Panel chair selected for Bearspaw feeder main independent review
Today, The City of Calgary is sharing its decision to accept the recommendation of the Advisory Group and select Siegfried Kiefer as the Chair of the Independent Review Panel for the Bearspaw South Feeder Main break.
The volunteer Advisory Group comprised of three community Leaders—Dawn Farrell, Wayne Stensby and Dr. Edward McCauley—who were tasked with searching for a qualified Chair to lead the Independent Review Panel.
Mr. Kiefer has over 40 years of managing and operating critical infrastructure and will lead the panel in examining what happened, why it happened and what changes are needed to prevent this type of incident from re-occurring.
“We believe Siegfried Kiefer’s extensive experience ensures the review will be thorough and provide actionable recommendations,” says Dawn Farrell.
Mr. Kiefer will work closely with the Advisory Group to select an expert panel of senior industry leaders, establish terms of reference and finalize the details of the mandate. All names put forward to participate as panel members for the Independent Review have been collated and passed along to the Chair.
It is expected that the Review will take 12 months to be completed. Once the Independent Review Panel is finalized, Mr. Kiefer will guide the review process and oversee the final report, which will be shared with Calgarians.
The panel will be responsible for sharing information and the results of the review. Once those details are confirmed, further updates on the panel members, the terms of reference and the mandate will be shared with Calgarians. Visit calgary.ca to stay informed.
The City has also established a dedicated liaison to ensure the Chair receives all the requested information to conduct a thorough independent review.
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Siegfried Kiefer is the past Honorary Director, Office of the Chair, ATCO Ltd. and former President & Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Utilities Limited and Member, Office of the Chair, ATCO Ltd. He retired on July 1, 2021.
Mr. Kiefer spent 38 years as a member of the ATCO group of companies and shaped some of the company’s most transformative initiatives in recent memory. He was instrumental in the strategic divestiture of ATCO’s retail energy business in 2003, as well as the sale of ATCO I-Tek in 2014. He also oversaw the construction and early energization of Canadian Utilities’ award-winning Alberta PowerLine project—the longest 500 kilovolt (kV) AC transmission line in Canada. Once completed, seven Indigenous communities in Alberta purchased a combined 40 per cent equity ownership in the line—an example to the world of how industry and Indigenous communities can work together to develop world-class energy infrastructure that benefits customers and communities alike.
Prior to his appointment as President & Chief Executive Officer in May 2019, Mr. Kiefer held the title of President & Chief Strategy Officer for both ATCO Ltd. and Canadian Utilities Limited. He was President, Canadian Utilities Limited, from May 2015, and Chief Operating Officer, Power & Utilities, from July 2013.
Formerly, Mr. Kiefer was Managing Director, Utilities Business Group, where he oversaw the operations of ATCO Gas, ATCO Electric and ATCO Pipelines, along with subsidiaries Northland Utilities Limited and ATCO Electric Yukon. He also oversaw the formation and operations of ATCO Energy Services and served as Chief Information Officer for ATCO Group for more than 11 years, until late 2009.
Mr. Kiefer’s distinguished career with ATCO and its subsidiaries began in 1983 with Canadian Western Natural Gas as a Financial Analyst. He was later appointed to various technical and management roles within Canadian Utilities’ Information Services.
Mr. Kiefer has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary. He is married to Colleen and has a son, Stefan, and a daughter, Reegan.