Trans Mountain names Dawn Farrell new CEO and president
Farrell was most recently president and CEO of TransAlta Corp. before retiring in March 2021
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Dawn Farrell has been named the new president and chief executive of Trans Mountain Corp., and will officially take over on Monday.
Farrell was most recently president and CEO of TransAlta Corp. before retiring in March 2021.
She is tasked with overseeing the contentious Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, a project that has almost tripled its budget since the federal government acquired it in 2018. In February, the company announced the new projected cost of the pipeline was $21.4 billion.
“The Trans Mountain expansion project has been in planning and construction for the past 12 years and, as it passes the 60 per cent completion mark, I look forward to leading the organization to this project’s end while steering the next phase of the company’s future,” Farrell said in a news release.
The project will expand capacity on the 1,150-kilometre pipeline between Strathcona County and Burnaby, B.C. to 890,000 barrels per day from 300,000. It’s now expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2023, well beyond its previous target of late 2022.
Farrell’s appointment comes after Ian Anderson announced in February that he would retire from the position in April.
She spent 12 years at TransAlta, including nine as president and CEO. During her time in the role, Farrell helped with the company’s transition away from coal-fired generation to natural gas and the expansion of wind and renewables.
She was the longest-serving female CEO in Alberta’s energy sector when she stepped down.
Before joining TransAlta, Farrell was an executive vice-president at BC Hydro and was named the first chancellor at Mount Royal University in 2020.
Farrell also sat as a board of director for Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., a post she has now resigned.
“A community builder with a steadfast commitment to strengthening Canada, Dawn has proven to be a dynamic and thoughtful leader, successfully leading organizations through change and revitalization,” William Downe, Trans Mountain chair, said in the news release.
Deborah Yedlin, president and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, said Farrell will be the first woman to lead a pipeline company in Canada, noting the importance of women leading such companies.
“That’s the best thing we could see,” she said. “I think we often, we women, talk about how if we can’t see ourselves in those positions, then how can we actually aspire to taking on those roles.
“This is a significant shift for the energy sector to have a woman running this company, and this very, very critical piece of infrastructure.”
Farrell has a wealth of experience heading major complex projects and working through regulatory processes, while also building strong relationships at the federal level and with Indigenous groups throughout her career.
“She has tackled very complex problems and succeeded,” said Yedlin. “The thing with Dawn is that she has always been solutions-focused. What’s the issue? What’s the solution? Let’s figure this out. She likes to solve problems, that’s what she does.”
Kevin Birk, chief analyst of Canadian oil markets for S&P, said the new CEO’s immediate challenges will be to deliver the project on time while keeping the budget in check.
Birk said there is a need for pipelines that allow western Canadian producers to get crude to tidewater without going through the U.S. or solely relying on rail.
“We cannot remove the volatility or exposure of western Canadian producers to the world, but we can minimize the regional volatility that we have seen over the last almost decade as Western Canada has struggled to bring online pipelines to meet the growth,” Birk said.
Details of Farrell’s contract with Trans Mountain were not released. She earned $7.8 million in total compensation from TransAlta in 2021, including a $1-million cash bonus, and $6.7 million in her final full year with the company.
Twitter: @JoshAldrich03
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