Healthy and resilient in tough times
Every year, our CEO and our Board Chair share their views on the health of our business and their outlook for the future in an open letter to shareholders in our annual report. Here are highlights from their 2020 letter, released today.
The global healthcare system and economy were tested in new ways in 2020. We were continuously inspired by the sacrifices made by millions of people to support society through all aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. To everyone doing their part – thank you.
Our infrastructure plays a critical role in providing energy to North America, and our services were deemed essential in every jurisdiction where we operate. Quietly and reliably, energy transported through our systems kept millions of homes, hospitals, businesses and other essential services moving forward to support people and economies across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. As a result, our business remained largely unaffected. In 2020, TC Energy again delivered sustainable and predictable shareholder returns.
- See news release: TC Energy reports record earnings again in 2020 - Increases common share dividend for the twenty-first consecutive year
These results are a testament to the resourcefulness of our 7,500 people, the resilience of our $100 billion asset base and our low-risk business model.
In 2020, we worked harder than ever to buy locally whenever possible and contributed more than $31 million to community organizations across our footprint.
This included:
- $5.2 million for causes related specifically to COVID-19 relief efforts
- $8 million for Indigenous organizations
- $5.4 million directed by our workforce to causes that are important to them
Our people also found innovative ways to safely log over 22,500 volunteer hours.
Through the pandemic, we remained focused on our goal of zero safety incidents and progressed our operations and projects following COVID-19 protocols to keep our people and communities safe. We invested more than $14 million in research and development activities and advanced over 140 innovation projects focused on pipeline safety and reliability, technological advancement and sustainability.
While 2020 presented some of the greatest global challenges in recent history, it was also a year of significant advancement in discussions around diversity, inclusion and climate change.
As a result, we also significantly progressed our sustainability program in 2020.
In all our operations and projects, we remain focused on managing, reducing or eliminating our GHG emissions where possible. Simultaneously, we are undertaking due diligence to identify potential paths to maximize our GHG emissions reductions by 2050 while ensuring our duty to protect shareholder value is not compromised. We are confident that we can continue to do both.
You could say our role in the energy transition began with our incorporation in 1951. Since then, we’ve garnered expertise across the energy spectrum including liquids, wind, solar, hydro and nuclear. We have also dedicated resources to advance and study opportunities including pumped storage, hydrogen, waste-heat recovery, carbon capture and numerous other energy innovations.
We believe natural gas and oil will remain critical to the global fuel mix for decades to come. Their efficiency, reliability and affordability are necessary to support our standard of living and backstop the intermittency of lower-emission fuel sources.
Whatever pace it takes, the energy transition ahead will require expertise and billions of investment dollars. We have both.
Our combination of the right people, the right assets and the right opportunities sets the stage to evolve our business to meet societal needs and capture significant shareholder value over the long term.
Sincerely,
Siim Vanaselja, Chair of the Board
François Poirier, President and Chief Executive Officer
Russ Girling, Past President and Chief Executive Officer (2010-2020)
Read full letter in our 2020 Annual Report