In a surprise announcement at the 2018 Canadian Power Banquet, APPrO turned the tables on its Conference Chair Stephen Somerville and made him the recipient of its highest honor, the Hedley Palmer Award. APPrO Chair Mike Bernstein explained that the unusual decision had been carefully considered over a number of years, bearing in mind that Mr. Somerville has chaired the APPrO conference and its banquet dinner since 2005, often helping to hand out a number of similar awards to other people.
In making the award, Mr. Bernstein said, “Stephen has a passion for public policy and getting involved in his community. Whether it is as a columnist for his local newspaper in Aurora – giving the ‘Front Porch Perspective’ on people, politics, and public affairs, or a director of the Corbrook Sheltered Workshop that serves over 670 adults with disabilities, to the Toronto Board of Trade’s Electricity Task Force, Stephen is keen to bring his energy, brains and dedication to a range of interests.”
Mr. Somerville earned his B.A. in Economics at the University of Waterloo and then an MBA at the University of Toronto. He has been employed by three organizations in the energy sector: an Income Trust, a Developer/Operator and an Owner/Operator. He is currently Vice President, Business Development & Acquisitions with H20 Power LP. H2O owns and operates 8 hydro facilities in Ontario, representing in excess of 140 MW. Stephen leads and executes H2O’s growth strategy. He also led multi-disciplinary teams in the successful acquisition of sixteen U.S. hydro facilities representing almost 1,400 MW.
Prior to this, he was a Vice President with Competitive Power Ventures where he was responsible for the development of all of CPV’s natural gas-fired power generation development projects and large scale wind projects across Canada. Before CPV, he was a member of the Probyn & Company and Clean Power Income Fund team responsible for business development and acquisitions and financing infrastructure as well as for renewable projects across North America and Europe.
Mr. Somerville has worked with the OPA, the IESO, the Ministry of Energy, and various First Nations Groups across Canada. He has been on the Board of Directors of APPrO since 2003. He has also served on the Finance Committee and on many Ad-Hoc Committees over the years.