mriopelle

Vice President, Federal
Wellington Advocacy

Areas of Expertise: Government Relations, Public Policy, Strategic Communications, Media Relations, Issues Management, Stakeholder Engagement, Coalition Building

Zita is a seasoned public affairs professional with over 15 years serving in senior government and media relations roles at both the federal and provincial levels. She joins Wellington Advocacy after serving in a number of senior leadership roles in the Trudeau government, including as Director of Issues Management and a seasoned Advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Zita has also served as Chief of Staff to the President of the King’s Privy Council and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, the Minister of Public Safety, and the Minister of National Defence, as well as in senior media relations roles for the Liberal Party of Canada, including during the 2015, 2019, and 2021 election campaigns. At the provincial level, Zita has served in numerous leadership roles under former Liberal Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne, including as Director of Media Relations.

President and CEO
FortisAlberta

Ms. Sullivan brings more than 20 years of leadership and utility industry experience to her role as President and Chief Executive Officer and corporate director of FortisAlberta. Prior to this, she held multiple Executive and Director positions with both FortisAlberta and at a Fortis utility Newfoundland Power, guiding those organizations through complex developments in utility regulation and implementing effective financial and operational strategies.  Ms. Sullivan serves on the board of directors of FortisBC, Electricity Canada, Western Energy Institute and CAREERS. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from Memorial University and is a member of the Institutes of Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Managing Director, Government and Regulatory Policy
Heartland Generation and IPPSA Chair

Dustin Owens is Managing Director of Government and Regulatory Policy at Heartland Generation, responsible for the company’s carbon, environmental and regulatory strategies. He is currently serving as Chair of the Independent Power Producers Society of Alberta (IPPSA) Board of Directors.  Dustin also serves on the board of the Battle River Watershed Alliance. Prior to joining Heartland Generation, Dustin held several leadership roles within Alberta Energy including director of markets policy.

President and Founder
URICA Energy Management Corp

As President and CEO of the URICA group of companies which provide independent commercial services for generators and consumers in the electricity industry, Jason has a wealth of knowledge in energy portfolio management, energy trading, facility dispatch, commercial optimization, and business development. Expertise in all forms of generation, from thermal through to renewable and now leading energy storage platforms, his complete end-to-end understanding of the unique aspects of the Alberta electricity market is reputed in the industry. Jason holds a B.Comm from the University of Alberta and a MBA from the University of Calgary.

President and CEO
ENMAX

Mark joined ENMAX in September 2022 as President and CEO. He previously served as President and CEO at Hydro One, where he led the launch of their strategy with a focus on safety, efficiency, customer service and community partnership.

Before joining Hydro One in 2019, Mark was the Executive Vice President, Operations at BC Hydro. He oversaw all aspects of operations in the organization’s electric system, serving approximately four million residential, commercial and industrial customers. During his tenure, Mark successfully led the merger of the former transmission and distribution organization with the generation organization to form one operations group with revenues of approximately $5 billion. Mark joined BC Hydro in 1993 and worked in several parts of the organization, including engineering, construction and procurement.

Mark graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a degree in mechanical engineering. He serves as Board Chair of Versant Power, Board of Directors for the 2025 Invictus Games and participates on the CD Howe Energy Policy Council. He previously served on the Board of the Western Energy Institute, as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Ontario Energy Association and a Board Advisor to Yukon Energy.

President and CEO
FutEra Power Corp

Lisa Mueller is educated as a mechanical engineer with over 20 years of technical and business development experience. Ms. Mueller began her career in the space sciences on a NASA project, then moved into the commercial arena by founding and growing her own manufacturing company. Most recently, she served as Senior Business Development Manager of Infrastructure at Shell Canada and President & CEO at Epoch Energy Development. Lisa joined Razor Energy in 2017 as Vice President New Ventures. As the global energy complex began its transition to low-carbon, a new subsidiary of Razor Energy was formed, FutEra Power. As President and CEO of FutEra Power, Lisa aims to leverage Alberta’s current energy assets to develop a cleaner energy tomorrow, beginning with Canada’s first co-produced geothermal power project.

Chair
Alberta Utilities Commission

Carolyn Dahl Rees has over 35 years’ experience as a regulatory and commercial lawyer in Alberta, with a career that has spanned private, corporate and public practice. She has focused for a number of years on the electricity industry, with her most recent corporate role involving the management of legal, trading compliance and operations compliance functions for a major electricity generator, with a focus on electricity market rules and reliability standards across North America. Ms. Dahl Rees is a seasoned adjudicator in regulatory proceedings in Alberta, having served for over 20 years as a Member of the Alberta Utilities Commission, the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, as an Acting Member of the Alberta Natural Resources Conservation Board and for other provincial, federal and municipal tribunals as well. Ms. Dahl Rees was admitted to the Alberta Bar in 1982 after completing her studies at Rice University (BA) and the University of Toronto (MA, LLB).

Vice President, Public Policy and Compliance
ENMAX

Tim Boston has been leading government and public relations for the past 23 years in companies that span the value chain of the electricity industry.  The Hill Times has named him one of the top 100 lobbyists nationally twice.  Before that he spent a number of years as a senior policy advisor in the federal and Alberta governments as well as starting a public and government relations role for Weyerhaeuser Canada.  Tim has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics (International Trade) from the University of Alberta and a Masters of Business Administration from Queen’s University.  Currently Tim serves ENMAX as its Vice President of Public Policy and Government Relations and is past Chair of the Independent Power Producers Society of Alberta.

Senior Vice President
Head of Canada, Capital Power

Jason oversees the physical and financial optimization of Capital Power’s Canadian fleet, as well as identification, evaluation, and deal structuring of Canadian development and acquisition opportunities. Jason is also accountable for the assessment of and investment in decarbonization technologies in Canada that align with and contribute towards Capital Power’s sustainability targets.

With Capital Power since 2009, Jason has held leadership roles focused on commodity trading, corporate strategy, regulatory and commercial management including capital deployment into energy transition. He has played leadership roles in capital projects in excess of $1 billion, including the Genesee Generating Station’s ongoing transition from coal to natural gas and potential for carbon capture.

A strong proponent of the electricity industry and the energy transition, Jason is an active member and former chair of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce’s Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee. He also serves on the Board of the Association of Power Producers of Ontario and previously as an elected member of the Canadian Wind Energy Association’s Alberta Steering Committee and as member of the Alberta Securities Commission’s Derivates Advisory Committee. Internal to Capital Power, Jason has also served as a chair of the company’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

Jason holds a BComm and MBA from the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary.

Partner
McCarthy Tétrault

Kimberly is a partner in McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s Energy & Infrastructure group in Calgary and the Co-Lead of the National Environmental, group. Her practice focuses on environmental, energy (including electricity and oil & gas) and regulatory law. Kimberly’s versatility enables her to anticipate issues that may arise for the clients she works with and provides proactive strategic advice, whether it is advising on the environmental risk of a transaction or procuring key regulatory approvals for a new project. Kimberly’s practice involves a broad range of regulatory and commercial work involving pipelines, natural gas, electric utilities and a broad range energy projects, including renewables, energy storage and carbon capture and sequestration. She has experience in all aspects of energy project development and has appeared before several regulatory tribunals, including the Canada Energy Regulator, the Alberta Energy Regulator, the Alberta Utilities Commission, the Alberta Environmental Appeals Board and the British Columbia Energy Regulator.