Arun Banskota appointed CEO of Algonquin Power & Utilities, replaces Ian Robertson

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp announced the retirement of Ian Robertson as Chief Executive Officer and the appointment of Arun Banskota as the incoming CEO. 

This transition has been a multi-year initiative by APUC’s Board of Directors to support a smooth transition to new leadership while maintaining the Company’s strong track record of growth and delivering long-term shareholder value, the Company said in its press statement.

“Ian has been a pioneer in the renewable energy business and brought to the Company an entrepreneurial spirit that will endure,” said APUC Chairman Ken Moore. “As a driving force behind the Company’s extraordinary growth, the Company’s performance is a direct result of Ian’s passion and dedication which has resulted in APUC becoming a blue chip TSX60 company delivering essential utility services while also being a global leader in renewable energy.”

Robertson co-founded the Company in 1988, focusing initially on developing hydroelectric facilities, followed by expansion into other generating modalities, including wind and solar energy, as well as leading the Company to become a large North American regulated utility delivering water, natural gas and electric services. APUC has grown to approximately $11 billion of total assets including over 2 GW of installed renewable generating capacity and has over 800,000 regulated utility customers.

“We are immensely grateful for Ian’s countless contributions over the years, and his legacy of strong business performance, operational excellence, and commitment to sustainability. We wish Ian well in his future endeavours,” Moore said.

Arun Banskota, who joined APUC as President in February 2020, officially takes over the role of CEO, effective immediately. Prior to this role, Banskota served as the Managing Director, Global Power, El Paso Corporation, where he had P&L responsibility for a 6,500 MW global portfolio of 32 power plants, project development and approximately 10,000 employees. Most recently, Banskota led the planning, engineering, and execution of datacenter capacity, globally, for Amazon Web Services. 

Moore further commented: “Under Arun’s leadership, together with the Company’s executive team, APUC plans to continue executing and building upon its current five-year strategic growth plan. With its strong financial position and entrepreneurial culture, the Company is also positioned for continued growth and success as the utility sector evolves in the future.”

APUC is a diversified international generation, transmission and distribution utility with approximately $11 billion of total assets. Through its two business groups, APUC is committed to providing safe, reliable and cost effective rate-regulated natural gas, water, and electricity generation, transmission and distribution utility services to approximately 805,000 connections in the United States and Canada, and is a global leader in renewable energy through its portfolio of long-term contracted wind, solar and hydroelectric generating facilities representing over 2 GW of installed capacity and more than 1.4 GW of incremental renewable energy capacity under construction.

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