Enbridge

The company was initially incorporated by Imperial Oil as Interprovincial Pipe Line Company (IPL) on April 30, 1949, after Canada's first major oil discovery, in 1947, at Leduc, Alberta.[6][7][8] In the same year, the company built its first oil pipeline from Leduc to Regina, Saskatchewan.[6][8] In 1950, it was expanded through Gretna, Manitoba, to Superior, Wisconsin, in the United States.[6] To operate the United States portion of the pipeline, the Lakehead Pipe Line Company (now Enbridge Energy Partners) was created. In 1953, the pipeline was expanded to Sarnia, Ontario, and in 1956 to Toronto and Buffalo, New York.[6]

In 1953, IPL was listed on the Toronto and Montreal stock exchanges.[6] In 1983, IPL built the Norman Wells pipeline and joined Frontier Pipeline Company.[6] In 1986, through a series of stakes exchanges, IPL gained control of Home Oil and in 1988, it changed its name to Interhome Energy Inc.[6][9] In 1991, it changed its name to Interprovincial Pipe Line Inc.[9]

In 1992, Interprovincial Pipe Line Inc. was acquired by Interprovincial Pipe Line System Inc., which changed its name to IPL Energy Inc. in 1994, after the acquisition of Consumers' Gas (now Enbridge Gas Inc.) and diversification into the gas distribution business.[6][9] In addition, it acquired stakes in AltaGas Services and the electric utility of Cornwall, Ontario.[6] Through the 1990s, the company expanded its gas pipeline network and acquired a stake in the Chicap oil pipeline. It also built the Athabasca Pipeline from northeastern Alberta to the main pipeline system.[6] In 1995, the company expanded its activities outside of North America by taking a stake in the Ocensa pipeline. This stake was sold in 2009.[10] IPL Energy became Enbridge Inc in 1998.[9] The Enbridge name is a portmanteau from "energy" and "bridge".[6]

In the 2000s, Enbridge introduced several large projects. Enbridge made their first investment into renewable energy in 2002 with the purchase of a wind farm, and since then has been consistently making efforts to become a leader in renewable energy in Canada.[11][12] In 2006, it announced the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines Project from Athabasca to Kitimat, British Columbia.[13] The same year, it announced the Alberta Clipper pipeline project from Hardisty, Alberta to Superior, Wisconsin, to connect oil sands production area with the existing network. This pipeline became operational in 2010.[14]

In 2009, Enbridge bought the Sarnia Photovoltaic Power Plant and expanded it up to 80 MW, which was the world's largest photovoltaic power station at that time.[15][16]

In January 2017, Enbridge acquired Midcoast Energy Partners for $170 million in cash, and later in 2018, ArcLight acquired Midcoast Operating, L.P. from Enbridge for $1.1 billion.[17][18]

Enbridge released its first annual sustainability report in 2001, and in November 2020, Enbridge expanded its environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals and targets.[19][20] The company aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with an interim target to reduce emissions intensity by 35% by 2030.[21] That same year, President and CEO Al Monaco said that renewable power is now "the fourth Enbridge platform."[22] Enbridge's ESG goals also aim to diversify its workforce with 28% representation from racial and ethnic groups and 40% from women by 2025.[23]  

In 2021, Enbridge was recognized as one of Canada's top 100 employers for the 18th time, and as one of Canada's best diversity employers for the seventh time.[24]

In September 2023, it was announced  Enbridge had agreed to acquire East Ohio Gas, Questar Gas, and Public Service Co. of North Carolina, from Dominion Energy for a total enterprise value worth $14 billion.[25][26] The acquisition will result in Enbridge being the largest natural gas utility franchise in North America.[27]

Enbridge's pipeline was responsible for the largest inland oil spill in the United States[75] in 1991, when 1,700,000 U.S. gal (6,400 m³) of oil ruptured from a buried pipeline in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, spilling crude into a wetland and a tributary of the Mississippi River.[75]

Using data from Enbridge's own reports, the Polaris Institute calculated that 804 spills occurred on Enbridge pipelines between 1999 and 2010. These spills released approximately 161,475 barrels (25,672.5 m³) of crude oil into the environment.[76]

On July 4, 2002, an Enbridge pipeline ruptured in a marsh near the town of Cohasset, Minnesota, in Itasca County, spilling 6,000 barrels (950 m³) of crude oil. In an attempt to keep the oil from contaminating the Mississippi River, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources set a controlled burn that lasted for one day and created a smoke plume about 1-mile (1.6 km) high and 5 miles (8.0 km) long.[77]

In 2006, there were 67 reportable spills totaling 5,663 barrels (900.3 m³) on Enbridge's energy and transportation and distribution system; in 2007 there were 65 reportable spills totalling 13,777 barrels (2,190.4 m³).[78] On March 18, 2006, approximately 613 barrels (97.5 m³) of crude oil were released when a pump failed at Enbridge's Willmar terminal in Saskatchewan.[79] According to Enbridge, roughly half the oil was recovered.

