Hal Kvisle, president and CEO of TransCanada Corp., is retiring June 30, the company said Thursday. Russ Girling, who is now the COO, is to take the reins the following day.

Kvisle said he would assist Girling with the transition through Aug. 31 and be available as an adviser to him after that. Kvisle joined TransCanada in 1999 as executive vice president and assumed the CEO role in 2001. In 2008 Kvisle was named Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year.

“The TransCanada team has achieved and exceeded the objectives we set for ourselves more than a decade ago,” Kvisle said. “Our Canadian gas transmission business is expanding to move BC [British Columbia] shale gas to market. We are working to extend our Canadian system to connect northern gas from Mackenzie and Alaska.

“We’ve built a substantial gas transmission business in the United States, with a large commercial presence in Houston. And Keystone, our largest project to date, will commence deliveries of Canadian oilsands production to United States refineries by mid-year.”

In the past decade, said Kvisle, “we’ve built Canada’s largest private sector power business and North America’s second largest natural gas storage business. We’ve turned TransCanada into a North American energy infrastructure leader and created significant shareholder value in the process…”

It was under Kvisle’s leadership that TransCanada won the state concession to construct the Alaska gasline to carry North Slope gas to Lower 48 markets (see Daily GPI, April 5).

Girling joined TransCanada in 1994. Before he was appointed to the COO position last July he held several leadership positions at TransCanada including president, pipelines; CFO and executive vice president, corporate development; and executive vice president, power. Girling also is the current chairman of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America.

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