ERRA continues to support gender equality in the energy sector and as such returns to the series of webinar on:
Women in the Energy Sector – My Career Story.
The concept of the series bases on interviews with leading female figures in the energy industry with a purpose of learning from their inspiring biographies and reflections on the course of their professional paths – what were the drivers of their professional development, what helped them to get where they are and what advice can they convey to their colleagues.
In the seventh webinar of the series we will have a chance to listen to another successful female energy sector professional - more details will follow shortly.
Previous Webinars
Andrijana Nelkova Chuchuk is Head of Economic Department at the Energy, Water Services and Municipal Waste Management Services Regulatory Commission (ERC) of the Republic of North Macedonia. She served as Commissioner from 2019 to 2024. Previously she was a Deputy Head of Economic Department at the ERC. She has 19 years’ experience in energy regulation in the field of electricity, natural gas, district heating and oil and oil derivatives. In the period 2016 - 2019 she was also a Coordinator of the Water Services Regulation Group at ERC North Macedonia.
In 2018 Andrijana was elected for her second term as Chair of the ERRA Tariff/Pricing Committee and in 2020 and 2022 she was elected as ERRA Presidium member. In May 2024 Andrijana assumed the position of ERRA Chair for a 2-year term. Andrijana Nelkova Chuchuk holds a B.Sc. degree in Economy in the field of Financial and Accounting Management and M.Sc. degree in Economy in the field of Accounting and Auditing and is a member in several professional organizations.
Mrs. Angeliki Mourtzikou has been working on energy related issues, first in the private sector (consulting) and then in the public sector in Greece and abroad for over 25 years. She has in-depth experience in natural gas and electricity wholesale market design issues, natural gas transmission and distribution regulation, tariff setting, RES management and support schemes, and energy project funding. Her experience spans several countries across Europe, Asia and North America collaborating with Regulatory Authorities, Ministries, EU Agencies, NARUC, the World Bank, OECD, private institutions, and energy integrated service companies.
Mrs. Mourtzikou joined the Regulatory Authority for Energy in Greece in June 2008 and since 2013 has held various management positions in the organization. Following the reorganization of RAE in 2017, she has been appointed as the Director in Wholesale Markets and Interconnections Division with core responsibilities in the application of the EU electricity and gas target models in the wholesale electricity and natural gas markets in Greece. She led the collective effort that successfully resulted to the coupling of the electricity wholesale market in Greece with the rest of the EU Member States in 2020 and 2021, both on the day-ahead and intra-day level, as well as the launch of a gas trading platform in Greece.
Before that and for a five-year period Angeliki held the position of the Head of the Oil and Gas Department, with core responsibilities in the areas of gas market design and regulation of access to gas infrastructures, including major pipelines such as the Trans Adriatic Pipeline and the Interconnector Greece Bulgaria and the new LNG terminals planned in Greece. She is also a member of ACER’s and CEER’s Gas and Electricity Working Groups.
While working in RAE she has also actively participated in EU Twinning Projects for the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission (NEURC) in Ukraine, and USAID funded NARUC projects/initiatives, for the National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNERC) in Georgia and for the NRAs in SEE, in the framework of SEE-Market Coupling Initiative (in partnership with RAE). She has also worked as an expert to conduct seminars on both regulatory and technical issues pertaining to the energy sector and has served as an expert to the European Commission Agency of INEA for the selection of energy infrastructure projects to be funded by CEF.
Angeliki holds a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens and a Master of Arts in Science, Technology and Public Policy from the George Washington University, in Washington D.C.
Małgorzata has over 25 years of experience in the energy sector. Since 2009, Małgorzata Nowaczek-Zaremba has been director of Energy Regulatory Office Branch in Cracow.
As the head of the branch office, she is responsible for ongoing conduct and monitoring of the activities of the branch in accordance with the property – in particular: licencing, tariff approvals, proceedings to punish an energy enterprises or dispute settlements under the Energy Law. She is also in charge of investigating consumer claims concerning the activities of energy enterprises as well as contacts with regional administration and representatives of the sector at the local level.
Prior to work for Polish energy regulator, she worked for antimonopoly authority. She started her professional practise in administration in The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection- also a regional branch in Cracow. During this period, she participated in numerous trainings as part of Polish preparations for EU accession.
Ms. Małgorzata Nowaczek-Zaremba graduated Law Faculty from the Jagiellonian University in Cracow. Her area of interest was international public law. She was also a trainee at the European Commission (DG ENER) in Brussels, where she gained international knowledge and experience. She holds PhD in the field of European Law.
