About

Capital Power’s legal department provides legal services, guidance and expertise across Canada and the US, including evaluating Capital Power’s rights and obligations where material benefit or risk is involved, as well as negotiating and drafting commercial agreements. The team provides expertise oversight related to M&A activity and capital project development, compliance matters regarding the environment, safety and contractual liability. The team also internally handles litigations and retains external lawyers sparingly. The team is led by senior vice president, chief legal and sustainability officer Kate Chisholm and consists of 12 lawyers and support staff. Over the past two years, amongst many other initiatives, Capital Power has negotiated an off-coal agreement worth C$734m that compensates Capital Power for the capital it invested in coal generating assets that will be “stranded” in 2030 due to the implementation of a carbon tax in the Province of Alberta. It has added two wind farms, with two more in the advanced stages of construction, all with negotiated fixed-priced contracts, and acquired four natural gas and two waste heat facilities. All these projects were completed under the in-house expertise of the legal department. In addition, Capital Power has focused on hiring and developing junior lawyers to facilitate robust succession within the department and to round out its strong in-house legal team. Chisholm was also recently appointed chief sustainability officer of capital power, with a mandate to enhance corporate competitiveness and social, environmental, and economic progress. Chisholm identifies that the legal team members bring ‘expertise, perspectives, insights, and experiences to help us accomplish our goals; we know that the greatest value comes from having the greatest diversity. The combined passion and commitment of our team coming together to learn from each other and gain new perspectives forms the basis of our solid foundation. We focus on delivering excellence and innovation, thinking outside the box and maintain our well-being both individually, and
as a team’.