TORONTO, ON / ACCESS Newswire / January 6, 2026 / Retained executive search firm Caldwell (TSX:CWL)(OTCQX:CWLPF) today announced the release of Utilities at the Eye of the Storm: How future-ready leaders can guide the sector through physical, digital and economic convergence, a new, in-depth whitepaper authored by Les Gombik, managing partner at Caldwell. The report assembles a rare collection of perspectives from senior executives across the North American utility, energy and infrastructure landscape, offering an unparalleled view into the pressures and opportunities reshaping the grid.

The publication features direct insights from leaders at organizations including Hydro One, Toronto Hydro, Capital Power, PG&E, ENMAX, Superior Plus, Silfab Solar, BHE Transmission, Spark Power, Valard Construction, EllisDon, IEEE PES, PwC Canada and Enwave - a broad and high-profile cross-section of the industry. Together, these voices warn that utilities have entered a decade defined not by incremental change but by converging systemic disruption.

A sector undergoing its fastest transformation in generations

The whitepaper outlines six forces now reshaping the sector simultaneously - including AI-driven load growth, cyber risk escalation, climate-driven grid stress, geopolitical trade shifts, reindustrialization and accelerating decarbonization. This convergence, the report notes, means utilities can no longer operate under assumptions of stability.

Executives interviewed for the paper underscore the magnitude of the moment:

• "The electricity industry is undergoing one of the most foundational transformations in its history... Leadership teams must be able to anticipate change, embrace complexity and evolve more quickly than ever," said Jana Mosley, president and CEO of Toronto Hydro.

• "The utility industry is undergoing the most significant transformation in its history. As leadership navigates these complex challenges and opportunities, the customer must be at the center of every decision," said Ed Rihn, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE) Montana, BHE Canada & BHE US Transmission.

• "Never before have so many megatrends been impacting the utilities sector simultaneously," said Mark Poweska, president and CEO of ENMAX.

• "This moment requires clarity of purpose and the discipline to invest ahead of the curve... Reliability is becoming a new form of currency," said Allan MacDonald, president and CEO of Superior Plus.

• "Extreme weather and global energy demand require us to rethink how we plan, partner and build the workforce of the future," said Shay Bahramirad, vice president of T&D electric engineering at PG&E and president of IEEE PES.

Across organizations and geographies, leaders point to a single unifying theme: traditional leadership models are no longer sufficient for the pace, volatility and complexity now defining utility operations.

Why leadership readiness matters now

"Utilities are standing at the epicenter of economic transformation, technological acceleration and climate stress," said Les Gombik, managing partner at Caldwell. "This paper captures what we are hearing from CEOs and boards every day: the challenges are intensifying, and the leadership profile that carried utilities through the past decade will not carry them through the next. Our goal was to bring these voices together to illuminate what future-ready leadership really looks like - and where organizations must evolve to keep pace."

Gombik's work advising executives and boards across North America provides the foundation for synthesizing these wide-ranging executive perspectives with Caldwell's insights into leadership capability, governance and executive team design.

Introducing the Leadership Audit Tool

The report debuts Caldwell's leadership audit tool, a nine-dimension framework that helps boards and executive teams evaluate their readiness across AI strategy, cyber maturity, climate resilience, capital allocation, commercial creativity and broader systemic risk fluency. The tool is designed to offer organizations a practical, structured way to identify gaps and accelerate capability-building in an era when, as the paper states, "systemic shocks are the norm, not the exception."

A call to action for utilities

The report concludes that the future of North American prosperity - from digital infrastructure to industrial growth to national security - increasingly runs through the grid. As Carlyle Coutinho, CEO of Enwave, notes: "The industry requires a new type of energy - one that is collaborative, adaptive and open to fresh perspectives."

With Utilities at the Eye of the Storm, Caldwell aims to accelerate that leadership evolution.

Availability

Utilities at the Eye of the Storm is available for download at caldwell.com.

​​About Caldwell

Caldwell is an elite executive search firm trusted by established and growth-focused companies alike. For more than 50 years, we have partnered with clients to design and build extraordinary teams. Our partners don't just place leaders-they challenge assumptions, enable strategy, and prioritize long-term fit. Built through repeat clients and referrals, Caldwell delivers clarity and results without arrogance or shortcuts. For clients seeking substance over scale, we're the confident voice that listens-and leads. For more information, please visit our website at www.caldwell.com.

For further information, please contact:

Caroline Lomot
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
Caldwell
clomot@caldwell.com
+1 516 830 3535

SOURCE: Caldwell Partners International, Inc.