Enbridge CEO Al Monaco retiring at beginning of 2023

Enbridge CEO Al Monaco retiring at beginning of 2023

Enbridge CEO Al Monaco retiring at beginning of 2023 - BNN Bloomberg

Enbridge Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer Al Monaco is retiring from the company after a decade at the helm.

In a release Monday, Enbridge said Monaco will retire effective Jan. 1, 2023; and will be replaced by current board Chair Greg Ebel.

"On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Al for his invaluable and bold leadership over the last decade as CEO, and throughout his 27 years with Enbridge," Ebel stated in the release.

"Al has led Enbridge through a period of unprecedented growth, repositioning the business as a leader across four blue chip platforms, strengthening its low-risk pipeline utility model and driving consistent financial performance, dividend increases, and organic growth.”

Enbridge said Monaco will stay on as an advisor to the company until March 1, 2023. He was appointed as CEO in Oct. 2012.

Under Monaco’s watch, Enbridge expanded across the continent, most notably with its US$37-billion acquisition of Spectra Energy — where Ebel was CEO — in 2017.

However, Monaco’s expansion plans weren’t without their own problems. The company’s controversial Line 3 replacement project was beset by delays, pushing its in-service date back by two years due to a permitting dispute in Minnesota.

The company has also sparred with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer over Line 5 as the state looks to shut down the pipeline over environmental concerns after it was struck by a boat anchor beneath the Straits of Mackinac in 2018.

Enbridge was also not immune to Ottawa’s environmental policies under the Trudeau government. The company’s Northern Gateway pipeline project aimed at linking Alberta’s energy heartland to Kitimat, British Columbia, was effectively scuttled by the crude oil tanker ban imposed by the feds in 2015, before the prime minister officially rejected the project in Nov. 2016.

Over the course of Monaco’s tenure, shares of Enbridge have outperformed their peers, rising 32 per cent through Friday’s close. That’s outpaced the likes of TC Energy Corp. – up 24 per cent since 2012 – and the overall S&P/TSX Energy Index, which has shed seven per cent of its value over that time.