Algonquin CEO West: Focus Remains ‘Under The Hood’

A year into leading Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp., CEO Rod West says his priorities remain clear: There’s no rush to overhaul the company’s portfolio of electric, gas and water utilities, which spans 13 U.S. states and four countries. Instead, the top item on the agenda remains to get better in the trenches as work on big-picture questions continues.

“We have both the opportunity, and I would dare say the mandate, to create different customer outcomes in the areas we serve,” West said on a March 6 conference call with analysts to discuss Algonquin’s fourth-quarter earnings. “We’re under the hood right now, improving existing portfolio with an eye towards creating sustainable returns […] from that base.”

West took over at Algonquin in March of last year after rising to group president of utility operations at Entergy Corp., arriving two months after the company took in about $2.8 billion from the sale of its renewables group and its large stake in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure. That money went to reducing debt and West has since emphasized a back-to-basics approach that includes strengthening regulatory relationships, trimming costs and improving processes.

On his team’s conference call, West said “the need is great” to both shave expenses and tighten up the company’s operations and culture to “have a singular focus on safety, customer outcomes and operational excellence.” On that front, he touted a reduction in Algonquin’s operating costs as a share of revenues to 35.8% last year from 37.7% in 2024.

During the fourth quarter, Algonquin produced a net profit of $29.4 million on revenues of $631 million, reversing a $110 million loss in the last three months of 2024. Net earnings at the company’s regulated services group—which includes CalPeco Electric, several Empire electric utilities in the Midwest as well as gas and water businesses that serve a total of 1.27 million customers—rose to $73.6 million from $60.5 million in late 2024.

Many of West’s utility-CEO peers have been regularly expanding their capital-spending budgets in recent years to keep pace with the rapid growth of data centers as well as broader electrification trends. Algonquin’s electric businesses aren’t that hungry for growth capital—plans call them to spend $1.7 billion over the next three years—but West and his team are still chewing on other big questions facing the company.

One of those is the option to sell parts of the company but West said nothing has changed in his view that “nothing immediately so compelling that it required us to move now” has landed on his desk. Another topic that resurfaced on the conference call is a possible move of Algonquin’s headquarters from the Toronto area to the United States, which would bring with it tax benefits. West told analysts work is ongoing on that question, which has now grown in importance because new CFO Rob Stefani said his team’s assessment of Algonquin’s forecasts led it raise the company’s expected effective tax rate for 2027 to the mid- to high-20% range, roughly five points higher than previously forecast. Any improvement, Stefani said, will come two years from now.

Investors appeared to be tightly focused on that tax question and its impact on ‘27 profits. Shares of Algonquin (Ticker: AQN) fell more than 10% to $6.16 on March 6, a drop that erased all the stock’s 2026 gains. Over the past six months, the shares are still up about 7% and Algonquin’s market capitalization now stands at about $4.7 billion.