BRAVE FACE ON ENERGY EAST

Executives at TransCanada Corp. put on a brave face over potential new regulatory requirements for the $ 12- billion Energy East pipeline on Tuesday, but said the total cost of the project is likely to increase.

TransCanada president Russ Girling said during the company’s third- quarter earnings call that it has not asked for a meeting with prime minister- designate Justin Trudeau’s recently elected Liberal government yet, but hopes to discuss potential changes to National Energy Board regulations and the Energy East pipeline “in the coming weeks and months.”

During the campaign, Trudeau’s campaign co- chair Dan Gagnier resigned over an email to TransCanada that advised the pipeline company on how to lobby a new federal government and suggested reaching out to new government officials as soon as possible.

Trudeau called the email, which TransCanada requested, “inappropriate” at the time.

Trudeau also said during the campaign that a Liberal government would make changes to the way the NEB processes and reviews pipeline applications in Canada, which could affect the regulatory process for TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline.

Girling and TransCanada chief operating officer Alex Pourbaix both said Tuesday the company would comply with new regulations.

“To the extent that the new government decides to modify the new rules or procedures, we’re confident that we’ll be able to manage within those new rules,” Pourbaix said.

“No question, these things cost more money going forward but ... if the result is a safer, more reliable set of infrastructure then that makes sense for us,” Girling said.