CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwire) -- 07/17/09 -- Hal Kvisle, President and Chief Executive Officer of TransCanada Corporation (TransCanada) (TSX: TRP)(NYSE: TRP) today announced the appointment of Russ Girling as Chief Operating Officer (COO) effective immediately.

Mr. Girling will have accountability for the physical and commercial operation of TransCanada's assets, including oil and gas pipelines, power generation and natural gas storage. He also assumes responsibility for the corporation's capital investment program.

"Russ has demonstrated outstanding leadership over the past 15 years, establishing our Power business in its early stages, as our Chief Financial Officer in challenging circumstances earlier this decade, and more recently he has led our Pipeline business through a period of significant growth, completing the GTN, ANR and Great Lakes acquisitions and leading the development of the Keystone crude oil pipeline project," said Hal Kvisle. "I am confident he will continue our disciplined and strategic approach to executing on our major projects, and progressing the business towards our vision of being North America's leading energy infrastructure company."

Reporting to Russ Girling will be Alex Pourbaix who will continue as President, Energy, and will assume the additional role of Executive Vice-President, Corporate Development, Don Wishart, Executive Vice-President, Operations and Major Projects, and Sarah Raiss, Executive Vice-President, Corporate Services. In addition to serving as COO, Mr. Girling will continue in his role as President, Pipelines. Dennis McConaghy, Executive Vice-President, Pipeline Strategy and Development will continue to report to Mr. Girling.

Continuing to report to Hal Kvisle are Greg Lohnes, Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, and Sean McMaster, Executive Vice-President, Corporate and General Counsel.

More information:

http://www.transcanada.com/company/team.html

With more than 50 years' experience, TransCanada is a leader in the responsible development and reliable operation of North American energy infrastructure including natural gas pipelines, power generation, gas storage facilities, and projects related to oil pipelines. TransCanada's network of wholly owned pipelines extends more than 59,000 kilometres (36,500 miles), tapping into virtually all major gas supply basins in North America. TransCanada is one of the continent's largest providers of gas storage and related services with approximately 370 billion cubic feet of storage capacity. A growing independent power producer, TransCanada owns, or has interests in, over 10,900 megawatts of power generation in Canada and the United States.