Teresa Sarkesian Honoured with the 2026 Canada’s Clean50 Award
October 22, 2025
EDA’s President & CEO Teresa Sarkesian is a recipient of the Canada’s Clean50, an award recognizing 50 individuals and small teams who have made the greatest contributions to advancing Canada’s clean economy over the past two years.
The Clean50 awards are presented annually by Delta Management Group and the Clean50 organization. There are 16 categories and honourees are selected based on measurable accomplishments, demonstrated innovation, collaboration, and their ability to inspire other Canadians to act to create a more sustainable Canada.
“Sarkesian was chosen following rigorous screening and research by Delta Management, with input from internal researchers and external advisors and was among Honourees selected from an initial pool of well over 1,000 well-qualified nominees,” said Gavin Pitchford, CEO, Delta Management Group. Pitchford added that the process to narrow down nominees to 50 honourees was extremely difficult this year. Sarkesian is recognized for her outstanding leadership in the Traditional Energy category.
“I am honoured to receive the 2026 Clean50 alongside leading sustainability champions across Canada,” said Teresa Sarkesian. “The electricity distribution sector is making major strides in enabling and supporting customer electrification of transportation and heating, and integrating distributed energy resources like renewables and battery storage with incentives to participate in local grid management.”
Sarkesian and the 2026 Clean50 Honourees demonstrate national leadership in sustainability and innovation.
“When it comes to energizing Ontario’s electricity system, Sarkesian knows how to bring the power — strategically,” said Pitchford. “After local distribution company (LDC) — led conservation programs ended in 2019, she turned advocacy into action. Her 2022 vision paper sparked dialogue with the Independent Electricity System Operator, leading to 2025 funding that allows LDCs to market conservation programs to over five million customers, targeting 1,375 GWh in energy savings. She spearheaded grid resilience policies to protect networks from extreme weather, unlocked EV registration data to let utilities pre-invest in infrastructure, and lobbied the Ontario Energy Board toward non-wires solutions — connecting batteries and renewables efficiently. From steering committees to Ministerial approvals, her leadership has turned policy frameworks into tangible energy impacts across the province.”
She joins 180 past and incoming Clean50 Honourees at Clean50 Summit 15.0 in Toronto on October 15 to tackle critical sustainability challenges together. For more information visit the Clean 50 website: www.clean50.com.