On January 1, 2007, an Enbridge pipeline that runs from Superior, Wisconsin to near Whitewater, Wisconsin cracked open and spilled ~50,000 US gallons (190 m³) of crude oil onto farmland and into a drainage ditch.[80] The same pipeline was struck by construction crews on February 2, 2007, in Rusk County, Wisconsin, spilling ~201,000 US gallons (760 m³) of crude, of which about 87,000 U.S. gal (330 m³) were recovered. Some of the oil filled a hole more than 20 feet (6.1 m) deep and contaminated the local water table.[81][82]

In April 2007, roughly 6,227 barrels (990.0 m³) of crude oil spilled into a field downstream of an Enbridge pumping station near Glenavon, Saskatchewan.[79]

In January 2009, an Enbridge pipeline leaked about 4,000 barrels (640 m³) of oil southeast of Fort McMurray at the company's Cheecham Terminal tank farm. Most of the spilled oil was contained within berms but about 1% of the oil, about 40 barrels (6.4 m³), sprayed into the air and coated nearby snow and trees.[83]

On January 2, 2010, Enbridge's Line 2 ruptured near Neche, North Dakota, releasing about 3,784 barrels of crude oil, of which 2,237 barrels (355.7 m³) was recovered.[82][84] In April 2010, an Enbridge pipeline ruptured spilling more than 9.5 barrels (1.51 m³) of oil in Virden, Manitoba. This oil leaked into the Boghill Creek, which eventually connects to the Assiniboine River.[85]

The 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill resulted in over 1,000,000 US gallons (3,800 m³) of oil leaking into Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River

In the July 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill, a leaking pipeline spilled more than 1,000,000 US gallons (3,800 m³) of oil sands crude oil into Talmadge Creek leading to the Kalamazoo River in southwest Michigan on July 26, near Marshall, Michigan.[86][87] A United States Environmental Protection Agency update of the Kalamazoo River spill concluded the pipeline rupture "caused the largest inland oil spill in Midwest history" and reported the cost of the cleanup at $36.7 million (US) as of November 14, 2011.[86] PHMSA raised concerns in a Corrective Action Order (CAO) about numerous anomalies that had been detected on this pipeline by internal line inspection tools, yet Enbridge had failed to check a number of those anomalies in the field.[88] The Michigan spill affected more than 31 miles (50 km) of waterways and wetlands and about 320 people reported symptoms from crude oil exposure.[89] The National Transportation Safety Board said at $800 million, it was the costliest onshore spill cleanup in U.S. history.[90] The NTSB found Enbridge knew of a defect in the pipeline five years before it burst.[91] In June 2013, a Kalamazoo man lodged himself into an Enbridge pipeline in Marshall, MI to protest Enbridge's lack of accountability for the 2010 spill and to encourage landowners along Enbridge's Line 6B expansion to offer increased resistance to construction in 2013.[92][93] In 2014, Enbridge completed cleanup of the river per the EPA's order.[94]

On September 9, 2010, a broken water line caused a rupture on Enbridge's Line 6A pipeline near Romeoville, Illinois, releasing an estimated 7,500 barrels (1,190 m³) of oil into the surrounding area.[86][95]

On June 22, 2013, Enbridge subsidiary Athabasca pipelines reported a pipeline leak of approximately 750 barrels of light synthetic crude oil from Line 37 near Enbridge's Cheecham, Alberta, terminal about 70 kilometres (43 mi) southeast of Fort McMurray. The 17-kilometre-long, 12-inch diameter pipe was constructed in 2006 and links the Long Lake oilsands upgrader to the Cheetham terminal as part of Enbridge's Athabasca system.[96] Unusually heavy rainfall in the region, also responsible for the 2013 Alberta floods, may have caused "ground movement on the right-of way that may have impacted the pipeline."[97] Enbridge's Athabasca (Line 19) shares a portion of right of way with Line 37 and Enbridge's Wood Buffalo/Waupisoo (Line 75/18), a major part of the network that serves Alberta's oilsands.[96] All three lines were closed down as a precautionary measure. Operations between Hardisty and Cheecham were restored on June 23 when Enbridge's Athabasca pipeline (Line 19) was restored to service.[97]

On July 1, 2013, WWMT News in Michigan reported that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality had issued a citation against Enbridge for contamination of North Ore Creek by an Enbridge pipeline maintenance activity.[98]

