Enbridge (TSX: ENB) continues to be one of my favourite Canadian stocks for dependable dividends, so a change at the very top is something I’d certainly pay attention to. The good news is that this transition doesn’t look like Enbridge is suddenly changing its growth strategy. The energy infrastructure giant recently named Michele Harradence as its next president and chief executive officer, succeeding Greg Ebel when he retires at the end of 2026.
Harradence is hardly an outsider. She has led Enbridge’s gas distribution and storage business since 2022 and already understands some of the operations that will be central to the company’s next phase of growth. That continuity could be valuable, especially as Enbridge is sitting on more than $40 billion of secured growth projects while continuing to support a dividend yield of well over 5%.
In this article, I’ll explain what investors should know about Michele Harradence and why Enbridge’s leadership transition could matter for ENB stock’s long-term growth and income outlook.
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A familiar leader takes charge at Enbridge
For investors, what matters now is the experience Harradence brings from overseeing some important parts of Enbridge’s expanding natural gas business.
During her time leading Enbridge’s gas utilities, Harradence helped guide the integration of the U.S. utility businesses acquired from Dominion Energy. Those operations have helped Enbridge build one of North America’s largest integrated gas utility platforms, which now serves millions of customers across Canada and the United States.
Her experience also goes beyond the utility side of Enbridge. Before taking on her current role, Harradence served as senior vice-president and chief operations officer in the company’s gas transmission and midstream business in Houston. She came to Enbridge in 2014 following a career in senior leadership roles at Shell Canada.
This leadership transition comes at a time when the stock has been under some pressure, even as its income appeal remains strong.
At the time of writing, ENB stock traded close to $70 per share with a market capitalization of $152 billion. At the current price, it offers a 5.6% annualized dividend yield. Although its shares have fallen 10% over the last three months, they remain up 4% over the last year.
Enbridge’s growth outlook continues to improve
More importantly, Harradence is stepping into the top job as Enbridge continues to grow both its earnings base and infrastructure footprint. The company posted nearly $4.8 billion in adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) in the second quarter, up about 3% from a year ago, backed mainly by higher revenue tied to rate cases at East Tennessee, Texas Eastern, and Enbridge Gas Utah.
Last quarter, Enbridge’s cash provided by operating activities also jumped 27% YoY to $4.1 billion, giving the company plenty of financial strength to keep investing in its next phase of expansion.
Why investors should care
Harradence will take charge with a secured growth backlog of about $41 billion and annual growth investment capacity of $10 billion to $11 billion. Recently, Enbridge also agreed to acquire Salt Creek Midstream’s crude gathering business for US$600 million, a deal it expects to be immediately accretive to distributable cash flow per share and earnings per share.
A couple of weeks ago, the company also formed a joint venture with KKR and Apollo to help fund the Aspen Point and Sunrise expansions of its Westcoast pipeline system. Enbridge will retain majority ownership and operational control while recycling capital and preserving financial flexibility.
Given these fundamentals, Enbridge stock clearly continues to offer an appealing mix of dependable income and long-term growth potential. With a diversified business, a sizable project backlog, multiple expansion opportunities, and a 5.6% dividend yield, Harradence will have a strong platform to build on.