She is a co-author of some publications in the field of energy issues. She co-participated in the preparation of the commentary to the Energy Law.
She also conducted trainings and lectures on the EU law foundations and the EU energy law at the Cracow University of Economics and Postgraduate Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow.
As a director of URE’s branch office, Małgorzata with her team , has been very active in promoting knowledge on Polish energy market among consumers, companies and other market players. She shared her expertise during many conferences and trainings on Polish energy sector. Many times, she participated as a speaker preparing thematic presentations. As was the case recently, during the Study Tour on District Heating – Central Asia Regulatory Partnership, organised by NARUC and USAID in November 2022 -Budapest.
“Maintaining a healthy work-life balance” is very important for her. In her free time she pursues her own hobby like travelling, swimming, dancing and cooking.
She also greatly appreciates taking care of her one-year-old grandson.
Dr. Dörte Fouquet is specialized in EU law and international legal relations, with focus on competition, infra-structure, energy and environment. She is legal advisor to companies, finance institutions, associations, governmental agencies in Germany and other EU Member States, EU institutions and on international level.
- Studies of Law at the Universities of Marburg and Hamburg
- 1982 Research assistant, University of Hamburg
- 1988 Ministry for the Environment and Energy, Hamburg
- 1991 Liaison office of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein to the European Commission in Brussels
- 1993 Partner at law firm Kuhbier, Brussels
- 2011 Partner at BBH, Head of Brussels Office
- 2021 Partner of Counsel at BBH, Head of Brussels Office
Paula was appointed as the Chair of the Australian Energy Regulator and to the board of the Energy Security Board at a time when Australia began what is now arguably the world’s fastest energy transition. Last year, she was appointed to board of Singapore's Energy Market Authority to help steer the country through its Energy Story. Most recently, Paula has been nominated to sit on the board of PJM.
Paula has over 25 years as an executive in organisations or as regulatory Chair and board member. She is often called on to consult and advise executives and directors on leadership, corporate governance, political networking and leading transformational change.
Paula is highly regarded for her ability to bring together disparate interest groups to work through technically complex and contentious issues. In her roles as Chair, adjudicator and corporate executive, she has extensive experience in organisational governance and building culture for effective performance.
With a strong background in the energy sector, both in Australia and Canada, Paula has worked with various organisations, associations, regulated and unregulated businesses, governments and ministerial departments to influence sustainable change and growth. Her areas of influence include policy development, strategic direction and critical thinking, resolving conflict within teams, improving communication across stakeholders, managing change, building resilience, improving people performance practices and team formation.
Paula is married to Ron, a retired York Regional Police staff sergeant and has 2 young adult children. Alanna, 21 is studying midwifery and nursing in Melbourne, Australia and works as a Personal Support Worker. Gabriel, 19 is studying his Bachelor of Arts in law in Ottawa, Canada and is a reservist with the Canadian Armed Forces.
Annette Verschuren is Chair and Chief Executive Officer of NRStor Inc. The company develops and manages energy storage projects.
Prior to this, Ms. Verschuren was president of The Home Depot Canada. She oversaw the growth of the company’s Canadian operations from 19 to 179 stores from 1996-2011, increasing revenue from $600 million to $6 billion.
Her career began at the Cape Breton Development Corporation. She then worked with Canada Development Investment Corporation to help privatize crown corporations. Her next stop was as a Vice President of Corporate Development at Imasco Ltd., one of Canada’s largest holding companies. Ms. Verschuren then launched Michaels of Canada, a chain of arts and crafts stores.
Ms. Verschuren sits on the corporate boards of Liberty Mutual, CNRL, Air Canada and Saputo. Annette Verschuren is Chair of the Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) and is Chair of the MaRS Discovery District. She co-chairs the Smart Prosperity Initiative, which is mapping out a course to a stronger, cleaner economy for Canada.
Ms Verschuren is the Chancellor of Cape Breton University and is on the Board of the Verschuren Centre for Sustainability in Energy and the Environment, (VCSEE).
Annette Verschuren has received ten Honourary Doctorates from Canadian universities including her alma mater, St Frances Xavier University.
Ms. Verschuren is a Companion of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame. She champions volunteerism and was named to the Order of Canada for her contributions to the retail industry and corporate social responsibility.
Audrey Zibelman leads X’s moonshot for the electric grid. Her team is developing new computational tools to enable the rapid and cost effective decarbonization of the electrical grid.
