Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is 10 o'clock, and so we're going to get started. I'll call this annual meeting to order. My name is Barry Jackson, and I am the Chair of TransCanada Corporation. And on behalf of the Board, of Directors and Management of the company, I'd like to welcome all of you here today.
We have a number of shareholders and several former directors with us here this morning. Thank you all for attending. As usual, we need to attend to a couple of housekeeping matters. Firstly, if you haven't already done so, please ensure that your cell phone is turned off for the duration of the meeting. We'd ask you to refrain from taking photos and be advised that no recording devices may be used during the meeting.
Secondly, we're conscious of safety. So if an alarm should sound during the meeting, please follow the instructions of the Canada Olympic Park people who will be scattered around the room and at the exits. Let's move into the business of the meeting then, and I'll start by introducing those here on stage. On my immediate left is Russ Girling, President and Chief Executive Officer and to his left, Christine Johnston, Vice President of Law and Corporate Secretary. Other members of the TransCanada Senior Management Group are present today, and I'll introduce them as well.
So, if each of you would stand and remain standing until I've introduced the entire group, that would be great. First is Carl Johansen, Executive Vice President, Canada and Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines and Energy. Actually, Karl isn't standing. Unfortunately, he was drawn away to a funeral today and so was not able to join us. Don Marchand, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Wendy Hanrahan, Executive Vice President, Corporate Services Christine Delicas, Executive Vice President, Stakeholder and Technical Services and General Counsel Paul Miller, Executive Vice President, Liquids Pipelines Francois Poirier, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development and Stan Chapman, Executive Vice President and President of U.
S. Natural Gas Pipelines. Thank you all. This group will also be here to answer questions during the reception. With regard to the business of the meeting, please remember that only registered common shareholders or duly appointed proxy holders who have registered for the meeting are entitled to participate.
The purpose of the meeting as outlined in the management information circular dated February 28, 2017 is for the common shareholders to receive the 2016 consolidated financial statements and auditors report, to elect directors, to appoint auditors and to consider and approve on an advisory basis TransCanada's approach to executive compensation. For ease of moving the meeting along, we've asked certain proxy holders to make and second motions And then as usual, after the formal meeting, Russ Girling will provide an update of the company's activities and its plans for the future, and there will be a question and answer session at the end of that. So in accordance with bylaw number 1 of the company, I now appoint Stephen Bandola and Dean Naugler, representatives of Computershare Trust Company of Canada to act as scrutineers for this meeting. The preliminary report by nears indicates that a quorum is present, and I would ask that they submit their final report on attendance when ready. Christine Johnson will now report on the mailing of the notice calling the meeting and advise us about the process the meeting will follow.
Any questions on the conduct of the meeting will be referred to Ms. Johnson. Chris?
Thanks, Barry. Mr. Chairman, the mailing of the notice of availability of proxy materials and the form of proxy was completed by March 29, 2017 to common shareholders of record at the close of business March 20, 2017 in accordance with applicable law. An affidavit attesting to the mailing of the notice and form of proxy is hereby placed before the meeting. Where required or requested, the management information circular and the annual report were mailed to shareholders.
Those documents have also been made available for review on the company's website. I'd like to inform you that we will be conducting a vote by ballot for each item of business today with the exception of the appointment of auditors. As for process to be followed after the formal meeting today, shareholders and proxy holders in attendance have been provided with question cards. You may write your questions on the card and then please sign and print your name legibly on the card and indicate whether you are a shareholder or a proxy holder. Those listening by webcast may also ask questions electronically via the webcast.
Please indicate when you have your question card ready. We will collect the cards and receive questions received via the webcast before and after before and during the question and answer session. All questions from people identifying themselves as shareholders or proxy holders will be answered individually or by grouping them together with similar questions. If you do not have enough time to respond today, a written response will be sent to you at a later time if your name and address or e mail address are included on the card. I will also respond to questions from the floor after Russ' presentation.
Thank you, Chris. As a notice of the meeting has been given and a quorum is present, I hereby declare that this meeting is duly called and constituted for the transaction of business. With regard to the first item of business, the annual report, including the consolidated financial statements and the auditors report has been made available for review by shareholders in accordance with applicable law. Copies of the management information circular, the annual report along with a summary of TransCanada's corporate social responsibility report are also available at the display booth set up just outside. And as well, KPMG representatives of KPMG will be available to answer questions during the general question period.
The next matter is the election of directors, each of whom will hold office until the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until their successors are earlier elected or appointed. I'll now introduce the current directors who are present here today and standing for reelection and please again as I call your name, if you would stand up. Kevin Benson, Derek Birney, Russ Girling, John Lowe, Paula Reynolds, Mary Pat Salomoni, Indira Sammersikara, Mike Stewart, Seem Vanaceldja, Rick Waugh and myself, Barry Jackson. In addition, I'd like to introduce Mr. Stephane Crechet.
Stephane, would you please stand as well, who is being nominated for the first time this year. Mr. Crechet joined the Board on February 17, and if elected by shareholders, we'll have the opportunity to enjoy Mr. Krettsche's extensive experience as a CEO of a multinational corporation along with his leadership skills, strategic insight and business acumen. He will be a valuable addition to the Board.
We're pleased to have him join us at this meeting as an nominee. Thank you, Stephane, and thank you all. You will also note that John Richels is not standing for reelection this year. Mr. Richels is retiring from the Board effective today.
John is with us here today. John, would you please stand? John served as the Director for 4 years and has been a significant contributor to the Board and its committees. He was on the Health, Safety and Environment Committee and the Human Resources Committee, where he oversaw our practices and procedures and help the Board develop strong policies and plans. And John will be greatly missed.
He brought a wealth of experience both from the legal community, other social engagements and the upstream oil and gas community to the Board. And so John, on behalf of my fellow Board members and management, I thank you for all of the contributions you've made to TransCanada over these years. And finally, subject to his reelection, Seem Van Aselja will succeed me as Chair of the Board at the close of this annual meeting. Seem has been a member of our Board since May of 2014 and has served as Chair of the Audit Committee since May 1, 2015. I look forward to working with Seem during the transition and I'm confident that he will be an excellent Board Chair.
And I said this in the Board meeting prior to this AGM on a personal note, it's been a very great privilege to have served as the Chair of this wonderful organization over the last 12 years, and I'm very thankful for the opportunity and the support of the shareholders and the other Board members.
So thank you.
Moving on, the Board has set the number of directors to be elected at 12. The term of office of each expires at the end of the current directors expires at the end of this meeting. The term of office proposed for each nominee is a term of 1 year expiring at TransCanada's 2018 annual meeting or until a successor is earlier elected or appointed. Again, a reminder that only registered shareholders present in person and proxy holders, those of you holding the voting cards are entitled to vote on this resolution. Can I have a motion to nominate the directors, please?
