Governance & Risk Management

Governance

Strong governance and robust risk management are rooted in everything we do across Emera. We believe these practices drive stability, enable growth and guide informed decision making that’s in the best interest of customers, communities, shareholders and our team.

 

Sustainability Governance

Our commitment to robust governance extends to our approach to sustainability. Our corporate sustainability team and executive leadership monitor our progress and determine the strategic direction of our sustainability programming. The Board of Directors and its committees oversee all material risks and opportunities across Emera, including those directly related to sustainability. Below is an outline of our approach to the oversight and management of sustainability at the Board, Management and operating company level. 

 

 

Risk Management

Our Emera-wide Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Program guides how we identify and assess material risk in all areas of our business. 

We maintain a risk inventory that’s regularly reviewed by our Enterprise Risk Management Committee (ERMC), with focus on material changes in risk environments and mitigation strategies. Our ERM Program is overseen by the Board of Directors and its Risk and Sustainability Committee (RSC). Each operating company maintains its own risk register that’s reviewed each year by the ERMC. 

To ensure our sustainability priorities are fully integrated into our ERM Program, we regularly assess our sustainability risks against enterprise risks to identify gaps and develop mitigation strategies and action plans. This is supported by our sustainability governance structure, which is designed to drive alignment at all levels of the organization. 


Additional Information

Asset Management (Integrity and Performance)
As we focus on safely delivering cleaner, reliable energy, we’re always working to minimize the cost impacts for our customers. The way we operate, maintain and monitor our assets is critical to this.    

Effective asset management programs ensure our operations run safely, efficiently, and in full compliance with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Oversight of our corporate asset management approach is shared by Emera’s Board of Directors and the leadership team. Working closely with leaders across our operating companies, Emera’s VP of Asset Integrity leads the coordination of our business-wide approach. 

Aspects of asset management are included in our corporate and operating company Environmental Management Systems and Safety Management Systems. Guided by these, asset management programs in our operating companies are fully integrated and aligned with the ISO 55000 international standard. Operating company leaders oversee their respective programs, including the development of processes and expectations, as well as the assignment of roles and responsibilities within their dedicated asset management teams. These teams work with other functions and departments to determine the risk profile of specific assets and to design and implement asset lifecycle management plans.  

We strive to deliver Strategic Asset Management (SAM) in our operating companies that encompasses aspects of both asset integrity and performance including work management, reliability programs, operational technology, performance management and asset planning.  ​ 

Each year, many of our operating companies disclose specific asset management targets and objectives. In some cases, this includes progress updates on regulated performance standards such as the availability of generating assets or vegetation management programs. At the corporate level, certain aspects of asset performance such as System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) and System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI) rates are disclosed annually in our Sustainability Report.  

To understand and assess the risks of climate change to our assets, we’re implementing an Emera Climate Risk Adaptation Framework. Based on a program developed by Electricity Canada, our framework integrates climate risks into our existing risk management approach.  

Our employees complete a wide range of asset management training in various focus areas including root cause analysis, risk assessment and asset optimization. We provide internal training, as well as programs offered by internationally recognized bodies such as the Institute of Asset Management.  

Asset management performance is tracked through regular internal reviews and external audits. These include weekly reports to asset management directors, annual reviews that report to senior leaders, annual assessments carried out by our insurance loss control teams and external audits including North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) assessments, which take place every three years.  

We have established and documented processes to address preventative and corrective actions identified through operational surveillance, reports and audits, including robust root-cause analyses. We strive for continual improvement through our strategic asset management planning and performance tracking process.    
Cybersecurity Program
We increasingly rely on information technology and network infrastructure to manage our business, to safely operate our generation, transmission and distribution assets, and to deliver the decentralized energy systems and digital solutions our customers expect. 

Across Emera, we’re focused on managing and mitigating cybersecurity risk to protect our systems, grid security, and customer data. 