Audrey has spent over three decades leading organizations with the goal of making power cleaner, more affordable and more reliable. She is an international expert in power system transformation, regulation, markets and operations. She’s also been a utility executive, regulator, system operator and entrepreneur.
Audrey joined X from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) where she was the Managing Director and CEO. AEMO plans and operates the electricity and gas systems and markets for Australia. Prior to AEMO, Audrey was the Chair of the New York Public Service Commission where she was a member of the Governor’s cabinet and oversaw the electric, gas, water, steam and communication utilities in New York. While in New York, Audrey oversaw massive regulatory reform of the electric industry to support a decarbonised grid, known as Reforming the Energy Vision, or REV. Audrey has also held executive roles at utilities companies PJM and Xcel Energy and was the founder and CEO of Viridity Energy.
When she’s not working to keep the lights on, she’s hiking the hills of San Francisco and playing tennis with her husband Bruce, or spending time with their children and grandchildren.
The Honorable Colette D. Honorable is a highly regarded policy maker in domestic and international energy sectors. For over a decade, she has been a global leader in energy, focusing on clean energy integration, energy storage integration, infrastructure development and energy efficiency. Honorable is a member of Reed Smith LLP’s Energy and Natural Resources Group where she leads the energy regulatory group. In this capacity, she is a trusted legal and strategic advisor to her clients, many of which are Fortune 500 entities.
Prior to joining Reed Smith, Honorable served as a Commissioner at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). She was nominated by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December 2014 for a term that expired in June 2017. At FERC, Honorable focused on reliability oversight of the bulk power system, cyber and physical security, oversight of wholesale markets, transmission planning and cost allocation in regional transmission organizations, gas-electric coordination, renewables integration, energy storage integration and valuation, enforcement, ratemaking and infrastructure development. Honorable led the agency’s engagement on the Clean Power Plan, was integral in the development of an energy storage policy statement and the development of policy frameworks supporting energy storage market participation. During her tenure, Honorable represented the US in the 2015 Second High Level Plenary Meetings at the International Energy Association, a global convening of countries for the purpose of defending and confirming climate action goals in advance of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.
In recent years, Honorable has provided technical expertise and regulatory support for energy regulators and policy makers in Africa, Australia, North and South America (including several provinces in Canada, Mexico and Brazil), throughout Europe (including the Baltic Region, throughout Europe (including France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia and Spain), the Eurasian Region (Azerbaijan and Turkey) and the Caribbean. In this work, she has supported clean energy integration, energy storage development, transmission planning and cost allocation, and providing technical support for the development of integrated resource planning processes that focus on integrating renewables and storage to support both reliability and resilience as well as developing public, transparent processes to resolve consumer and regulatory disputes. This work has also included supporting energy market reforms in Australia, representing the US in the execution of an MOU with Brazil focused on clean energy integration, and serving as a convener and presenter of the first bilateral among US and IberoAmerican regulators.
Honorable joined the FERC from the Arkansas Public Service Commission (PSC), where she began as a Commissioner in October 2007, and led as Chairman from January 2011 to January 2015. During that time, Honorable also served as past president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and served as treasurer and chairman of the audit and investment committees. As president, Honorable focused on pipeline safety, reliability and resilience and workforce diversity. During this time she participated in the Electric Subsector Coordinating Council, a high-level coalition of public and private sector entities focused on ensuring resilience nationally. She has testified before Congress on multiple occasions on a range of energy issues, and most recently advised and appeared before the US House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis to discuss nuclear energy opportunities and challenges.
Honorable is a Senior Fellow with the Bipartisan Policy Center, a member of the Global Advisory Board of the Energy Futures Initiative, member of the Strategic Advisory Board of the Energy Regulators Regional Association (ERRA) and as an Ambassador for the Clean Energy Education and Empowerment Initiative.
Honorable serves on the Board of Directors of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), and previously served on the board of directors (and the Executive and Compensation & Leadership Development Committees) of the Electric Power Research Institute, a global nonprofit research and development institution driven to support the energy sector through investment in artificial intelligence and data analytics as well as efficient electrification. Honorable is a former member of the Summit Utilities, Inc. Board of Directors, sitting on the Compensation and Safety Committees.
A native of Arkansas, she is a graduate of the University of Memphis and received a Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law.
- Legal Consultant, Socar Georgia Gas Ltd
- Deputy Director, JSC Georgianorggaz
- Advisor to Director General, Socar Georgia Gas Distribution Ltd
- Legal Provision Office, Legal Department, Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission
- Board Member, JSC Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation
- Consultant, Georgian Railway