Thank you. We did not receive any additional director nominations in accordance with our advanced notice by law, so I now declare the nominations closed. As indicated previously, the vote on the election of directors will be made by ballot. Chris Johnson will give us instructions for the use of the ballots.
So registered shareholders present in person or proxy holders representing shareholders were given a yellow ballot when they registered at the meeting today. Any registered shareholder or proxy holder who did not receive a yellow colored ballot, please raise your blue voting card, so that the scrutineers can provide you with a ballot. Proxies held by management will be voted on the ballot as indicated in the proxies. You'll note that the 12 names have been preprinted on the ballot. You are to vote for each candidate for election by placing an X in the for or withhold box beside each name.
You may only vote for or withhold for the director nominee listed. You do not need to provide an indication for all director nominees. The nominees for whom you haven't voted will be voted for in accordance with management's recommendation. If you vote per person who has not been nominated, which would require you to manually write their name on the ballot, the ballot will be spoiled and not counted. After completion, please hold on to your ballot form as you'll be asked to use that same ballot to vote on the company's approach to executive compensation.
Thanks, Chris. We'll wait for a minute while the ballots are being completed. So I now declare that the balloting on this matter is closed and we'll return to the agenda and receive the scrutineers report on the results of this ballot at the end of the meeting. The next item of business is the appointment of auditors. Is there a motion in connection with the auditors?
Mr. Chairman, I move the resolution appointing KPMG LLP Chartered Professional Accountants as auditors of the company until the next annual meeting of shareholders and authorize the directors to fix their remuneration.
Thank you. Is there a seconder?
Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.
Thank you. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Contrary, if any. I declare the motion carried. The next item is the approval on an advisory basis of an ordinary resolution approving TransCanada's approach to executive compensation.
In order to ensure an appropriate level of director accountability to the shareholders of the company for their compensation decisions, the Board of Directors has determined that a shareholder advisory vote, commonly known as a say on pay would be beneficial. The Board of Directors is asking shareholders consider and if deemed advisable to approve a resolution accepting TransCanada's approach to executive compensation. The text of the resolution is specifically set out in the management information circular. And while the vote is on an advisory basis and not binding, the Board will into account the results of the vote when considering future compensation policies and decisions. And the company will also disclose the results of the shareholder vote as part of its report on voting results for this meeting.
So can I please have a motion in connection with the resolution to accept the company's approach to executive compensation?
Mr. Chairman, I move the resolution to accept on an advisory basis the company's approach to executive compensation as described in the management information circular of TransCanada.
Thank you. Is there a seconder?
Mr. Chairman, I second that motion.
Thank you. As indicated previously, this vote will be made by ballot, which also can be found on the yellow ballot provided to registered shareholders and proxy holders. If you've previously signed and returned to proxy, your vote's already been recorded and you do not need to vote by ballot. For those who haven't, please vote on the ballot by marking an x in the box, which indicates for or against as the case may be, and please sign and print your name on the lines provided and the scrutineers will then collect the ballot. So we'll wait for a minute while those ballots are completed and collected.
It looks like they're all done. Are there any more ballots just before we move on? If so, raise your hand and they will get picked up. Just one over here. Thank you.
So I declare the balloting on this matter closed and ask the scrutineers to advise the corporate secretary when they've completed the counting of the ballots and are ready to report. We'll take a brief pause while we wait for the scrutineers to finish that work. And if everybody would please remain seated, this shouldn't take too long.
For the scrutiny's report on attendance at the meeting has now been received. It shows that there are 2,303 holders of common shares present in person entitled to vote in their own right or by proxy being approximately 58 point 8% of the issued shares of the company. I've also received the report on the scrutineers on the election of directors and the acceptance of the approval of the company's approach to executive compensation. The scrutineers report indicates that each item of business has received at least a majority of votes cast in favor. The detailed results for each item of business will be filed on SEDAR by no later than Monday, May 8, 2017.
Thank you, Chris. Based on the results, I declare that the 12 nominees are duly elected directors of the company until the next annual meeting or until their successors are earlier elected or appointed. In addition, I declare that the resolution with respect to the acceptance of TransCanada's approach to executive compensation has been passed, and I directed the scrutineers report on the ballots being next to the minutes of the meeting. Is there any further business to be brought before the meeting? If not, can I have a motion to conclude?
Mr. Chairman, I move that the meeting be concluded. Thank you. Is there a seconder? Mr.
Chairman, I second the motion. Thank you. You've all heard the motion. All shareholders in favor, please raise your hand. Contrary, if any.
The meeting is now concluded. And Russ, I'll give the podium to you. But before Russ begins, we wanted to show you a video that briefly explains what TransCanada does and just as importantly, how the company does it. So enjoy the video for the next few minutes.
The North American family home can be a busy place, vibrant and full of life, and TransCanada is part of it. Although many families may not realize it, we actually play a big role in their everyday lives. From transporting natural gas and liquids to generating electricity, our business makes it possible for millions of people to have the things they rely on every day. For more than 65 years, TransCanada has been leading the way in the safe and responsible delivery of energy across North America. Our natural gas pipelines supply more than 25% of the natural gas consumed daily across North America, and we are the largest provider of natural gas storage on the continent.
We generate power for millions of homes and businesses, and much of this power is generated from emissionless sources. Our Keystone pipeline delivers much needed Canadian crude oil to U. S. Refineries every day. It gets converted into the fuel and products we all use.
But our focus isn't just about the bottom line. People want to know we're committed to doing the environment. We're also committed to helping build strong, on the environment. We're also committed to helping build strong and vibrant communities where our thousands of employees live, work and play. These are our priorities.
We think they're the only way to achieve long term success in delivering the energy we all need. I'm Cindy and I'm part of TransCanada. I'm proud of what we do. I'm proud to make the things that help make moments like
Thank you, Barry, and good morning, everybody, and thank you all for joining us today. Both of you have made your way all the way out here to the Mark and MacPhail Center. We were here last year, and it's turned out to be a pretty good venue for us. And to those of you that are joining us by webcast today, as you can see by this video, you own a company that does very important things. It supplies the energy that not only fuels our economy, it heats our homes, it cooks our meals and it transports our children to school.
And I can tell you that your company is full of employees just like Cindy. Cindy is actually here. I saw her earlier today, so if she can wave, people can see her. She spent a lot of time on video with her family. These are people that live our values every day and they're very proud of what they do.
And this is just one part of a new approach that we're taking at TransCanada to do a better job at telling our story. Next week, we'll be launching a new and much improved version of our flagship website, the transcanada.com website, which is where millions of people do come looking for information about our company every year. I'd encourage you all to explore the new website and learn more about our commitment to safety, responsible development and the important role that we play in providing reliable and affordable energy to society. As we know, with the exception of a small minority professional activist, people know that they need energy and the energy that we provide. However, without exception, their expectation is that we deliver that energy safely every day and safety above all else is our top priority.
