TransAlta CEO to retire after leading switch away from coal power

TransAlta Corp. says the CEO who supervised its transition away from a provincially focused provider of coal-fired power to an international utility with natural gas and renewable power generation plans to retire at the end of March.

The Calgary-based company says Dawn Farrell, 61, is to be replaced by John Kousinioris, currently chief operating officer and president of subsidiary TransAlta Renewables Inc.

As part of the transition, Kousinioris is to step down as president and a director with TransAlta Renewables and will be replaced by TransAlta’s chief financial officer Todd Stack.

TransAlta board chair John Dielwart credited Farrell for guiding TransAlta through the final stages of electricity deregulation in Alberta and “aggressively” adjusting strategy to respond to shifts in the regulation of carbon emissions.

Farrell has led TransAlta for almost a decade and oversaw the development of TransAlta’s renewables business through the purchase of Vision Quest Windelectric and then Canadian Hydro Developers Inc.

Farrell said her tenure was marked by numerous electricity sector changes due to regulatory shifts, increased competition and new technologies.

“I’m proud that TransAlta has faced into these challenges and has been able to accomplish a momentous multi-year transformation from a primarily Albertabased, coal-fired electricity company into a leading clean and renewables-focused electricity company spanning three countries, delivering growing cash flows, and competitively positioned to take on the vast opportunities ahead of the net zero economy,” she said in a statement.