Brian Bentz, MBA, FCPA, FCA, CET

Brian is the President and CEO of Alectra Inc., the largest municipally-owned utility by customer base in Canada and the second largest in North America after the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

Alectra Inc., through its regulated utility, Alectra Utilities Corporation, provides power and related services to almost one million electricity customers in Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe Area. Alectra Inc. also provides innovative energy solutions to consumers through several unregulated subsidiaries including Alectra Energy Solutions Inc.

While Brian played a major role in creating Alectra, his expertise in utility consolidations was demonstrated on several occasions in his previous position as the President and CEO of PowerStream.

His leadership was instrumental in the growth of that utility from its creation following the merger of three local electricity distribution companies in Markham, Richmond Hill and Vaughan in 2004. He was also a driving force in the acquisition of Aurora Hydro in 2005, the 2009 merger with Barrie Hydro and the 2012 partnership with the Town of Collingwood in the ownership of Collus PowerStream.

Brian has assumed an active leadership role within the energy industry. He currently serves as Chair of the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) and the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) Stakeholder Advisory Committee. Brian is also on the Board of Directors of Collus PowerStream and the Ontario Energy Association (OEA). Previously, he served as Chair of the OEA, Electricity Distributors Association (EDA), Municipal Electric Association Reciprocal Insurance Exchange (MEARIE), the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) Stakeholder Advisory Committee and as Vice-Chair of Collus PowerStream’s Board of Directors.

Brian has been recognized on several occasions for his industry leadership. He recently was presented with the LDC ‘Leader Award’ from the MEARIE Group and was a co-winner of the OEA ‘Leader of the Year’ Award in 2016.  In previous years, he received the ‘Chair’s Citation’ from the EDA, the Electricity Human Resources Canada ‘Leader of the Year’ Award, the ‘Game Changer’ Award from the Canadian Solar Industries Association (CanSIA), as well as recognition as a ‘Clean50’ and ‘Clean16’ Champion for leadership in sustainability advancement.

Originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Brian has an MBA (McMaster) and a honourary Bachelor of Applied Arts degree (Georgian College). He is also a Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant  as well as a Certified Engineering Technologist (Electrical/Electronics).