We have a 65 year track record of safe and reliable operations, but I can tell you that we're not perfect and we do have incidents, but we do believe that all incidents are avoidable and preventable and I can tell you that we're focused on a goal of 0 incidents across our system and we won't be satisfied until we actually achieve that objective. As with safety, all of our other priorities at the company remain the same and they remain the simple things that we've talked about at these meetings for several years. Firstly, maximizing the financial performance and contribution of our base assets in our business, delivering the projects that we have currently under construction on time, on budget and safely, developing and acquiring new opportunities to reinvest our growing free cash flow and allocating our capital in a manner that maintains a healthy and strong balance sheet, funds our growth and supports a stable and growing dividend. Again, unchanged priorities, we keep it simple and we keep on delivering. This next map highlights the impressive portfolio of assets that your company now operates.
Since we embarked on our current strategy in 2000, we have invested about $70,000,000,000 in high quality low risk energy infrastructure assets in Canada, the United States and Mexico. As a result today, we own and operate 1 of the largest natural gas transmission systems in North America. Our pipelines transport 25% of the daily gas consumed in North America. So 1 in 4 households gets their gas from a TransCanada pipeline. We're also the continent's largest provider of natural gas storage.
In liquids, our Keystone pipeline system now transports 545,000 barrels a day or approximately 20% of all the exports from Western Canada to keep refining markets in the Midwest U. S. And the Gulf Coast. And following the sale of our U. S.
Northeast power assets, we will still be Canada's we're one of Canada's largest private sector power generators with approximately 7,000 megawatts power, which are all underpinned by long term contractual arrangements. So today, we have an impressive $89,000,000,000 portfolio of assets, with an enterprise value well in excess of $100,000,000,000 I'd like to take the next 20 minutes or so to walk you through our successes over the last year, the promising future that your company has and how we are realizing our vision of becoming North America's leading energy infrastructure company. As always, before I get started on all that good stuff, I need to remind you that my remarks do include forward looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties and for more information about those, you can look at our filings with securities regulators in both Canada and United States. As well, from an accounting perspective, we refer to terms such as comparable earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization or you'll hear me say EBITDA a number of times today, comparable funds generated from operations and comparable earnings. Those are non GAAP measures and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies.
So with the disclaimer out of the way, get started and talk about 2016, which was truly a transformational year for TransCanada, driven firstly by our $14,000,000,000 U. S. Acquisition of the Columbia Pipeline Group, which included the buyout of Columbia Partners LP. The Columbia acquisition, as we said a number of times, has represented a rare opportunity to further diversify our regulated natural gas pipeline portfolio and storage operations and gave us an incumbency position in the Appalachian region of the U. S, which is the world's fastest growing and lowest cost natural gas basin.
Combined with our existing natural gas footprint, we now own and operate 1 of North America's largest natural gas transmission businesses with strong competitive positions in the continent's fastest growing supply and market regions. Over the past year, we also added $13,000,000,000 of new projects our near term commercially secured portfolio. The largest addition to that portfolio came through the Columbia acquisition, which included US7 $1,000,000,000 in long term contracted expansion and modernization projects. We also added 2 additional projects in Mexico, totaling about $2,000,000,000 as well as we have several ongoing expansions in the Western Sedimentary Basin on our NGTL system. To help fund all of that growth, we made a decision to sell our U.
S. Northeast Power business. In total, we expect to derive about $3,700,000,000 from that sale, which we used to retire the bridge loan that we put in place to acquire the Columbia assets. During the year, again from a transformational perspective, we raised approximately $11,000,000,000 of subordinated capital through the issuance of common shares, about $7,000,000,000 of common shares, preferred shares as well as hybrid securities. Those steps allowed us to permanently fund the Columbia acquisition along with a portion of our unprecedented growth plan as well as maintain an 8 grade credit, which is again differentiates us from a lot of our competitors in the marketplace.
For our shareholders, these bold moves over the year to grow your company and to prudently finance that growth are expected to be accretive both earnings and cash flow per share and support our recent dividend guidance at the upper end of 8% to 10% through the rest of the decade. Our strong operational performance combined with the addition of Colombia and the completion of several growth projects this year resulted in record financial results for our company. Comparable earnings per share were $2.78 an increase of $0.30 over last year, which is about a 12% increase over 2015. Backing up those earnings was cash, comparable EBITDA increased by approximately $700,000,000 to $6,600,000,000 while comparable funds generated from operations exceeded $5,000,000,000 for the first time in our history. Based on the financial strength, financial performance of our company and our secured growth profile, TransCanada's Board of Directors increased the quarterly dividend in February of this year to $0.625 which is equivalent to $2.50 per share on an annual basis.
That represented a 10.6% increase over the last year's dividend. And as you can see by this chart, the 17th consecutive year that the Board of Directors has raised the dividend from $0.80 in 2000 to the current rate of $2.50 per share. Our strong financial performance and growing dividend in turn has contributed to a significant increase in our share price from approximately $10 at the start of 2,000 to about $63 or so this morning. That equates to about a 14% compound average total shareholder return since 2000, so very impressive results. But looking forward, I'm very confident that we are well positioned to continue to reinvest our growing free cash flow in high quality opportunities and continue to grow cash flow, earnings and dividends.
Evidence of this can be seen in our Q1 results, which we released earlier today. Excluding specific items, comparable earnings for the Q1 of 2017 were $0.81 a share compared to $0.70 per share last year, an increase of 16%. And again, for us, what's important behind that is cash. Comparable EBITDA increased $475,000,000 to approximately $2,000,000,000 while comparable funds generated from operations increased $259,000,000 to approximately $1,500,000,000 dollars As we look forward, we continue to expect the demand for energy in North America to continue to grow. This forecast by the U.
S. Energy Information Administration highlights the expected growth in demand in North America for natural gas, oil and electricity, coincidentally, all three businesses that we're in through the next 3 decades. This growth in demand combined with a need to replace aging infrastructure will require 1,000,000,000 of dollars of investment and I can tell you that we're well positioned to capture a sizable share of that growth going forward. I'd like to spend the next few minutes on each of our three business lines highlighting the share of that growth that we have already captured and talk about some of the opportunities we see on the horizon to continue to add growth well into the next decade. Drink here.
Starting with our natural gas business and specifically the Columbia Pipeline Network, where we spent the last 9 months integrating their operations into our U. S. Pipeline business. What I can tell you is that process has gone extremely well and we're on track to realize the majority of the $250,000,000 in targeted benefits that we promised the market here in 2017. The remainder will follow in 2018.
On the growth side, Columbia's capital programs include $7,100,000,000 of projects that are largely expected to enter service by the end of 2018. All of those projects are proceeding according to plan. Looking forward, we expect the Columbia system to continue to generate organic growth. As the natural gas production in the Appalachian region continues to grow, expectations are that the region will grow from about 20,000,000,000 cubic feet a day to 30,000,000,000 cubic feet a day over the next decade. With its highly connected network of receipt and delivery points and competitive pass to markets, Colombia is well positioned to capture its share of infrastructure investment required to connect that growing supply to market.