Our Emera-wide Cybersecurity Framework and Digital Strategy helps us address cybersecurity risk through internal and external security testing, data protection, program maturity objectives, cybersecurity incident response readiness, and employee communication and training. We also work to mitigate other information technology risks through asset lifecycle planning and management, third-party auditing, and system and penetration testing.  

Our Framework is aligned with industry standard National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cyber Security Framework and is in compliance with our regulatory responsibilities as set out by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, the Northeast Power Coordinating Council and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. We also collaborate regularly with various governmental departments, industry associations, peers and vendor partners to share alerts and experiences and learn about emerging cybersecurity risks. 

A significant component of our Framework is our Cyber Incident Readiness and Response Protocol that prepares us for potential cybersecurity incidents. Our robust Emera-wide cyber risk training program is driving quarterly training and monthly testing for our employees.  

Our approach to managing cybersecurity risk is led by our Chief Digital Officer, with direct oversight from the Risk and Sustainability Committee (RSC) of the Board that reviews the status of key elements of our cybersecurity program on a quarterly basis. The Board of Directors also oversees our cybersecurity risk and mitigation plans through its review of our enterprise risk dashboard and heat map at each regularly scheduled Board meeting. In the event of a cybersecurity incident, our Cyber Incident Readiness and Response Protocol is triggered, and the Board is immediately informed. There were no reportable cybersecurity breaches in 2022. 
Emergency Response Program
Ensuring the safety of our employees, customers and communities is always our first priority. We also have a complementary focus on reliability, ensuring our customers have access to energy when they need it. For both these reasons, we design our management systems and approaches through a preventative lens, working hard to avoid harm to people and interruptions to our energy systems. When emergencies do happen, we have a comprehensive and robust response program to keep people safe and energy flowing. This includes planning to be prepared for storms, environmental incidents, cybersecurity incidents, and pandemics. 

Our commitments to protect people and the environment are set out in our Occupational Safety and Health Policy and Environmental Policy.  

Emergency response is managed on a localized basis by our operating companies. Each of our operating companies has aligned and specific emergency response plans, with dedicated roles and responsibilities including executive and board oversight. Teams are mobilized and decisions are made based on defined Incident Command System structures and by trained professionals with direct connections to local authorities. We hold periodic tabletop exercises and drills to test our emergency response plans, and conduct thorough debrief analyses following actual emergency events so that we can continuously improve all of our related planning and responses processes. 

We offer many systems for our customers and members of our communities to report potential safety issues or emergencies, including safe clearance consultation processes and Call Before You Dig hotlines. In the event of an emergency, we work with local authorities and responders to ensure all affected members of the public are notified in a timely manner. 

At the corporate level, emergency response forms part of our approach to risk management and mitigation. Oversight is shared by two committees of the Emera Board (Health, Safety and the Environment; Risk & Sustainability Committee) and by our executive leadership team. We have an Emera executive-level Crisis Management Team (CMT) that provides emergency response governance and advisory support at the corporate level, and coordination for events that impact more than one of our operating companies. For enterprise type events such as pandemics and cyberattacks, we have corporate-wide plans that are aligned with operating company plans and procedures to respond and to mitigate the risks.  
Sustainability Management Committee Charter

The Sustainability Management Committee (SMC) provides oversight, advice and support to Emera and its operating companies regarding the management of sustainability risks and opportunities. The SMS monitors the identification and assessment of sustainability priorities, ensures they are being managed, and monitors the company’s overall sustainability performance. The roles, responsibilities and scope of the SMC are outline in the Sustainability Mangement Committee Charter. 

Risk and Sustainability Committee Charter

The Risk and Sustainability Committee (RSC) is a committee of the Emera Board of Directors. Its primary responsibility is to assist the Board in guiding Emera's approach to enterprise risk and sustainability by overseeing Emera’s risk management framework and the allocation of responsibility for risk management. The RSC is guided by the Risk and Sustainability Committee Charter.