On January 30, 2017, a road crew in Texas punctured the Seaway S-1 crude oil pipeline, which is jointly owned by Enterprise Products Partners and Enbridge through the joint venture Seaway Crude Pipeline Company. Two days later, it was unclear how much oil had spilled over the nearby Highway 121 northeast of Dallas. After the incident, supply concerns reportedly helped push "oil prices 2% higher in early trading to nearly $54 a barrel."[99]

On October 9, 2018, Enbridge's Westcoast Pipeline exploded in Shelley, British Columbia,[100] sparking a massive fireball and leading to shortages of natural gas throughout British Columbia.[101]

In May 2012, West Coast First Nations members and supporters protested near Enbridge's Annual Shareholder's meeting, against the proposed Northern Gateway Project[102] and on May 31, 2012, the Vancouver Observer reported about 40 protesters outside the Canadian Oil and Gas Export Summit, protesting the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Project.[103]

On July 17, 2012, a group calling itself "We are the Kalamazoo" protested against Enbridge's response to the Kalamazoo spill and its plans to construct the line 6B pipeline. This protest was on the second anniversary of the Kalamazoo spill.[104]

On November 12, 2012, the Lansing State Journal reported that the head of the Line 6B Pipeline project stated that he had never seen as much organized landowner resistance despite 30 years in the pipeline industry. They noted that this was probably because of the 2010 Kalamazoo River spill.[105]

In May 2013, Hamilton area residents protested the reversal of flow in Line 9 and temporarily closed Ontario Highway 6.[106] Later that year, on June 6, 2013, a group called Hamilton 350 sent a letter of complaint to the Hamilton (Ontario) police service (HPS) for accepting over $44,000 in donations from Enbridge. The letter questions whether police officers would be impartial during any anti-Enbridge protests, given the donation.[107]

On June 26, 2013, Hamilton Police arrested at least 10 people who occupied an Enbridge compound for six days to protest the expansion of Enbridge's Line 9 and intent to ship diluted bitumen through the line.[108]

On July 22, 2013, a group of protesters locked themselves to equipment at an Enbridge pipeline construction site in Stockbridge, Michigan. Protesters stated that they had to take matters into their own hands given that state regulators were failing the public, "We felt that there was no other option."[109]

A September 16, 2013, "Inside Climate News" report by journalist David Hasemeyer describes how many Michigan landowners are concerned about the safety of new Enbridge pipeline being laid within a few feet of their homes, and the lack of regulations for how close a pipeline can be constructed to an existing home. The article quotes Richard Kuprewicz, President of an engineering consulting company and an adviser to Pipeline Hazardous Materials Administration: "Clearly the pipeline safety regulations aren't adequate in this area and the siting regulations aren't adequate," Kuprewicz said. "It's a bad combination."[110]

In September 2016, a group of Native Americans protested the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which Enbridge had announced plans to acquire a portion of in a $2 billion deal.[111]

In November 2020, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer revoked a 1953 easement for an Enbridge pipeline connecting two parts of the Great Lakes through the Straits of Mackinac.[112]

In June 2021, Enbridge resumed construction on the Line 3 replacement project in Northern Minnesota after taking a brief planned break.[113] Enbridge's plans to expand its Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota along a new route have been met with prolonged resistance from Native communities and activists calling themselves water protectors.[114][115]

In January 2022, a group of about 400 met in front of a Bank of America location in Austin to protest Enbridge's plans to expand the Moda Ingleside Energy Center onto historic Karankawa land in Corpus Christi, Texas.[116][117]

In September, 2023, in a trial flawed by numerous protocol breaches on the part of the prosecution and local authorities,[118] Mylene Vialard was found guilty of felony obstruction. According to the article, Vialard was among more than a thousand arrests by Minnesota law enforcement – which along with other agencies received at least $8.6m in payments from Enbridge.

Enbridge has two Technology + Innovation labs. In January 2019, the first lab opened in Calgary, Alberta.[119] In April 2019, the second lab opened in Houston, Texas.[119] The labs use industrial predictive algorithms, machine learning, and sentiment analysis to find efficiencies within the company and help improve safety and reliability of their pipeline infrastructure.[120]

The labs have developed ways to get sensor data from pipelines, helping to improve flows of natural gas and crude oil terminals.[121] Additionally, the labs have helped enhance pipeline leak detection, and ensure better maintenance schedules.[121] For renewable energy projects, the labs have developed different ways to reposition wind turbine blades to help maximize wind power generation.[122][123]

Dollar amounts in millions of Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted, with the exception of employee numbers. Additionally, earnings are after income tax and unadjusted.

• Enbridge Gas New Brunswick
• Enbridge Line 5
• Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines
• Enbridge Pipelines
• Nautilus Pipeline

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Enbridge.

• Official website
• Enbridge Asset Map (current)