At the same time, we are working to identify opportunities to better integrate our overall natural gas pipeline system and storage assets to offer greater connectivity and enhance services to all of our customers. Turning now to the western part of our system and primarily the NGTL system here in Alberta and British Columbia. Last year, the NGAC Alstair system transported about 11,300,000,000 cubic feet a day. That's 75% of the gas that's moved out of Western Canada. We believe that Western Canada shale plays, particularly in areas such as the Montney, Duvernay and Deep Basin are among the lowest cost resources in North America.
Connecting that production from those emerging shale plays will require additional infrastructure, and our NGTL system, as you can see by the map, is ideally located to capture that growth. We've now contracted about $5,100,000,000 of new facilities required through 2020 to move that production to market. And as production is connected to NGTL, we'll likely need increased access to the main delivery points across the province and we've had open seasons to do that. We just announced one here in the last week, which will expand our system to enhance access to the Pacific Northwest and California markets. We also expect the Alberta demand to continue to grow as the province transitions from coal fired generation to gas fired generation, requiring new pipeline infrastructure to provide or to service those needs.
Turning to the mainline, which continues to be a very important piece of North American gas infrastructure. Today, the system moves about 2,500,000,000 to 3,000,000,000 cubic feet a day of gas from Western Canada to Eastern markets, and it will continue to play an important role in linking that growing supply from Western Canada to both domestic and export markets. The best evidence of that can be seen in new 10 year contracts that we've put in place with Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin Producers to transport approximately 1,500,000,000 cubic feet of the gas from Alberta to Don, which is in Southern Ontario. Using mainline facilities At the same time, in Southern Ontario, we're adding about $300,000,000 facilities to move that growing supply at dawn to both Canadian and through the rest of our system onto U. S.
Markets in New York and New England. Turning to Mexico, we have seen significant growth there as you know over the last couple of years. Today we have 4 pipelines generating revenue under long term take or pay contracts with the government owned utility, CFE. Three additional pipelines are now under construction that will bring in our investment to about $5,000,000,000 in Mexico and by the end of 2018, we'll be generating close to $600,000,000 of annual EBITDA under those long term contracts. As we look forward in Mexico, demand along with the shift to natural gas from other fuels is expected to create additional opportunities for us to continue to grow our pipeline network in that region.
Turning now to liquids and the Keystone pipeline system, which has established itself now as a premier crude oil transport network. It has now safely delivered 1,500,000,000 barrels of oil to U. S. Refineries safely and reliably since we put it in service. It's underpinned by take or pay contracts for 545,000 barrels a day, which gives us stable annual EBITDA of approximately $1,000,000,000 Recent capital additions to the system have created optionality for us and our shippers by improving access to more refining markets and additional supply.
Ultimately, this is expected to provide opportunities to move increased volumes long haul on the system, including shale oil volumes under contract on the southern part of our system as U. S. Shale volumes continue to grow as well. We're also developing a regional liquids pipeline network here in Alberta to connect those barrels to our long haul systems. We have the $1,000,000,000 Northern Courier project and the $900,000,000 Grand Rapids projects underway.
They're expected to enter service later this year. And recently, we added the $200,000,000 White Spruce project to that portfolio. Again, I remind you that all of those projects are underpinned by long term take or pay contracts with strong creditworthy counterparties. Return to the energy business, the sale, as I said, of our U. S.
Northeast power assets continues to progress. We expect to close those transactions in the second quarter of this year. Once completed, we'll have substantially reduced our merchant power exposure. The remaining 6,200 megawatts of power generation in our portfolio will largely be underpinned by long term contracts, again with strong counterparties. Those remaining assets generated about $765,000,000 of EBITDA in 2016 and that number is expected to grow to more than $1,000,000,000 by 2020 as we complete the Napanee project and advance our refurbishment work at Bruce Power.
Construction of Napanee continues, is expected to be placed in service in 2018, bringing our total production capacity to 7,200 Megawatts and work continues with the asset management program of Bruce Power. Those activities are being carried out in advance of the major component replacement work that will begin in 2020 and continue through the balance of the decade. That $66,500,000,000 investment that we've committed to, will extend the operating life of Bruce Power to 2,064, so well out 5 or 6 decades. And we will see us invest approximately $1,100,000,000 between now and the end of the decade with the remainder being spent, as I said, between 2020 and 2,030. Looking forward, we continue to see opportunities in this business for renewable generation, gas fired generation across all of our core geographies as North America transitions away from coal fired generation to less carbon intensive alternatives such as natural gas, renewables and nuclear power.
In summary, we are now advancing $23,000,000,000 of near term commercially secured projects that will expand our footprint across North America. This is a picture of just those expansion assets. You can see it includes $18,000,000,000 of natural gas expansions, about $2,000,000,000 of liquids expansions and $2,000,000,000 of power expansions. To date, we've invested about $7,500,000,000 in those projects with remainder to be spent over the next couple of years. And again, notably, I would tell you that all of these projects are either underpinned by long term contracts or rate regulated business models.
And as a result, we have a high degree of visibility to the earnings and cash flow that will be generated as they enter service. This next slide highlights how that $23,000,000,000 of near term capital program is expected to drive significant growth in EBITDA between now and the end of the decade. Based on those projects, as you can see from the chart, comparable EBITDA in 2015 was about $5,900,000,000 and we expect that to grow to about $9,300,000,000 in 2020. That equates to a compound average growth rate of about 10%. And as I said, by 2020, over 95 percent of that $9,300,000,000 in EBITDA will be derived by rate regulated or long term contracted assets.
Based on our confidence in both our base business and our secured growth plans, we expect to grow the dividend at the upper end of the 8% to 10% range, as I said, through 2020. And as we continue to say, importantly, that growth in dividend is supported by both earnings and cash flow and strong distributable cash flow coverage ratios. Success in advancing our other growth project initiatives could augment or extend this dividend guidance in 2020 or beyond 2020 and that is certainly our focus right now. As I said earlier today, we expect energy demand will continue to grow across North America and we continue to pursue $45,000,000,000 of longer term opportunities, which will take us more time to put in place that will help meet that demand. It includes our 2 West Coast LNG projects that are fully permitted and awaiting final investment decision from our counterparties, the project sponsors.
The portfolio also includes 2 large scale oil liquids pipeline projects. We continue to advance the Energy East project through the permitting process here in Canada. And finally, the Keystone XL project appears to have a new opportunity. On March 24 this year, we received a presidential permit for the project, which is a very significant milestone, a long awaited milestone. We've talked about that at this meeting for the last 7 or 8 years.
I tell you we're very proud of that accomplishment. In February, we also filed for approval of the project's route in the state of Nebraska and at the same time we continue to advance commercial discussions with our customers. We continue to believe that the U. S. Gulf Coast is the largest and most attractive market for growing volumes of Canadian heavy oil and the Keystone is the safest, most cost efficient and most environmentally sound way to move that crude oil from Western Canada to the Gulf Coast.
