Vale Chloe Munro AO — an energy leader

Australian energy policy and regulation leader Chloe Munro AO passed away on 22 June 2021 after a battle with cancer.

Munro had a distinguished career in both the public and private sectors with particular expertise in infrastructure, energy and natural resources. She was chair of the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) expert advisory panel and chair of the IIG Solar Income Fund and IIG Solar Assets Fund. She was also the inaugural chair of the federal government’s Clean Energy Regulator and was a panel member of the Finkel Review. Before this, she was also chair of the National Water Commission, chair of AquaSure (the consortium building Victoria’s desalination plant) and a non-executive director of Hydro Tasmania.

In 2018, she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of her service in the areas of renewable energy, water, climate change and the performing arts.

Munro recently worked with the Monash Business School, Faculty of Law, Monash Energy Institute (MEI) and Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI) to advance energy policy research and natural resources policy, and to link research to the needs of industry and government. In a tribute posted from Monash University, it was said that Munro “had an astute understanding not just of the technologies, but the politics and personalities of all those in her orbit and was not afraid to push herself forward using her wit as her weapon. Her formidable intellect was matched by a sense of style, and according to colleagues, a certain je ne sais quoi”.

Energy Efficiency Council CEO Luke Menzel said in a statement that the “news that we have lost Chloe is heart-wrenching”.

“Surveying her resume gives some sense of the outstanding contribution she has made to Australian public life since she arrived from New Zealand all those years ago. A leader in state and national government, the private sector, not-for-profits and universities. Trusted advisor of ministers and managing directors. A global expert in energy, climate and digital transformation, especially where they intersect. And a passion for the arts.

“But the dot points are flat on the page. They don’t convey the deep thought, the incisive analysis or the rapier wit Chloe brought to everything she turned her hand to. They don’t speak to her warmth or her generosity of spirit. And they don’t reflect the countless hours she spent with so many of us across the sector sharing her insights, testing our thinking and supporting our growth.

“Vale Chloe.”