ATCO chief executive officer Nancy Southern addresses the company's annual meeting in Calgary on May 15, 2019. Discussions around emissions reduction and environmental, social and governance factors have grown massively since Southern became CEO 20 years ago,Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to reduce emissions from power grids across the country, but a federal conversation to help shape investments in the electricity sector is a good start, says Nancy Southern, CEO of Alberta utility company ATCO Ltd ACO-X-T.
Ottawa announced this month the Canada Electricity Advisory Council, an independent body of 19 experts who will provide the federal government with advice on how the power sector can help achieve the country’s net-zero emissions goals. Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said it would help shape Canada’s future power grid and decarbonize electricity systems in collaboration with provinces, territories and Indigenous partners.
ATCO vice-president Pete Bothwell is part of the council, but the group’s representation from across Canada is what makes it so valuable, Ms. Southern told The Globe and Mail after the company’s annual meeting in Calgary on Wednesday.
“It will be very helpful in helping Mr. Wilkinson come to understand what’s needed, where are the priorities and how we can all work together,” she said. “So I’m really encouraged by it.”
While there is “a lot of excitement and energy” around the idea of an east-west trans-Canada transmission line, Ms. Southern said it’s important to remember the north-south connection.
“We work in a lot of remote communities across the Arctic and in northern Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and we can’t forget about those small communities,” she said.
“That’s where I believe the council will get really good learnings with regards to those distributed generation areas that are on diesel. How do we find solutions for them and help them decarbonize?”
The council brings together utility, policy and technical experts and will be chaired by Philippe Dunsky, former chair of Quebec’s Electrification Working Group and a member of the federal government’s Generation Energy Council.
Its work will cover how to reduce emissions to bring Canada’s grid to net zero by 2035 and, more broadly, the rapid growth of electricity generation needed to power a net-zero-emissions economy by 2050.
It will also help shape electricity sector investments announced in this year’s federal budget, including a 15-per-cent tax credit for non-emitting power generation and targeted funding through Natural Resources Canada’s Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways program.
Five things to know about Canada’s electricity overhaul as budget spurs clean tech
At ATCO, discussions around emissions reduction and environmental, social and governance factors have grown massively since Ms. Southern became chief executive officer 20 years ago, but she emphasized that they cannot happen in a vacuum.
“We can’t forget about what’s actually happening in people’s lives,” she said. “We’re not convinced that we’re going to see inflationary pressures decline, at least for some time. And so it’s like life itself – sometimes you have to adjust and be flexible, and bob and weave to accommodate the pressures of the day.”
The more communication between all levels of government, industry and citizens, she said, “the better off we’ll be to come up with the right solutions.”
Former Alberta premier and long-time Calgary MP Jason Kenney was officially voted onto ATCO’s board Wednesday, receiving more than 99 per cent of approval from shareholders.
He told The Globe he was pleased to become a director of a company of which he has “always been a fan.”
Mr. Kenney said he first met the Southern family, which founded ATCO, in the mid-1990s, when he was running the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
“I’ve always admired their family and the culture of the corporation, but also its ambition,” he said. “One of my passions coming out of government is Indigenous economic participation, and they’re walking the talk on that, so I’m superexcited.”
He wouldn’t comment on Alberta’s current election.
Mr. Kenney joins ATCO in the midst of impressive growth at the company. Its adjusted earnings grew close to 11 per cent in 2022 to $423-million or $3.71 a share, about $41-million higher than in 2021.
ATCO’s Structures arm acquired Triple M Housing Ltd., a leading North American manufacturer of prefabricated, modular residential homes in December. The next month, ATCO closed on a deal to acquire Suncor Energy Inc.’s SU-T wind and solar assets in Alberta and Ontario.
ATCO also made strides in its international portfolio, including the commissioning of two hydrogen projects at the Clean Energy Innovation Hub in Australia.