Bruce Power’s Leadership Team is responsible for more than 4,000 employees who work to provide Ontario with over 30 per cent of its electricity.
Michael W. Rencheck is President and Chief Executive Officer of Bruce Power. Bruce Power provides over 30% of the electricity for Ontario, and produces medical grade isotopes that help to sterilize 40% of the single-use medical devices around the world, while also treating cancer. Bruce Power provides electricity from eight nuclear reactors, and a five-turbine wind energy facility. We believe in our social responsibility and have award-winning economic development and community betterment initiatives.
Over the last 36 years, Mike has served in a number of roles. Prior to joining Bruce Power in 2016, he served as the Deputy Chief Operating Officer for AREVA Group, overseeing its extensive global capital portfolio of nuclear and renewable projects. Prior to this, he served as President and CEO of AREVA Inc. in North America, leading its diverse nuclear manufacturing and services business in Canada and the United States with a workforce of about 5,000 people.
Prior to joining AREVA, Mike was the Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer at American Electric Power (AEP). AEP is a major investor-owned electric utility in the United States, delivering electricity to more than five million customers in 11 states, with 38,000 megawatts of generation assets.
After joining AEP in 1998 as VP of Nuclear Engineering, Mike held various positions during his tenure, including Senior Vice President of Engineering, Projects and Field Services, where he led an extensive capital expansion program and strategic initiatives; Senior VP of Engineering, Technical and Environmental Services; and President of AEP ProServ, a wholly-owned engineering and field services subsidiary responsible for major power generation projects and outage management.
Before joining AEP, Mike worked for Florida Power Corporation serving as Director, Nuclear Engineering and Projects, for Crystal River Nuclear Station. Earlier in his career, Mike worked at Public Service Electric & Gas Company Salem Nuclear Generating Station as Director of System Engineering and Duquesne Light Company’s Beaver Valley Power Station.
In 2014, Mike was recognized by the National Safety Council for his leadership demonstrating a personal commitment to worker safety and health as part of “CEO’s who get it.” He was designated by the U.S. Department of Energy as a STEM ambassador, and served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority. Mike currently sits on the board of directors of the Nuclear Energy Institute.
He also has demonstrated a commitment to many organizations that make a difference in people’s lives including Habitat for Humanity and the United Way.
He is a Professional Engineer and certified senior reactor operator and currently serves on the Advisory Councils of several small modular reactor companies.
Eric joined Bruce Power as the Executive Vice-President, Projects and Field Services, in 2019. He is responsible for Major Component Replacement, Project Management and Construction, Asset Management, Sustaining Capital and site-wide Project Controls.
Eric had previously been with Hitachi UK, where he was the Director of Menter Newydd, a joint venture between Bechtel, Hitachi and JGC, responsible for the Engineering Procurement Construction and Commissioning of the Wylfa Nuclear Power Plants.
Prior to joining Hitachi, Eric spent the majority of his career with Areva as a Senior Executive Vice-President with direct responsibility for covering worldwide Engineering and Project Activities. At Areva, Eric also held a variety of senior roles including Operations Manager, Safety and Product Engineer, Project Manager of the Celestin reactors life extension, Productivity Improvement Director, Vice-President for the Fuel Business and Executive Vice-President of Shaw AREVA MOX Services, LLC.
Eric is a graduate of the National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble, France, with a General Engineer Degree specializing in Nuclear Engineering. Eric also holds a post-graduate diploma in nuclear reactor physics from the National Institute of Sciences and Nuclear Technology of Grenoble, France.
Chris has more than 33 years of experience in the nuclear power industry, with leadership roles in operations, engineering and projects.
Prior to joining Bruce Power, Chris held the role of Senior Vice-President, East Operations, at Exelon Nuclear, and Chief Operating Officer, Constellation Energy Nuclear Group. In this role, he was responsible for 10 of Exelon’s 21 nuclear reactors at six sites in the United States. Five of the sites under his leadership operated at the level of industry excellence. Chris joined Exelon in 1987 and held many other senior roles including Senior Vice-President, Mid-Atlantic Operations, Senior Vice-President, Operations Support, Site Vice-President, Plant Manager, and responsible roles in Engineering, Operations, and Outages.
Chris has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University and has received management and leadership certifications from the Harvard Business School, and the Exelon Leadership Institute through Northwestern University. He also attained a Professional Engineer’s License and a Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) License early in his career.
Kevin Kelly currently serves as the Executive Vice-President, Finance, and Chief Financial Officer. He was previously the company’s Executive Vice-President, Nuclear Development. Previously, Kevin was responsible for Supply Chain, Site Services, Business and Capital Planning, Corporate Finance and Reporting, Treasury and Taxation, Energy Trading, and Pension Asset Management.
