investment strategy and enterprise risk functions.  He has 15 years’ industry experience in areas such as risk management, power development, wholesale markets and forecasting.

James Munro joined Mighty River Power in 2008 with responsibility for the retailing and metering businesses.  James has a broad range of commercial experience, having started his career as an accountant and with a background in media, finance and banking.  James has over 20 years’ experience in complex retail services businesses.  Previously he has worked for a number of companies including The Economist in London, TVNZ and St George Bank.

Matthew Olde is responsible for facilitating the development and delivery of Company strategy. In addition, he is responsible for the communications and legal functions, as well as group information services. Matthew joined Mighty River Power in 2010, prior to which he spent over a decade as an investment banker in Auckland, Sydney and London with Deutsche Bank and ABN AMRO, predominantly providing corporate finance advice across a wide range of sectors. 

Marlene Strawson joined Mighty River Power in 2012 with responsibility for delivering Mighty River Power’s human resources strategy.  Marlene has over 20 years’ experience in HR, with a strong organisational development background.  Prior to joining Mighty River Power, Marlene held a number of HR roles in a wide range of sectors including the telecommunications, banking and health sectors, including a period at Yellow Pages after it was acquired from Telecom.

Mark Trigg is responsible for Mighty River Power's generation development and growth strategy, both within New Zealand and internationally.  He joined Mighty River Power in 2010 following 14 years’ experience in the New Zealand power sector where he held a number of senior executive roles.  Mark brings a range of experience in operations, business development, trading and risk management and strategy development.  Before moving to the energy sector, Mark spent ten years in the financial markets, predominantly in trading roles.

Fraser Whineray is responsible for optimising the performance of all of Mighty River Power's domestic generation operations, portfolio and industrial sales activities.  He joined Mighty River Power in 2008 from Carter Holt Harvey where he was Director Operational Improvement.  Prior to that he held a number of senior roles in the dairy industry and with Credit Suisse First Boston in New Zealand and Australia.  He has considerable experience in performance management, strategy, mergers and acquisitions and international business.  Fraser is an independent non-executive director of Opus International Consultants.