This suite of large scale projects provides important options for our company going forward and bring 1 or multiples of these projects to fruition in the coming years could, as I said, augment or extend that dividend growth outlook well beyond 2020. So to close, the key takeaways from my presentation today, 17 years ago, we set out on a vision to become one of North America's leading energy infrastructure companies and I can tell you that we're well on our way to realizing that vision. Our diverse portfolio of high quality long life assets generated very strong comparable results in 2016 and that extended again into the Q1 of 2017. The acquisition of Columbia as well as certain other initiatives over the past year represent truly transformational events for this company. Following the monetization of the U.
S. Northeast Power Business, as I said, 95% of our EBITDA will come from rate regulated or long term contracted assets. As a result, our assets are well positioned to produce stable results through almost any market cycle. Today, we are advancing, as I said, dollars 23,000,000,000 of near term capital additions and we have 5 distinct platforms for continued growth. That suite of critical energy infrastructure assets is expected to generate significant growth, high quality earnings and cash flow for our shareholders and that is expected to support annual dividend growth at the upper end of that 8% to 10% range.
We also continue to advance as I showed you $45,000,000,000 of longer term projects which can create significant incremental value for our shareholders and success in adding to the growth portfolio can help us extend that guidance even further. Our balance sheet remains strong supported by A grade credit ratings and remain positioned to fund our near term capital program from the resilient and growing internally generated cash flow and strong access to capital markets on very compelling terms. So a good story. And as you know, that kind of success can only be achieved through the efforts and expertise of a whole lot of people. So in closing, I'd like to extend my sincerest thanks to our 6,000 to 7000 employees, contractors and suppliers in Canada, United States and Mexico.
I know that the last year has been a remarkable one for our company, but also one that has involved a lot of change and uncertainty for many people and I thank them all for their professionalism, their dedication and living our values every day. It is what makes us successful and allows us to continue to advance our company. I've also been impressed by how the TransCanada and Columbia teams have come together in such a short period of time to create a stronger and far more competitive company. An example of that is in this photo that you can see, that's where the employees both from both companies came together last fall. In many cases, a lot of these employees have just met each other for the first time to build houses for Habitat for Humanity in the Houston area.
You see that they are having a good time. I saw a lot of video and the team really has become the gel. To our executive leadership team, thank you for another great year of hard work, perseverance and leadership and the guidance that you bring to our employees every day. In particular, I'd like to thank Alex Pourbaix. As Barry noted, he'll be officially retiring from TransCanada on May 31.
Alex and I have worked together for a number of years and he played a critical role in the success of this company. I'd also like to thank our Board of Directors for their patience, wisdom and guidance. As we navigate the constantly shifting environment in which we operate, You definitely have kept us in the right direction and we continue to make great progress. Like with all things in our company, our Board of Directors continues to evolve. As Barry noted, we had an election of a new chair this morning.
I'd like to extend sincere thanks to Barry, served on our Board since 2,005 and I continue to believe he'll continue to remain on our Board for some time into the future. Barry, your leadership for more than a decade has been instrumental into making us the strong and successful company we are today. And I personally have benefited from your guidance and insights. So thank you very much. On behalf of ELT, I'd like to welcome our new Chair, Sim Venasselja as our new Chair of the Board.
Look forward to working with you, Sim, in closer confines. As well, I'd like to recognize John Rochelle. John is leaving us today. He retires after serving the Board for the last 4 years and Barry outlined extended that service. So thank you, John for your service to our company.
I'd like to welcome our newest member to the Board, Stefan Krotzier. Stefan's extensive experience was outlined again by Barry, major multinational corporation, his skills, insights, business acumen will be a valuable addition to our Board. So we look forward to working with you as well. And finally, I'd like to thank you, our shareholders, both here in person and on the webcast. Thank you for believing in our company and investing in our long term success.
What I can tell you is the future of your company is very bright and we do appreciate your continued support. So with that, I turn the microphone back to Chris Johnson for a few moments to outline the rules of engagement in our question and answer period. And from there, I'd be happy to answer any of your questions.
Thanks, Russ. We now invite general questions from shareholders and proxy holders. Microphones are available for any shareholder or proxy holder wishing to address the meeting. Before presenting your question, please identify yourself to confirm that you are indeed a shareholder or proxy holder of the company. Please limit yourself to one question with a duration of not more than 2 minutes.
And if you have additional questions, please go to the back of the line and wait another turn at the microphone.
Thank you, Russ, for being captain of the ship. I'm a proud shareholder of and I'll tell you why later. I brought my granddaughter, Emma Burkhold again. She is a shareholder dripping her shares for 19 years and as a 19 year old student, I hope that we will welcome her as she may be a bit shy. I'd love for her to share the fact that her company is involved in corporate philanthropy.
Here's why I'm proud of TRAP. Last month, I observed a plaque at U of C Medical School indicating a contribution of nearly $1,000,000 to Partners in Health. These monies were used to study stroke, trauma, cancer and other medical conditions, benefiting all Canadians. If you want to know more about Partners in Health, talk to Dick Haskayne. I think he chaired he co chaired the program.
My question is, since we've expanded our horizons, could you elaborate in our corporate philanthropy?
Thanks for coming and thanks for the question and thanks for the long term shareholding and support. Our philosophy about reinvesting in communities is unchanged. Like with all things, we try to keep it as simple as we can. And it's about investing in the communities which our people live, where we do business, to make them healthier, more sustainable and better places to live. And we look for things that our employees can get behind that they can get involved in.
As you can see on the last picture that was up is things like Habitat for Humanity, where our employees can get engaged in the communities in which they work. It's not just money, it's volunteer time and that's our employees do like to do those kinds of things. So in every community where we operate, we try to inject that philosophy. And what I can tell you, you just got great employees in our company who have great spirit. We've raised literally 1,000,000 of dollars this last year from our employee base alone, which we match their contributions to invest in causes that they think are important to them.
So thanks for raising that.
Hi, Brad Bockuska, shareholder.
Yes.
Even longer than 19 years. I'm wondering is wind and solar power generation cost more or less than natural gas power generation? And does solar and wind need taxpayer subsidies to be economic?
It's a moving target. I would say in general historically wind and solar have been far more expensive than gas fired generation to use that, but also compared to other forms of generation. There's been significant technological change over the last number of years, driven primarily in my view by government subsidy of some form or fashion. So the positive in that is that those have driven new technology and have driven the cost way down. In certain places, solar can now compete with natural gas on a pure energy basis.
So in places where it's very sunny like Arizona or Mexico, we've heard the numbers like $40, dollars 50, dollars 60 dollars 70 a megawatt hour, which is competitive with gas fired power. The difference though is that they provide 2 different services and I think one of the misconceptions out there is that they do the same things. Gas fired generation, you can turn the generator on anytime during the day you want, whenever you need that power. Wind and solar are only available when the wind blows and the sunshine. So even though they can produce a megawatt hour at the same price, one is intermittent and one provides what we call capacity.
