Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) said it completed the first half of 2026 with a solid second quarter, supported by high utilization across its four business units, and reaffirmed its full-year guidance. The company also outlined a growing project pipeline spanning liquids transportation, natural gas transmission, gas utilities and renewable power.
President and CEO Greg Ebel said second-quarter Mainline volumes averaged 3.1 million barrels per day. The company began commissioning the Blackcomb Pipeline during the quarter and expects the project to enter service by year-end. Enbridge also placed the Enbridge Houston Oil Terminal into service, sanctioned the Wisconsin Line 5 relocation project and signed an option agreement to acquire the TTC Connector pipeline serving Freeport LNG.
Financial performance and capital outlook
Chief Financial Officer Pat Murray said adjusted EBITDA increased by more than CAD 130 million from the second quarter of 2025. Higher Seaway Pipeline spot volumes, stronger Mainline and Line 9 volumes, and optimization initiatives supported Liquids Pipelines results, partly offset by lower Line 9 tolls.
In Gas Transmission, EBITDA benefited from a rate-case outcome at East Tennessee and a phased increase under a previously announced Texas Eastern rate settlement. Gas Distribution results were helped by higher base rates following rate cases at Enbridge Gas Utah and Enbridge Gas North Carolina.
Distributable cash flow per share increased with the operating performance and lower maintenance capital, Murray said. Earnings per share declined slightly year over year, however, due to higher depreciation from assets entering service and increased interest expense tied to higher debt principal.
Enbridge exited the second quarter with debt-to-EBITDA of 5.1 times. Murray said the measure was affected by the quarter-end Canadian-U.S. exchange rate, and would have been within the company’s 4.5-to-5-times target range after adjusting for the foreign-exchange impact.
The company’s CAD 41 billion secured capital backlog provides a growth runway through the decade, according to Murray. He said Enbridge expects to return between CAD 40 billion and CAD 45 billion to shareholders over the next five years, following CAD 38 billion returned over the past five years.
Liquids projects and Western Canada opportunities
Enbridge is advancing Mainline Optimization Phase I and the Southern Illinois Connector, projects expected to add 180,000 barrels per day of incremental capacity. Ebel said these are the first Canadian liquids egress expansions to reach final investment decision since 2017.
The company also sanctioned the roughly CAD 1 billion Wisconsin Line 5 relocation project, with construction underway and an expected in-service date in early 2027.
Management said it is adjusting the sequencing of its Mainline Optimization Phase II, or MLO2, plans as Canadian producers and governments work through policy, fiscal and regulatory frameworks that could support future Western Canadian production growth. Colin Gruending, Enbridge’s president of Liquids Pipelines, said the company is prioritizing Chicago South market-access segments, which would move existing egress volumes farther south toward lower PADD 2 and PADD 3 refining centers and U.S. Gulf Coast export outlets.
Gruending said the downstream-focused approach would require significant capital but would have a simpler scope and better initial economics than the broader MLO2 plan. Enbridge expects any temporary imbalance created by adding downstream capacity before further Mainline expansion to be manageable.
The company also sees potential investment opportunities in its regional oil sands, condensate and diluent systems. Gruending said Enbridge has available capacity on its Southern Lights and Norlite systems before requiring twinning, while adding that rising oil sands production would eventually require additional imported condensate.
Natural gas growth tied to LNG, power and industry
Enbridge highlighted growing gas demand associated with LNG exports, utilities, industrial development, power generation and data centers. The company said an open season for Project Beacon in the U.S. Northeast materially exceeded its initial expectations.
Matthew Akman, president of Gas Transmission, said Enbridge is working with utility, power and data-center customers to secure binding commitments and advance permitting. He said the potential project could be multiple times the size of an existing 70,000-dekatherm-per-day Algonquin Gas Transmission project.
In the Gulf Coast region, Enbridge signed an exclusive option to acquire TTC Connector, a pipeline connecting its Tres Palacios gas-storage facility with Freeport LNG. The project is supported by long-term take-or-pay contracts with BP, and Enbridge intends to exercise its option when the facility enters service, expected around year-end.
Alongside WhiteWater joint-venture partners, Enbridge sanctioned the Bay Runner Twin project to serve additional liquefaction capacity at Rio Grande LNG. The company also started construction of the CAD 4 billion Sunrise expansion of its BC Pipeline system, intended to serve residential, commercial, power-generation and LNG-export demand.
Utilities and renewable power
Enbridge said its utility businesses continue to benefit from regulatory mechanisms including capital-investment riders, revenue decoupling and performance-based rates. The company has one active rate case, at Enbridge Gas Ohio, where it recently received what management described as a constructive staff response from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. New rates are expected to take effect in early 2027.
Michele Harradence, president of Gas Distribution and Storage, said Enbridge forecasts rate-base growth above 8% across its utilities, including growth tied to data centers, industrial activity, manufacturing and residential development. She said Enbridge Gas Ohio remains the lowest-cost provider among the state’s four local distribution companies.
In Renewable Power, Enbridge is constructing more than 2 gigawatts of generation across North America and Europe. Its Sequoia Solar project is expected to be fully in service by year-end. Through four projects with Meta, Enbridge expects to construct more than 1.4 gigawatts of solar and onshore wind generation and provide 1.6 gigawatt-hours of battery storage.
Ebel said the company’s diversified infrastructure footprint and 31 consecutive years of dividend increases position it to pursue demand for reliable and affordable energy across North America.
About Enbridge (NYSE:ENB)
Enbridge Inc is a Calgary, Alberta–based energy infrastructure company that develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of energy transportation, distribution and generation assets. Its core activities include the operation of crude oil and liquids pipelines, natural gas transmission and distribution systems, and energy storage facilities. In addition to midstream transportation and storage, Enbridge has expanded into renewable power generation and energy transition projects, including wind, solar and utility-scale generation assets.
The company serves customers primarily in Canada and the United States and has interests in other international energy projects.
