Retire

Enbridge Inc.’s board of directors said Patrick D. Daniel, president and CEO, will retire by the end of 2012. Al Monaco, currently president of gas pipelines, green energy and international, was promoted to the board of directors and is assuming the role of president. The Calgary-based energy transportation firm said Daniel will continue as CEO and a member of the board until his retirement. Daniel joined Enbridge in 1982, became executive vice president in 1988 and assumed the CEO role in 2001. Monaco joined Enbridge in 1995 and has held senior management roles at the corporate level, as well as leadership of the gas transportation, gas distribution and green energy businesses. He also helped Enbridge’s major projects division, which has been responsible for designing and constructing all of the company’s major energy infrastructure projects.

Citing more stringent federal mercury and air toxic standards (MATS), Akron, OH-based FirstEnergy said Thursday it plans to retire six older coal-fired electric generation plants representing 2,689 MW by Sept. 1.

Porter Bennett, president of Evergreen, CO-based industry consultant Bentek Energy LLC, will retire at the end of the year. Bennett, who founded Bentek in 1985, will be an adviser to the firm. Bentek was sold to Platts, a division of the McGraw-Hill Cos. Inc., earlier this year. James Simpson, who is currently vice president and general manager, will become president, the company said. Simpson previously modeled large structured transactions in both gas and power for Enron North America and led natural gas marketing and trading at MarkWest Hydrocarbon and Eprime Inc.

Porter Bennett, president of Evergreen, CO-based industry consultant Bentek Energy LLC, will retire at the end of the year. Bennett, who founded Bentek in 1985, will be an adviser to the firm. Bentek was sold to Platts, a division of the McGraw-Hill Cos. Inc., earlier this year. James Simpson, who is currently vice president and general manager, will become president, the company said. Simpson previously modeled large structured transactions in both gas and power for Enron North America and led natural gas marketing and trading at MarkWest Hydrocarbon and Eprime Inc.

The CEO at the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), Yakout Mansour, announced Tuesday that he plans to retire June 1, the date of the 40th anniversary of the start of his electric industry career. Mansour will leave having led the state grid operator through several long-sought milestones, such as the launch of the CAISO-redesigned market in 2009, Market Redesign Technology Upgrade (MRTU), which struggled for years to get under way. During Mansour’s six years heading the grid operator it has studied and approved $9.5 billion in transmission expansion projects, and concluded that there is now adequate transmission infrastructure in place or being built to support the state’s new renewable energy goal of 33% by 2020. Mansour said he feels that in his tenure he has helped “restore confidence in California’s wholesale energy market” that was badly tattered in the 2000-2001 wholesale energy market meltdown in the West. A CAISO oversight board member, Bob Foster, called Mansour “hugely successful” in lowering power costs and the costs at the grid operator.

Stephen J.J. Letwin, who is responsible for Enbridge Inc.’s natural gas operations, said he will retire on Nov. 1. Letwin, who has been a member of Enbridge’s management team for 11 years, currently serves as executive vice president, Gas Transportation & International, for Enbridge Inc. and holds managing director roles at Enbridge Energy Co. Inc., the general partner of Enbridge Energy Partners (EEP), as well as Enbridge Energy Management LLC. Letwin joined Enbridge Inc. as president and COO of Energy Services in 1999. He was responsible for leading the relatively new retail energy services business unit to profitability. Letwin also is responsible for the company’s international business. As managing director of the general partner of EEP, Letwin played a key role in the growth of the company’s natural gas gathering and processing business in the United States.

Tenaska Inc. co-founder Howard Hawks said he will retire from his role as CEO effective July 1 but will remain chairman of the company and of two affiliated private equity investment companies developed by Tenaska — Tenaska Power Fund LP (TPF I) and TPF II. When Hawks steps down, current Tenaska CFO Jerry Crouse will become CEO and vice chairman with responsibility for holding company assets and activities, and Paul Smith will become vice chairman in addition to his current role as CEO of affiliate Tenaska Capital Management LLC (TCM). Smith is a co-founder of TCM and manager of the TPF I and TPF II private equity funds. Current Tenaska finance vice president and treasurer Greg Van Dyke will be promoted to CFO and treasurer, while current vice president and controller Tim Kudron will become senior vice president and corporate controller. Under Hawks’ leadership since its inception in 1987, Omaha, NE-based Tenaska has developed about 9,000 MW of power generation and currently manages and operates eight power plants totaling 6,700 MW that it owns in partnership with other companies. Tenaska affiliates are involved in natural gas, electricity and biofuels marketing, as well as private equity funds, gas exploration and production and investments in renewable energy.

David N. Parker, president and CEO of the American Gas Association (AGA), formally announced that he will retire from AGA at the end of 2010. Parker told the board that his retirement is part of a transition process that he initiated in 2007 to ensure that AGA continues to have a strong leadership team going forward. He has headed the association, whose members primarily are local distribution companies, for 13 years. As part of that transition, Parker announced that two AGA senior staff members are taking on new responsibilities. Paula Gant, promoted to senior vice president, policy and planning, will develop and manage AGA’s policy and regulatory agenda. Laura Sheehan has been promoted to senior vice president, public affairs, where she will oversee AGA’s advocacy and government affairs. In addition, Kyle Rogers, AGA’s chief liaison to NARUC, has been promoted to vice president. The AGA board of directors will form a search committee to identify a successor.

David N. Parker, president and CEO of the American Gas Association (AGA), Wednesday formally announced that he will retire from AGA at the end of 2010. Parker told the board that his retirement is part of a transition process that he initiated in 2007 to ensure that AGA continues to have a strong leadership team going forward. He has headed the association, whose members primarily are local distribution companies, for 13 years. As part of that transition, Parker announced that two AGA senior staff members are taking on new responsibilities. Paula Gant, promoted to senior vice president, policy and planning, will develop and manage AGA’s policy and regulatory agenda. Laura Sheehan has been promoted to senior vice president, public affairs, where she will oversee AGA’s advocacy and government affairs. In addition, Kyle Rogers, AGA’s chief liaison to NARUC, has been promoted to vice president. The AGA board of directors will form a search committee to identify a successor.