Enbridge has new CEO as Monaco retires after 10-year run

Enbridge Inc on Monday named its chairman, Greg Ebel, as the new chief executive, replacing Al Monaco who will retire after a decade at the helm of Canada's biggest pipeline operator during which it faced fierce opposition from environmentalists.

Ebel, 57, who has been board chairman since 2017, will start his new role on Jan. 1, 2023. Before that, he was CEO of pipeline company Spectra Energy, which Enbridge acquired in a $37-billion deal.

Under Monaco, Enbridge has grown its renewables business through offshore wind investments in Europe and last week announced the acquisition of U.S. onshore wind developer Tri Global Energy even as it continued to expand its conventional energy infrastructure.

“Under Greg's leadership that's going to continue,” Monaco, 62, told Reuters in an interview, referring to Enbridge's two-pronged strategy of investing in conventional and low-carbon energy infrastructure.

Monaco spent 27 years at Calgary-based Enbridge.

Monaco will continue as an adviser to Enbridge until March 2023, but step down from the Enbridge board in January. A new board chair will be named before the end of this year.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Ben Pham said in a note Monaco's retirement is not a surprise and previously announced changes in executive roles suggested the succession process had been underway for some time.

“Mr. Ebel is well known to the investment community and brings extensive industry and leadership experience,” Pham wrote.

During Monaco's time as CEO, Enbridge was on the front line of protests against oil pipelines, which environmental activists pinpointed as one of the most effective ways to stymie growth in Canada's oilsands.

The federal government rejected Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline from Alberta to the British Columbia coast in 2016. Enbridge faced fierce opposition to its Line 3 expansion project, and remains locked in a legal dispute with the state of Michigan over its Line 5 pipeline.

But the company, which ships the bulk of Canada's crude exports to the United States on its Mainline system, also expanded its pipelines to the U.S. Gulf Coast and invested in liquefied natural gas export facilities.

“We have made some good strides along the way in what was a very tough environment for our industry,” Monaco said.