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Danroth named new president and chief executive officer of Manitoba Hydro

Danroth named new president and chief executive officer of Manitoba Hydro
(photo courtesy Manitoba Hydro)

Allan Danroth has been named as the new president and chief executive officer of Manitoba Hydro, effective Aug. 6, 2024.

Danroth succeeds Hal Turner, who served as the corporation’s president and CEO on an interim basis after the departure of Jay Grewal in February. He joins Manitoba Hydro from Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries, where he serves as vice president of operations.

“We are extremely pleased to announce that Allan will be joining the Manitoba Hydro team following an extensive local and national search process that took place over the last few months,” said Ben Graham, chair of the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board. “We know he is a proven, successful leader, with both extensive senior leadership experience in variety of energy and resource businesses, as well as ‘boots on the ground’ experience in power engineering. As a result, Allan brings both a sophisticated management and field perspective to Manitoba Hydro, which will be critical to guiding the utility forward in the coming years.”

He holds an MBA from Athabasca University, a first-class power engineering designation and a diploma in marketing and management sciences from the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Before joining Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries, Danroth held senior leadership positions at Capital Power, AV Nackawic and other resource, health and energy companies.

“I am looking forward to taking on this role, moving to Manitoba, and getting out to meet as many Manitoba Hydro employees, customers and other interested parties as I possibly can. I believe you build trust by being present and engaged, and by working with and listening to employees and the broader community,” Danroth said. “Keeping things simple and focused on Manitoba Hydro’s role as the province’s provider of electricity and natural gas will be key to preparing us for the energy world of tomorrow.”

About 97% of Manitoba’s electricity is generated from clean hydro, with most of the remaining 3% coming from wind generation.

In February 2024, when Manitoba Hydro announced Grewal was leaving after five years, Graham said the utility is at a critical juncture, facing key decisions on how best to meet Manitoba’s energy needs in the future. The utility’s first Integrated Resource Plan, released in August 2023, showed electrical demand in the province could more than double in the next 20 years and new sources of electricity could be needed within the next decade.