Fortis, A North American Energy Giant

On this week's Insights Podcast, we feature a wide-ranging conversation with David Hutchens, the CEO of St.John's based Fortis, a major electrical utility in North America, with holdings across Canada, in the United States and the Caribbean. Listed on both the TSX and the NYSE, Fortis is one of the region's biggest publicly listed companies with nearly $70 billion in assets. The company reported earnings of over $300 million in its most recent fiscal year and has provided annual returns to its shareholders of over 10% for the past twenty years.

Fortis was formed as a holding company in 1987. From its humble beginnings as St. John's Electric Light in 1885, Fortis has grown into an energy giant with nearly 10,000 employees, of which nearly 700 are with Newfoundland Power and over 200 in PEI with Maritime Electric. There are another 50 head office jobs in St. John's supporting their decentralized subsidiaries elsewhere. Hutcheons just announced a new $24 billion, five-year capital program for the company. 

He talks about the need to invest in infrastructure to address climate change and the company's growth goals going forward. This is a great Atlantic Canadian success story that relatively few in the region will be aware of both the size and scope of operations of Fortis.