The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) Board announced President and CEO Michael Law will resign from it effective August 1. Law first joined AESO in 2009 as vice-president, operations and was promoted to president and CEO in 2019. “This is a critical time for the AESO as we move towards both a new market design and significant energy transition activities,” said AESO Board Chair Karl Johannson in a Thursday press release.“The AESO continues to focus on the next milestone as it progresses design work on the Restructured Energy Market in parallel with government policy.”To ensure a seamless transition of AESO’s critical work, it said Board Director Aaron Engen will assume the role of president and CEO effective August 1 following Law’s departure. Engen has served on the AESO Board since 2020 and is the chair of the Power System Committee. He has more than two decades of investment banking experience, with his most recent title being vice-chair, investment and corporate banking at BMO Capital Markets. His work focused on energy infrastructure, and he co-headed BMO’s Power and Energy Infrastructure group. More recently, he co-headed BMO’s Energy Transition group, which focused on key sectors such as hydrogen, carbon capture and sequestration, renewable natural gas, renewable power generation, energy storage, and small modular reactors.Prior to joining BMO, he was a partner at a major Canadian law firm, where he practiced corporate and securities law. He holds a bachelor’s degree in law and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Alberta and a bachelor’s degree in arts and science from the University of Lethbridge.Johannson concluded by saying the AESO Board is confident in Engen’s ability to serve as president and CEO. “He will play a key role in engaging with stakeholders in the development of Alberta’s market design and brings deep corporate finance, investment, and transactional experience which will help support the AESO and stakeholders as we move through this transition,” he said. Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault added his two cents worth into Alberta’s electricity debate in September after AESO warned his policies could leave Albertans freezing in the dark in the winter.READ MORE: Guilbeault lectures Alberta electric operator on grid safetySoon after Law gave a warning about the damage the Canadian government’s Clean Electricity Regulations would cause, Guilbeault responded by saying he knows best. “Any claim that building a clean electricity grid in Alberta will lead to blackouts is misinformation designed to inflame, not inform,” said Guilbeault.
