Dividend Power Score
A single, comprehensive score designed to measure the true strength of a company’s dividend.
This score combines three essential pillars of dividend quality:
Consistency – Measures how reliable the dividend has been over time, focusing on payment history, stability, and the absence of cuts or suspensions.
Payability – Assesses the company’s financial ability to sustain its dividend, taking into account cash flow, earnings coverage, balance sheet strength, and overall financial health.
Growth – Evaluates the long-term growth of both the dividend and the company’s share price, highlighting businesses that consistently increase payouts while creating shareholder value.
Higher scores identify companies that have historically delivered dependable income alongside sustained dividend growth and long-term capital appreciation.
Company Overview
Fortis Inc. is a North American regulated electric and gas utility holding company operating primarily in the electricity transmission and distribution and natural gas distribution industries. The company’s core business model centers on owning and operating regulated utility assets, with the vast majority of earnings derived from rate-regulated operations approved by utility regulators. This structure provides relatively stable and predictable cash flows compared with merchant power or unregulated energy businesses.
Fortis’s primary revenue drivers are its regulated utilities that deliver electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company serves approximately 3.4 million utility customer accounts across Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean. Fortis is positioned as a low-risk, long-duration infrastructure owner with a focus on capital investment in transmission, distribution, and grid modernization. The company was founded in 1885 in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, and evolved from a regional Canadian utility into a diversified international utility holding company through a series of acquisitions, particularly after the 1990s.
Business Operations
Fortis operates through several wholly owned regulated utility subsidiaries, with operations divided between Canadian Regulated Utilities, U.S. Regulated Utilities, and Caribbean Utilities. Its major subsidiaries include FortisBC Energy Inc., FortisAlberta Inc., Emera Newfoundland & Labrador Assets, ITC Holdings Corp., Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp., Tucson Electric Power Company, UNS Energy Corporation, and Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. Revenue is generated almost entirely through regulated tariffs that allow the recovery of operating costs and approved returns on invested capital.
The company owns and operates a diverse portfolio of assets, including electric transmission lines, electric distribution networks, natural gas pipelines, storage facilities, and local gas distribution systems. A significant portion of Fortis’s asset base is invested in high-voltage electric transmission through ITC Holdings Corp., the largest independent electric transmission company in the United States. Fortis does not have material exposure to power generation or commodity price risk, and it does not operate meaningful unregulated or merchant energy businesses.
Strategic Position & Investments
Fortis’s strategic direction emphasizes long-term capital investment in regulated infrastructure to support grid reliability, renewable energy integration, and customer growth. The company maintains a multi-year capital plan focused on transmission expansion, grid hardening, advanced metering, and natural gas system modernization. These investments are intended to grow the regulated rate base, which is the primary driver of earnings and dividend growth.
Major past acquisitions that shaped Fortis’s current structure include the acquisition of ITC Holdings Corp. in 2016 and UNS Energy Corporation in 2014, which significantly expanded its U.S. footprint. Fortis does not operate a venture-style investment portfolio; instead, it concentrates on wholly owned utility subsidiaries. Emerging areas of focus include transmission projects supporting renewable generation, cross-border interconnections, and resilience investments related to climate and extreme weather, though all remain within a regulated framework.
Geographic Footprint
Fortis operates across Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean, with corporate headquarters in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. In Canada, its utilities serve customers in British Columbia, Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador, providing both electric and natural gas services. In the United States, Fortis has a significant presence in Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, and New York, primarily through electric transmission and distribution utilities.
Internationally, Fortis owns utilities in Grand Cayman and other parts of the Caribbean, where it provides electric service under long-standing regulatory frameworks. While the company’s operations are geographically diverse, its investment strategy remains focused on jurisdictions with established regulatory regimes and investment-grade utility regulation.
Leadership & Governance
Fortis is led by an experienced executive team with a stated strategic vision centered on disciplined capital allocation, regulatory engagement, and long-term dividend growth. The company emphasizes conservative financial management, maintaining investment-grade credit ratings and a strong balance sheet to support ongoing infrastructure investment.
Key members of Fortis’s leadership include:
- David G. Hutchens – President and Chief Executive Officer
- Jocelyn Perry – Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
- Rodney A. Smith – Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy
- James Reid – Executive Vice President, Legal and Chief Legal Officer
- Mark Phillips – Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer
The board of directors provides oversight with a focus on governance, risk management, and regulatory compliance, reflecting Fortis’s role as a long-term owner of essential utility infrastructure.