So they are 2 different things. And so it's still one of the limitations of moving as far and as fast as we are on renewables is that system will still need to be backstopped by some form of capacity generation and we think natural gas is a logical answer. So the combination of the 2 is what's important. And so in certain regions, it makes sense. In other regions, it doesn't make sense.
But certainly, I would expect it over time on an energy basis alone, those could equate. But I guess make no mistake, the cost of greener energy is more expensive than traditional sources of energy and that cost will be borne by consumers. The benefit though is less emissions and a cleaner environment and those are the trade offs that we need to make. But there should be no illusions that these things can be done, that they do the same things and that the costs are similar. At the end of the day, it will be more expensive, but that is the cost of moving to a greener future.
Rebecca Hazemann, I'm a common shareholder. I've been a common shareholder as far back as I can remember. I come to these annual meetings because they are an extremely valuable learning experience for me. I don't want to miss them. I have 2 questions.
1 deals with content, the other deals with housekeeping. If the chair would allow me to ask the question about housekeeping first because the second one has wide implications. I would like to know why it was decided to hold the annual Shareholders Meeting out at this location. I'm disappointed that you have moved out here instead of being downtown, which is easily, easily accessible by our LR2 system. I look around the group, and I don't see too many of my compatriots in my age group.
It concerns me that this particular age group may find it difficult to drive out here. We all drove out here. We're all so concerned about CO2 emissions, and yet the only way is to drive here. With all due respect, sir, I would ask management, I would direct management, and I say this respectfully, to reconsider holding our annual meeting in the core of the city. The size of this audience could easily fit into a high school auditorium, not that that is a suitable site.
It's a directive. I would respectfully ask that management consider my concern. The LRT runs through the middle of the city. That's my first concern.
I'll do my best to maybe give you an answer. Last year when we came out here is that we our dates were well. It was less expensive, so we came back this year. You make a good point and certainly we'll take that into consideration next year. Obviously, for our employees as well, I mean, this isn't as convenient as something that's walking distance to our office.
So definitely we'll take that under consideration. I appreciate the feedback.
Much appreciated, sir. My second question is very direct. Would you allow Mr. Derek Birney, our former ambassador to the United States, to comment on the current scene regarding the renegotiation of NAFTA? Would gas and oil be a bargaining chip?
And lately, the item water is appearing in discussions about NAFTA. If you would allow him to comment, I'm sure we would learn a great deal. Thank you for your attention.
I have may ask Mr. Bernie. I don't have an issue with him making a couple of comments on NAFTA. I know that it's he has no direct involvement in that, but given his history, maybe one of us might comment. Go ahead, we don't have that microphone, do we?
Okay. You could use that microphone back there if you want where it says number 2, Derek.
Let me begin by saying I feel a bit like Rip Van Winkle because I'm coming back after 24 years, which is as long as NAFTA has been in existence and now it's back in play. If I can answer your questions precisely, it would be, don't worry, keep calm. Nobody has a clue what President Trump has in his mind at any given moment of any given day. So we don't yet know what it is he wants to renegotiate and how. What I can assure you is we know.
We know what we're prepared to negotiate as a country with the United States and with Mexico, and we know what we're not going to negotiate. And we're going to make that very clear. We're not going to accept a negotiation based on unilateral demands of one party. That is not the secret to success. The only secret to success in a negotiation will be mutual benefit for all the parties.
So I would ask you to be assured that the Canadian government is very conscious of the need to protect Canadian interests, to advance Canadian interests, and there's going to be no surrender on any issue. I can guarantee you that. In terms of energy, that's a Canadian Trump card, and we will play it aggressively. As for water, don't worry. That's a figment of people's imagination.
Some Americans may want our water. They're not going to get it, okay? Just relax.
Andrew Pollocks of Calgary, Alberta, beneficial shareholder and duly appointed proxy holder. Presently, I have only 2 shares, but that's because I enjoy participating in annual meetings and I'm dirt poor. So I can't afford €1,000,000 although I'd like to be able to. Now my question is about the environment, which I think TransCanada and other companies are often unfairly criticized with respect to their policies on the environment. And let's see, I grabbed an annual report.
If I may, could I just read 2 sentences out of the letter from Russ Girling and Barry Jackson. I happen to pick up a French one instead of an English one, but I'm sure you have Quebec shareholders listening on the webcast. So I'll just read the French version but pose the question in English. And occasionally, I like to throw in French parts even into an English annual meeting because a lot of our companies, even in Calgary AGM, have Quebec shareholders and Frankfurt shareholders listening on the webcast. And this is to show our inclusiveness and welcoming of people from all across Canada as shareholders and proxy holders.
And anyway, that's my intent. Since you wrote it, you'll whether or not you know French, you'll know what you were saying, which was basically we're very honored at TransCanada in terms of the basic recognition of TransCanada's commitment to the environment. And again, I think when environmentalists complain, I think it's being unfair, because my perception has always been that TransCanada and other companies within the industry do genuinely care about the environment and do conduct their business in an honest, decent way that's genuinely responsible to the environment? Thank you very much.
Thanks, Andrew. And I think what we're referencing there is the recognition that third party agencies have given the company for its track record in terms of commitment to environment and sustainability. So the things that were mentioned in those couple of sentences, Dow Jones Sustainability Index and others, The company has a very open policy with respect to our environmental performance. We provide that to the marketplace and it's scored against others who provide similar disclosure in our sector. And we score very well, both in terms of practice and disclosure.
And that was really what was highlighting. So your point on those activists that are posed to us, I mean, for the most part, I think those that are actually honest and want to have an open dialogue recognize us for that capacity and what we actually do. Those that want to keep fossil fuels in the ground will never be happy even though we provide all of that information. So, to your point, we're very proud of our track record in environmental sustainability and operating practices. And as I said earlier, we're not perfect, but we strive to be and we'll continue to try to do that.
Thank you.
I'm Donna Arison from Red Deer. And as one of the older shareholders, in speaking to the housekeeping item, I am delighted at the venue being here. It's easy for me coming from Red Deer. Coming on Stoney Trail makes it very simple. And for me to tackle going downtown Calgary is a little more challenging for sure.
So, I'm in favor and love it here. Anyhow, the company has been my best investment, and I'm very pleased to be involved in the company. Thank you.
Thanks for your comments, and appreciate the feedback as there are always competing priorities and thoughts and suggestions on where we hold these things. So appreciate the feedback as well and we'll take that into consideration as we look to our plans for next year.
My name is Moe Hamburg. I'm from Calgary. I own 300 shares of TransCanada Pipeline as well as a number anywhere between 100 and 1000 of shares in other energy related companies. I acquired those by working in different places where it can be as hot as plus 40 and as cold as minus 40. I have only a grade 12 education.
