Key Personnel

Paul Ryan - Director

Paul has extensive experience in the design, development, implementation and evaluation of energy policies, programs and standards. He has managed several Australian and Asian based projects that focus on the development of energy programs that provide alternative policy/program solutions to encourage the implementation of least cost energy service.

Paul has developed specialised skills in analysing energy and greenhouse policy and programs for government and utilities, including:

Cost/benefit analysis of energy sector programs and GHG programs
Policy options analysis supported by several years of program implementation and design experience in Australia and overseas
Design of systems to support the monitoring, verification and reporting of GHG and energy efficiency programs
Design of measurement testing procedures and standards
Market assessments of technologies and marketing approaches that are relevant to energy programs/policies
Training and support of energy efficiency /GHG program, in the areas of program design, implementation and monitoring procedures.

Murray Pavia - Director

Murray has twelve years experience as an energy sector/greenhouse gas consultant and analyst and over twenty years experience in marketing, market research, financial analysis and strategic planning.

Murray has conducted and contributed to the design, implementation and measurement of numerous energy efficiency and greenhouse abatement projects and programs for government agencies and corporations in Australia and SE Asia.

Murray has a particular experience in the measurement of greenhouse abatement projects and greenhouse inventories, having measured or evaluated over 100 projects. He also has considerable experience in community engagement, education and training for residential and commercial greenhouse abatement and energy efficiency programs.

Murray has a background in social/market research and is a skilled qualitative and quantitative researcher, with strong statistical skills. He is especially interested in market segmentation and analysis as a tool for the development of marketing strategies for greenhouse abatement programs.

Murray has a MBA from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and Masters of Science from Melbourne University.

Melissa Damnics - Senior Consultant

Melissa has extensive experience on projects relating to energy efficiency and energy planning within the energy sector. She has been extensively involved in conducting surveys into standby energy usage in Australia, in consumer appliance energy usage measurement and in appliance energy labelling.

Melissa has also undertaken extensive research concerning energy efficiency program and policy options and concerning the market potential for new initiatives. She has conducted numerous interviews with industry stakeholders, market intermediaries, commercial and residential electricity customers in relation to energy usage and has been responsible for the preparation and analysis of numerous surveys and research projects in the electricity and gas sectors. She has highly developed qualitative research skills.

Melissa has over ten years of market research experience in the energy sector. Melissa has conducted numerous customer satisfaction research projects, market segmentation studies, product development and customer attitude surveys for energy utilities and government organisations. Melissa is highly skilled in statistics and data analysis, database development and in project management.

Melissa has a degree in social science from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

Shahab Qureshi - Principal Consultant

Dr Qureshi is a qualified electrical engineer with a doctorate degree in Energy and Demand-side Management. Shahab posses diversified expertise that include social and market research, analytical business modelling, scenario simulations, data acquisition collection and management, complex statistical data analysis, training and capacity building, simulation of customer behaviour. He has extensively worked on projects in the areas of energy efficiency, energy/demand-side management, load research, load forecasting, tariff design, assessment of competitive energy markets, management information systems, business strategy and planning, market research and customer segmentation.

After completing his PhD, Shahab has worked in senior positions for global energy consulting companies and has played leading roles on projects related with development and implementation of policy associated with energy efficiency and competitive electricity markets. More specifically he has provided services to the governments departments and industry regulators on minimum energy efficiency standards, residential building ratings, retail pricing of gas and electricity, cost benefit assessment of mass rollout of interval meters, tariff restructuring, retailer of the last resort, and impact of marginal generator. His services to private industry players include load research, load forecasting, customer relationship management, and tariff/rate design.

John Apelbaum - Alliance Partner

John Apelbaum is a Director of the Apelbaum Consulting Group, a Melbourne based consulting practice specialising in strategic transport management, energy and the environment. Prior to establishing the practice in 1989, John gained extensive industry experience at the Australian Railway Research and Development Organisation, the Shell Company of Australia, VicRoads, the Port of Melbourne Authority and the Australian National Line. He has written and consulted extensively on transport management and policy issues for both the private and public sectors including assisting the trucking industry on a variety of issues during the past eight years. In addition to operating the Apelbaum Consulting Group, John has established the Centre For Transport, Energy and the Environment.