It’s no easy task leading a company that supplies fossil fuels in this day and age, and no one gives Z Energy chief executive Lindis Jones a harder time about it than his own kids. His work skating the friction zone – maintaining steady fuel supply while supporting the transition to renewable energy – is a common dinner-table topic.
“As teenagers – very conscientious, thoughtful, intelligent and successful teenagers – they do hold their dad to account around that,” says Jones, who took on Z’s top job in March 2023 and has worked for the company since 2010. “I just love being in the middle of the energy industry and the role it has in the economy and society more broadly. Also, the transition [away from fossil fuels] – I mean it’s a challenging problem for all of us to solve, but I would much rather be in the middle of it than be outside of it talking about it.”
Jones, who studied biochemistry and economics at Otago University and the London Business School, has been part of the energy industry for most of his career, having worked for Shell in New Zealand and overseas prior to Z. Like his predecessor Mike Bennetts, he is a pragmatic optimist with a sense of mission around his work. The owner of no fewer than six bikes, he is outdoorsy, deeply committed to Aotearoa, and feels most at home in the South Island. He was even named after the Lindis Pass, which stretches from Tarras to Omarama.
“Like a lot of New Zealanders, I have a deep love for the country we live in,” Jones says. “A lot of that is the people and a huge part is the natural environment, whether that’s cycling in it, fishing in it or hanging out with friends.”
By New Zealand, for New Zealand?
Z was acquired by Ampol, Australia’s largest transport fuel supplier, in May 2022. As a company that very deliberately built a brand around its Kiwi identity, Z has been careful to underline its continued commitment to New Zealand and New Zealanders. Jones, an integral part of the merger process, says it was the obvious way to gain advantages of scale.
“When we looked at what an energy company needs to do today, tomorrow and deep into the future, size does matter. We have enough scale to be competitive in procuring product on the global market, to know enough about the transition to help customers make choices, and [we have] a commitment to solving that in a way that works for markets locally.”
Jones says Ampol and Z share similar histories and ambitions, but he also takes the commitment to Aotearoa personally, especially given his long tenure with Z. “You own the successes but you own the failures more acutely. You can’t point the finger at anyone else. You actually see the unintended consequences of what you’ve done and you own the things we haven’t got right as well. That’s where institutional knowledge really matters.”
He points to a whakataukī (Māori proverb) about leadership: Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora a mua – those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead. He says he is continually impressed by the professionalism and resilience of the Z workforce and “chronically uneasy” when it comes to their safety and wellbeing. A million customers pass through Z’s forecourts nationwide each week and abuse of retail staff is a driving concern, with hundreds of incidents reported each month. The company has invested more than $30 million in the past five years on technical assets, security systems, state-of-the-art CCTV and training.
Looking ahead 12 months
“When you spend time with [retail staff] you realise how professional they are and all the things they do serving hundreds of customers an hour, making great coffee, managing the security of the site, as well as managing reasonably hazardous material. They are extremely skilled, capable people and that cuts both ways – you deeply appreciate the skill and you do worry about their safety.”
Jones’ priority in the next 12 months remains safety – of the people who work for Z, of the people who rely on its products, and (when it comes to supplying fuel without spills) of the environment. He is all too aware that when things go wrong in his business the impacts can be catastrophic. That’s obviously bad for the planet and also for the value of Z the brand, for which he is responsible.
He is also focused on delivering enhanced charging services to EV drivers, with more than 100 charging bays up and running and more to come. Convenience is the key.
“A significant portion of EV charging events globally are unsuccessful in terms of getting the amount of energy [customers] want in the time they want it,” says Jones. “Partly that’s the design of the equipment and the maintenance of it. There’s a clear opportunity in terms of getting electricity into vehicles in the way that works for customers.”
Greenwashing or greenhushing?
Another crunchy challenge for Jones is how to effectively communicate Z’s role in providing uninterrupted access to traditional fuels while also working on the next phase of transport energy. It’s not just his kids who have questions. Last November Consumer NZ, the Environmental Law Initiative and Lawyers for Climate Action NZ lodged a claim with the High Court seeking declarations that Z breached the Fair Trading Act with its marketing. It is the country’s first so-called greenwashing case. Z denies this claim and in January filed its Statement of Defence.
But Jones is also concerned with the impact of “greenhushing” – when companies keep quiet about their sustainability goals for fear of being accused of greenwashing. “The temptation is to say less and do less if you want to be risk averse, and I don’t think that’s what New Zealand needs.” He points to Z’s record of reporting emissions data since 2012. “Transparency is at the heart of good leadership and corporate responsibility, that is why we have embraced a philosophy of openness and transparency since day one at Z.”
The Consumer NZ et al case is not the only one Z faces. In a global first, the climate activist Mike Smith has won the right to sue seven of New Zealand’s biggest emitters, including Z. Smith (Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu) argues that the companies have a duty of care towards communities in relation to the impact of emissions from their activities.
“We continue to believe it is the role of the Government, not the courts, to develop policy and legislation needed to transition Aotearoa to a low carbon economy,” says Jones. “I absolutely respect the role of litigation and respect the plaintiffs in both cases. One thing that strikes me is that we care about the same things.”