I've been near nuclear energy plants. I know they operate. I think they're fairly clean. I also know that Canada has a high, very high reputation in various parts of this globe because we operate safety, integrity and responsibility, the three numbers you have up there. My question is, how much more are you going to put into nuclear energy and solar energy?
First of all, thank you for the comments and I agree, Minh. Our North America has been endowed with significant natural resources that's gas, oil, coal, but as well things like uranium. And we're very fortunate that we do have rule of law and a free and open market system that encourages innovation and investment and we've been able to become world leaders in all of those things and we should exploit those things as a nation, which we are and we do it safely and responsible and we should be very proud of that activity. I think of the question again. Just remind me what the question was again, sorry.
I got off on a tangent. Solar energy works great. Allocation of capital.
It works very good within 30 degrees of the equator. Up here where we have about 110 frost free days a year, solar energy isn't such a hot idea, neither are windmills. And we've got this nation has got measurable amounts of natural gas underneath.
I got off on a tangent there, sorry. So yes, with respect to allocating our capital to those things, I'm a strong believer in nuclear. I mean it is if you ask me the answer to the emissionless energy issue, it is I mentioned earlier, it actually runs 20 fourseven. It's available when you need it. And it's contained to a very small geographic footprint, our 6,500 megawatts that we produce at Bruce Power.
It's amazing to see that we produce a third of Ontario's energy in a location that can be measured in single digit or small double digit acres as opposed to provide that much power with other renewable or emissionless sources. So efficiency wise, it makes a lot of sense. And then you make a good point with respect to geography as well as in places where the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine, those aren't necessarily the places where we're going to see prices that are competitive with those other alternative energy sources. So in terms of our capital allocation, we look at both the contractual relationship we have, but as well as market fundamentals and allocate our capital accordingly. So we can see in terms of what we've actually done, we have dedicated another $10,000,000,000 to refurbishing nuclear because we think it is a very smart way of keeping the lights on.
And certainly, it's part of the Ontario Energy Plan and we have now put in place a contract be able to do that. So I think for us, our investment in those areas, those renewable areas will be considerably smaller just because of the lack of opportunities in those areas relative to the amount of money we're spending in natural gas development, for example, to move natural gas to locations that are going to need it. As people convert off coal to natural gas. There'll be some renewables, but we believe that natural gas will be the backstop. So my forward view would be as I'd say that there'll be a lot more capital allocated to natural gas and to nuclear than there would be renewables in our portfolio.
That's not to say they're not going to be important across North America. But as you just look at our $23,000,000,000 portfolio of things we're building, there really isn't any renewable in that portfolio right now and don't really see that much coming on the horizon.
Mr. Gurley, my name is Dennis McDermott. I'm a shareholder. I was at a meeting about a year ago, and John Manley spoke, and he talked about the complete ignorance of people he knew in Ottawa who live in the same district as he did about where their fuel came from. He was really pushing the idea of pipelines within Canada.
And these people, as he mentioned, didn't have any idea that their fuel was coming from offshore, and they couldn't understand why we would have pipelines in Canada. And I feel that, that level of misinformation from the people that don't know about it, prevails to this day. And it's something that I noticed, and I think I went to the same university as Mr. Boerne did at a few years ago. And when I came to that when I went to that university, I was the only person from Calgary in all faculties in my year.
And there was a profound ignorance I tell us about the West then, and I'm not sure things have changed much. So I was wondering if TransCanada and some of the other corporations that have great interests here that have a profound impact on Canada as a whole are doing anything to try to educate the people. I mean, everybody is caught up in the ecology and environmentalist issues, but no one's really saying, well, for the time being, we've got to deal with what we have. It's great to say we'll go into the casino, and when we win the lottery or the jackpot, we'll be going places. But in the meantime, as this gentleman has just mentioned, 110 frost free days.
That's not very many. It's less than onethree of the year. So that's a good part of Canada. The people in the states can talk about whatever they want. It's great in California.
They can come up and lobby against all your projects. But it seems to me there's got to be a better public relations effort, and I think you're doing it. But I think there's got to be even more. And I was wondering if TransCanada is trying to figure out how to do that because it's a matter of shifting public perception as much as carrying out with the company because the company has been brilliant work. I mean, you've got projects across the globe really that if people really knew what they were doing, they'd say, my God, what an amazing company.
But that level of amazement isn't shared by many people because they don't seem to know about it.
And thank you for the question and thank you for the shareholder support. There is a coordinated effort. I guess my belief is that the majority of folks as I said in my opening remarks, the majority of folks understand that they need energy. And when you actually sit down, you talk to them, they know that they needed every day to go about their daily lives. They just want it safely and reliably.
But that's a silent majority. The vocal minority has been the one that's been capturing headlines and hijacking regulatory process is making our life difficult. So we have embarked as an industry that used to be able to work under the radar screen, it can't anymore. And certainly as I work with my counterparts across North America, we understand that we need to get out and tell our story better. So we do have support from labor unions for example that are now getting out with our story.
We're giving the materials that they need. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, if you go on their website, they've got a great energy component, which is sort of simply describing to Canadians how they get their energy and the importance of not just to their way of life, but to the economy. And as I showed you from our perspective, along with some of our other industry peers, revamping our websites, getting the information in a form that the new generation will actually be able to understand. So one of the key things with the new transcanada.com revamped website that we had is it wasn't conducive to handheld devices. And what we found is, you think of the demographic that we're trying to target with this education, if they can't get it on their handheld device, they're not looking at it.
They're not looking at it in the traditional way that we did. So we've had to try to revamp understand who our audience is and then revamp the messaging. So there'll be stories and tutorials around sort of Energy 101 and real life stories like Cindy's today that you saw in our video. So we are doing that. I know that our counterparties like Synovus and Suncor, CNRL, CAP are all doing the same things.
We're trying to do it in a coordinated way. But your point is well taken. The industry itself hasn't done a great job of telling its story and it needs to get out there. And I do think that the needle is starting to move. We're seeing what I'd say is more adult like discourse in our proceedings.
There has been a tempering of the hysteria out there. And I do think that we're headed in the right path. Lots of work left to do and we're trying to get there.
Gary Maxwell, shareholder and retired employee. I'm just curious on your comments about if Trump is successful in reducing corporate taxes in the U. S, what sort of impact that would have on the energy sector in general and TransCanada with regard to investments and operations?
That would be a positive for us. I mean, obviously, I think the intent there is lower tax rates, reduce regulatory burden will attract new capital investments. We're a large player in the U. S. More than half of our earnings and EBITDA now come out of the United States.
So any changes in that regard would be positive for our company. And obviously, things that might not have been attractive under a higher tax regime may become more attractive. So it may open up opportunities for additional investment for us.
