Incoming Enbridge CEO says that momentum matters at CGA Energy Week, it turns ‘infrastructure into opportunity, and opportunity into long-term prosperity'
Canada needs to take a generational view on our nation’s energy framework, Michele Harradence told a Canadian Gas Association (CGA) Energy Week audience Tuesday.
Ms. Harradence, Enbridge’s incoming President and Chief Executive Officer, told her audience that “the question is no longer whether Canada has the potential” to build the energy systems of tomorrow.
“The question is whether we will move with the speed, certainty and discipline required to turn that potential into projects, projects into investment, and investment into long-term prosperity,” she said.
“That’s how we protect customer choice—by ensuring the infrastructure and integrated energy systems are in place before people and businesses need them. The next generation will inherit the systems we choose to build today. So let’s ask ourselves. Do we have the foresight to build what they will need?”
Since mid-2025, Canada’s federal government has moved to accelerate approvals for large projects, including those in the energy and natural resources sectors.
The Building Canada Act allows the federal government to designate “projects of national interest,” and is being managed by the newly created Major Projects Office, among whose mandates is to create a “one project, one review” approach to coordinate federal and provincial regulatory processes.
Ms. Harradence, making the CGA Energy Week keynote address at Toronto’s Western Harbour Castle, noted Tuesday that while Canada has capital suited to major infrastructure, “capital follows confidence.
“We’re seeing renewed attention on competitiveness, investment attraction, permitting efficiency and the importance of building major projects,” she said. “But signals do not build infrastructure. Investment does. And investment depends on three things—speed, certainty and energy availability.”
"The energy systems we rely on today exist because previous generations invested before the need became urgent. They acted to give people energy choices and help communities thrive. The same responsibility now falls to us."
Michele Harradence
Incoming Enbridge President and CEO,
speaking to a CGA Energy Week audience
Added Ms. Harradence: “Government and industry both have important roles to play. Governments help create the conditions for investment. Industry must bring forward credible projects, build strong Indigenous and community partnerships, and execute well.
“Momentum matters. But execution is what turns momentum into infrastructure, infrastructure into opportunity, and opportunity into long-term prosperity.”
In September, Enbridge announced the retirement of current President and CEO Greg Ebel effective Dec. 31, 2026, with Ms. Harradence set to take the company’s reins on Jan. 1, 2027.
Ms. Harradence, currently Enbridge’s Executive Vice President and President of our Gas Distribution and Storage business, has more than 25 years’ experience across the energy value chain, including the upstream, midstream, downstream, retail, and oil and gas services sectors.
She is poised to take the helm of a company focused on expanding its North American energy infrastructure platform, which includes:
- A 19,300-mile (31,100-km) natural gas transmission network that moves 20% of the gas consumed in the U.S., connects to every operational LNG export facility in the U.S. Gulf Coast, and includes 10% of USGC gas storage.
- North America’s longest and most complex oil and liquids pipeline network, moving 30% of the continent’s crude and spanning more than 18,500 miles (29,900 km).
- North America’s largest gas utility franchise by both customer count and delivery volume, transporting up to 9.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of gas to 7.2 million customers in Ontario, Ohio, Utah, North Carolina, Wyoming, Idaho and Quebec.
- A mature renewable energy business, primarily consisting of European offshore wind and North American onshore wind and solar, with the capacity to generate or store more than 8.2 GW.
“Connecting supply with demand (helps) people and communities thrive. As I prepare to take on a broader role at Enbridge, that perspective has come into even sharper focus for me,” she said.
“The energy systems we rely on today exist because previous generations invested before the need became urgent. They acted to give people energy choices and help communities thrive. The same responsibility now falls to us.”
Added Ms. Harradence: “Meeting future demand will require natural gas, electricity, nuclear, liquids infrastructure, storage, renewable power and emerging technologies working together as an integrated system. People want energy they can count on, costs they can manage and confidence that their homes, businesses and communities can grow.”
