Our Board
Our Board is made up of a non-executive Chairman, three non-executive members and the Chief Executive.
The Board is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the organisation and ensuring that it meets its legal obligations. The most recent minutes of Board meetings are available by clicking the links below.
Board Members
Bill Emery
Bill Emery joined the Utility Regulator as its non-executive chairman on 1 July 2012.
Dr Emery is a civil engineer with a PhD in public health engineering who worked on major capital works and corporate planning before becoming a regulator in 1990. He has over 20 years experience in regulation.
He was chief executive of the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), the independent safety and economic regulator for Britain’s railways for six years, retiring in June 2011. During his time at ORR, he directed the successful amalgamation of ORR and HSE (Rail) to form a unified safety and economic regulator, directed the first periodic review of Network Rail and the rail sector that concluded in late 2008, and oversaw significant improvements in the performance of the sector.
Prior to working at ORR, he worked in senior positions in the Office of Water Services (Ofwat) for 15 years. As director of costs and performance and chief engineer, he was responsible for monitoring the performance of regulated companies, delivery of investment programmes, comparative competition regime, planning and technical aspects of water price reviews, and interfacing with quality regulators and government departments.
As well as being chairman of the Utility Regulator, Bill is also currently non-executive chair of the Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE), a cross sectoral group of regulators, regulated enterprises and academics with the aim of helping improve regulation across Europe. He also advises several British companies on regulation. Bill has been a magistrate on the Sheffield bench for over 30 years.
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Shane Lynch - Chief Executive
Shane Lynch took up the position of Chief Executive of the Utility Regulator on 4 January 2011, before which he had been the Director of Electricity since September 2009.
He has worked in the electricity industry for 27 years. This included various engineering positions with Northern Ireland Electricity from 1983 until 1992. He then worked for the AES Corporation as Managing Director for both Belfast West and Kilroot power plants and as Development Director for Ireland.
He has a BSc. with honours in Mechanical Engineering from Queens University, Belfast and a MSc. with distinction in Finance and Investment from the University of Ulster.
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Alan Rainey
Alan Rainey has been a board member of the Utility Regulator since 2007. He has held a wide range of engineering and management positions in the energy industry. An electrical engineer by profession, he has worked on the development and maintenance of electricity systems throughout Ireland and overseas, working for ESB, the Viridian Group and Northern Ireland Energy Holdings (now Mutual Energy).
In Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE), he directed the development, construction and maintenance of NIE’s transmission and distribution networks and the Moyle Interconnector project. He was Project Director on the development of Huntstown Power, the first independent power producer in the Republic.
From 2003 until 2007, he was Managing Director of the mutualised Moyle Interconnector companies. He joined the board of Northern Ireland Energy Holdings as Executive Director on the creation of the enlarged mutual group owning and operating Northern Ireland’s electricity and gas interconnectors with Great Britain.
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William Cargo
In January 2011, Mr William Cargo became a board member of the Utility Regulator. He has held a number of senior management posts in both the private and public sector within the UK and international energy industry. From 2004 to 2010 he was an Executive Director of Mutual Energy and Managing Director for its gas business. Prior to this he worked for the BG Group which included a time as Chief Executive for Premier Power and Engineering Director with Phoenix Natural Gas during the introduction of natural gas to Northern Ireland.
Mr Cargo has served on the boards of private and mutual energy companies and has a detailed understanding of the gas and electricity industries.
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Richard Rodgers
Mr Richard Rodgers became a board member of the Utility Regulator in January 2011 and has over 20 years experience in the natural gas and heating industries. He has been employed since 2008 by Carillion plc (which acquired Eaga plc) and is currently Commercial Development Director in Carillion Energy Services based in England with particular responsibility for the international licensing of EcoPod, the innovative heating system designed initially to tackle fuel poverty in high-rise social housing tower blocks and dramatically reduce carbon emissions.
Prior to this he worked for Phoenix Natural Gas in Belfast from 1996 to 2008, initially with responsibility for business planning and regulatory matters. In 2000, he was appointed Business Development Director with responsibility for a wide range of areas including marketing communications, PR, public affairs, gas procurement and regulation. He is a member of the Northern Ireland Committee of the Institute of Directors.
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Board Minutes
Copies of Board minutes for the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation (which was formally established from 1 April 2007) and its predecessor organisations can be found in the publication section.
Board minutes relating to meetings that have taken place during 2012-13 are listed below:
24 February 2012
22 March 2012
16 April 2012
11 May 2012
29 June 2012
23 August 2012
4 September 2012
28 September 2012
11 October 2012
5 December 2012
13 December 2012
14 February 2013
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All other Board minutes can be found in the publications section.