[SPEAKER ANASTASIA ALBERTO PEREIRA DE OLIVEIRA:] Good morning. My name is Ina Knaziev and I'm shareholder. I'm also former employee. I was laid off in 2015, and it's actually been a blessing. Why it was a blessing?
Because I invested every single dollar I had while I was working in TransCanada shares. So that funded my Freedom 50. So my question is, Russ, would you please elaborate more on TXL and Energy East projects in terms of your estimated likelihood of these projects to proceed? And what is the status of underpinning contracts? And also, how this new policy by American
All good questions. With respect to Keystone Energies, we placed them in that longer term bucket as you've seen because they are more difficult to get done. What's driving our growth and the focus of the company is around the $23,000,000,000 of things that we've got under construction and the organic growth that's naturally going to come from that activity in the $500,000,000 and $1,000,000,000 kind of chunks, which are much easier to permit and get done. So that's what underpins our 8% to 10% dividend growth guidance that we've given in the marketplace. These longer term projects like Energies and Keystone XL, obviously far more tricky and difficult to get.
They traverse many jurisdictions and have many facets of which you raised a couple. So in terms of timing, we've been at them for a long time, so it's hard to actually with any credibility say that we're going to get it done by a date certain. These things will continue to move forward. I continue to believe that they're important long term options, not just for us as a company, but for our country. I think as was mentioned earlier, Eastern Canada still imports 700,000 barrels a day of oil from other places around the world to refine in its refineries.
It would be great if we could get Western Canadian oil to those Eastern Canadian refineries. So it still remains very important. As far as Keystone XL goes, it appears that it has a window of opportunity for us to get that done in a shorter period of time. But we still have a lot of work to do with getting our other federal permits in place, the reroute or the route certificate in Nebraska And as you mentioned, the commercial negotiations, a lot of water has gone under the bridge over the last 7 or 8 years since we proposed that project with respect to where energy prices are today, the amount of rail capacity that's out in the marketplace, other alternatives that are out there like the Trans Mountain pipeline that just got approved, but not in construction yet. So a lot of factors out there that are in the minds a group of producers that had historically been very supportive, remain very supportive of Keystone, but their balance sheets aren't quite as strong as they were say 3 or 4 years ago.
So it all sort of complicates the negotiations. So I can't really put a timeframe on when we'll have all of this done. We're sort of pointing towards the end of the year. What we know is that the Nebraska process from a statutory perspective needs to conclude by about November 23. So at that point in time, we hope to have all of our permits.
We would hope to have these commercial negotiations done and in a position to figure out where the next step forward from there would be.
Price deck of the project?
The price, it's interesting is that is because of the downturn that we've seen, there is less activity. And so we actually think that we should be able to do it at least at the price that we had in our historic forecasts, maybe a bit less. With respect to the cross border issues that have been talked about in the press, I can tell you at least in our conversations with the administration to date, their intent is not to make things more expensive. Their intent is to streamline process and to allow us to get things done efficiently and in a cost effective manner. So what we found in our discussions with them to date around how we were going to use American Pipe versus other pipe around the world and what we had already purchased.
What I can tell you is they were all very practical discussions about what's economically feasible and what's practical from a construction standpoint. All pointed in the direction of how do we make this more economic and transparent from a regulatory standpoint, but streamline the process to get things done quicker. So I'm encouraged by all of those conversations that nothing is going to push the price to our customers and ultimately to consumers in the wrong direction.
If you don't mind, I'll do one more. Again, Andrew Pollocks of Calgary, Alberta, beneficial shareholder and proxy holder of 2 shares of TransCanada stock. I noticed on TV, Russ, that when you were down in the U. S, Donald Trump seemed totally impressed with you. He it just came across in the media that he must have liked you, thought well of you, your whatever you presented there must have gone over really well because you just came across so wonderfully in the media.
Even though it wasn't huge long coverage that I saw, it was really excellent coverage that presented you wonderfully well. And I thank you for going down there and making that effort so successfully. My question is sort of more of a general nature about politics, because TransCanada, as with other corporations in your industry, you have to deal with a variety of political regimes. They change over time, obviously, And one party is in power 1 year, another several years down the road. And TransCanada is making very long term plans that will end up proceeding through a variety of different kinds of political administration.
You're dealing with different provincial governments in Canada or the federal government in Canada with the federal government and state governments obviously in the U. S. What are the most important things that TransCanada does to deal with political issues? And seems to me, just my opinion, in there, there's got to be good there has to be good relationships with people because everything's going to be done that you accomplish through people. And yet, when you're relating to politicians, you want really good relationships that are done in a very proper and ethical manner as well, so that there's no appearance that you're just being buddy buddy with them and they're giving you favors because they're your buddy, but you want really good relationships with them at the same time.
So could you comment please on how TransCanada deals effectively with all these political changes and different kinds of political administrations because it's so central to your business? Thank you very much.
Thanks for the question. I guess what we try to do is root everything we do in almost what I would call public need and necessity. As I mentioned at the beginning of my speech, we do things that are important for the economy, people things that are important for people's way of life. And as your political leadership changes, as you point out, some philosophies do change. But I think at the root, economic development, job creation, safety, reliability, affordable energy, all those concepts are key to anybody who we charge with running our local governments or federal governments.
And often what was required is an education process for them to understand what we do. There's a lot of misinformation out in the marketplace, which was talked about earlier. People have made disparaging comments about both our company, what we do, the regulatory process. Our job in these transitions is to educate them on what we really do, the competence of the regulator support, the capacity of the regulators to do their job. We need them to do a good job of reviewing what we do.
So we need to present ourselves in the way that I've try to present ourselves here with all of those parties in an honest and open way. We try to be a partner with them. And when I say partner, that means that we have similar objectives and we have to work together to achieve those objectives. So, as I look at every one of our projects, that's our approach of both our at the most senior level, our government relations group. But if you think of our people on the ground that are dealing with local issues and those local issues are what bubbles up to politicians.
We need to understand those local issues as well as they do and we spent a lot of time on the ground understanding what people's concerns are. And for the most part, when we're in communities, we're viewed as a very, very important and welcomed member of the community. I think Bruce Power was mentioned earlier, for example, that the folks around that area, around the plant, King Carden and others, we're a mainstay in that community. And if we were to suggest that we were going to shut down that facility, there would be a huge cry out from the community and that's I think sort of the message that we need to communicate to the politicians that it's important to these communities and that we're welcomed and responsible partner. And that seems to have worked for us.
I mean we've traversed 65 years of history at this company, all kinds of governments in all kinds of jurisdictions. I think I've always emerged as an honest, credible and responsible player that helps them out and doesn't hinder what they're trying to accomplish. It doesn't look like there's any other questions at the microphones. James, anything else you got? If not, I'd like to thank you all again for attending the meeting today.
You're all invited to have some coffee, chat with our leadership team. They were introduced before our Board members that will be out there. They've all got name tags on. I'd encourage you to ask them a question. And again, thank you for your investment in our company and your continued support