Senior energy and climate change risk advisor, Bahador Tari has joined Energetics to lead our team of consultants in Melbourne. In taking up the position Bahador said, “Australian businesses are grappling with high energy costs and, increasingly, climate risk management challenges. I am delighted to be joining Energetics at this time to support business to develop innovative, risk-managed solutions and explore the opportunities in the growing low carbon economy.”
Most recently, Bahador was Senior Energy Advisor in the Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resource (DEDJTR), helping deliver the Department’s $55 million Industry Energy Support Stream (IESS), which was designed to assist Victorian businesses experiencing energy cost challenges through the support of investments in efficiency and alternative energy sources. In this role he engaged with a considerable number of Victorian businesses and leveraged IESS funding to secure significant investment in efficiency, waste-to-energy and renewable energy projects which will deliver ongoing benefits for the participating businesses.
Bahador commented, “Over my time working with large energy users under the IESS, the value of an overarching energy procurement and management strategy was clear – and at its foundation must be a robust set of baseline data and analytics that draws upon best practice tools, models and expert insights.”
Prior to this, Bahador worked within the Economic Infrastructure Group of Regional Development Victoria (a division within DEDJTR) as the Director of the $138 million Energy for the Regions program. He led the strategy development and implementation of this key infrastructure commitment by the Victorian Government to roll out natural gas infrastructure to 17 towns to support regional development.
Bahador also brings to Energetics considerable experience advising business and government clients on energy, carbon and climate risk management. Following three years as the head of carbon risk and advisory for RepuTex, Bahador established the Victorian carbon risk advisory division for Rare Consulting, which was later acquired by Pitt+Sherry. During his time in these roles, he provided strategic energy, carbon and climate risk advice to clients spanning the banking sector, food processing, energy, aviation, commercial property and local government.
In reflecting on his carbon advisory experience, Bahador said, “Climate change consulting in the past had a critical knowledge gap due to the disconnect between the finance sector and climate science. In 2019, that is changing – and quickly. Business needs to stay ahead of the curve and recognise that global and local investors and financiers are looking at publicly available climate data to understand the emerging risks to their investments and loan books.
“I look forward to supporting businesses in Victoria to understand this new paradigm and develop market-leading responses.”