Kevin brings more than 25 years of experience in the areas of strategic and operational planning, financial reporting and cost management, treasury, taxation, pension and insurance. More recently, he was part of the Bruce Power team which successfully negotiated a long-term commercial framework with the Province of Ontario enabling the life extension of the facility up to 2064.
Kevin joined Bruce Power as the Head of Finance when the company was formed in 2001 after working with British Energy when that entity acquired 80 per cent of Bruce Power. In 2005, he was appointed as Vice-President Finance and supported the 2005 Bruce Power Refurbishment Agreement negotiation team and the related restructuring of Bruce Power. He has also served as the Chief Financial Officer, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Executive Vice-President, Finance and Commercial Services, and Executive Vice-President, Corporate Services.
Prior to his role at Bruce Power, Kevin was responsible for setting up the reporting and governance structure for British Energy in North America. During this time he also served on the due diligence and transition team focusing on the transaction between Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation. Kevin has also worked at BDO’s Toronto office where he was responsible for managing various operational and financial client groups that consisted of both owner-managed businesses and public companies.
Kevin is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Reactor Technology Course for Utility Executives. He is a CPA and received his Chartered Accountant (CA) designation from the ICAO in 1997 and holds a Bachelor of Accounting degree from Brock University.
James Scongack is the Chief Development Officer and Executive Vice-President Operational Services at Bruce Power.
In this role, James is responsible for operational services at Bruce Power – the World’s largest operating nuclear facility and Canada’s largest private sector clean energy infrastructure project. This includes site operational services, emergency protective services, external relations, nuclear regulatory affairs, environment and sustainability, asset dispatch and information technology.
As Chief Development Officer, James leads the company’s medical isotope business, net zero initiatives, power trading, business development and Indigenous/community economic partnerships.
He is committed to Canada’s leading global role in the fight against cancer serving as Chair of the Canadian Nuclear Isotope Council and the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) and as a Board Member on the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada. He also serves on the Board of LifeLabs, Canada’s largest provider of medical laboratory services.
James has an Executive MBA from London’s Ivey Business School. James also holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Guelph College of Management and Economics in Leadership and a BA (Hons) and has completed Master’s-level Project Management certification through York University’s Schulich Business School. He is a graduate of the US-based Institute of Nuclear Power Operations Senior Plant Manager Program and the Bruce Power Nuclear Operations Executive Fundamentals Program.
He has been awarded the Provincial Diamond Leadership Award by Easter Seals for his work supporting the organization and kids with physical disabilities and is a recipient of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.
Karen Smith is the Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Bruce Power. Her role is to oversee Bruce Power’s Human Resources function including Labour Relations, Recruitment, Talent Management, Employee Engagement, Ethics, Wellness and Total Rewards.
Karen has been with Bruce Power 14 years and held various roles within Human Resources as well as in the areas of Corporate Affairs, Strategic Support and Corporate Services. Prior to joining Bruce Power Karen worked for BlackBerry. She also is a board member with the Electricity of Human Resources Canada (EHRC) as well as a member of the Appeals Committee with the Girl Guides of Canada Board of Directors.
Karen holds an Executive MBA from Schulich- Kellogg program, has a degree in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University as well as an Executive Certificate in Human Resources Leadership from Cornell University.
Karen resides in Kincardine Ontario with her husband and their 12 year old daughter.
Dela Avle currently serves as General Counsel at Bruce Power. This role includes oversight of the Law Division as well as his own areas of practice, which include corporate, commercial, infrastructure, litigation, information technology and intellectual property matters.
Dela joined Bruce Power in 2009, as senior legal counsel. He subsequently also spent time in rotations and secondments in senior management roles in the Supply Chain, Projects & Engineering, and Human Resources Divisions.
Prior to joining Bruce Power, Dela practiced law at major law firms in Toronto, New York and Ghana, where he practiced corporate/commercial law and litigation.
Dela has a Bachelor of Arts (Magna Cum Laude) from Brandeis University in Massachusetts, where he was a Wien International Scholar and also selected to Phi Beta Kappa academic honors society. He obtained his JD from Harvard Law School, and has been called to the bar in Ontario, New York state and Ghana.
Dela is also a graduate of the Finance and Accounting for Non-Financial Manager program from the Aresty Institute of Executive Education at Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as the Mini MBA for in-House Counsel program at the Boston University School of Management. Additionally, Dela is a graduate of the Rotman School of Business (University of Toronto) and the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association’s Business Leadership Program for In House Counsel, with the Certified In House Counsel (C.I.C.) designation; and he also holds a Masters Certification in Project Management from York University’s Schulich Business School.
