Markets in Canada, beyond Superstorm Sandy’s impact zone, remained open, as business continued as usual. Pipeline and power company TransCanada Corp (TSX: TRP, NYSE: TRP) made its contribution to normalcy in the Great White North, reporting its result from operations for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2012.

As for numbers, the net income was CAD369 million (CAD0.52 per share), down from CAD386 million (CAD0.55 per share) for the third quarter of 2011. Comparable earnings–a metric more closely watched by analysts–fell to CAD349 million (CAD0.50 per share) from CAD416 million (CAD0.59 per share) a year ago.

Expectations were for comparable earnings of CAD0.52 per share. Outages at Bruce Power, Western Power and Sundance A as well as reduced earnings from certain natural gas pipelines, including the Canadian Mainline, ANR and Great Lakes, offset better performance from operating elements of the Keystone Pipeline System and recently commissioned assets.

Unit 4 at Bruce was shut in for maintenance in August; this work is on track to be completed by the end of 2012. Units 1 and 2 resumed generation this month. Sundance A will remain out of service until the fall of 2013. TransCanada is out the generation and revenue under the governing power purchase agreement but won’t be burdened with the associated capacity payments.

Low natural gas prices impacted TransCanada, as more of the fuel remained in storage. Natural gas averaged USD2.893 per million British thermal units during the quarter, down 29 percent from a year earlier. Gas futures have recovered after hitting a 10-year low on the New York Mercantile Exchange in April.

Revenue was CAD2.12 billion, up from CAD2.04 billion in the third quarter of 2011. TransCanada’s board of directors declared it will pay a quarterly dividend of CAD0.44 per share for the fourth quarter (end Dec. 31, 2012) on Jan. 31, 2013, to shareholders of record as of Dec. 31, 2012. That’s CAD1.76 annualized, up from CAD1.68 in 2011.

Management continues to express confidence that it will receive a positive decision from the US Department of State on its Keystone XL project. In May 2012 TransCanada filed a Presidential Permit application with State for approval of the cross-border project, which will extend from the US-Canada border in Montana to Steele City, Nebraska.

TransCanada will supplement the Presidential Permit application with an alternative route in Nebraska as soon as that route is selected. TransCanada continues to collaborate with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) on the development of an alternative route that won’t implicate the Sand Hills region.

In September the company submitted a supplemental environmental report to state agency that included preferred alternative routes for Keystone XL in the Cornhusker State that were developed based on feedback from over 670 Nebraskans who took part in open houses last spring.

The NDEQ is expected to complete its work by the end of 2012. A preliminary report released Tuesday, Oct. 30, suggests TransCanada is making all the right moves to gain approval at the state level. The draft concluded that the new route successfully avoids the Sand Hills, a step agreed to during a special session of the Nebraska Legislature last year.

According to NDEQ Director Mike Linder TransCanada has “provided all the information we’ve needed to describe the impacts the project will have and the mitigation that would be available.” Mr. Lindner noted that he wouldn’t say the initial report is “favorable” but did characterize its description of the company’s performance as “objective.”

Once the NDEQ makes its final determination a preferred route will be submitted to Gov. Dave Heineman and US Department of State for approval. State continues to indicate it will make a decision on the presidential permit in the first quarter of 2013. Based on a first-quarter 2013 approval, TransCanada expects the pipeline to become operational in late 2014 or early 2015.

In August 2012 TransCanada started construction on the USD2.3 billion southern leg of Keystone XL, which it calls the Gulf Coast Project. The 36-inch pipeline, which will extend from Cushing, Oklahoma, to the US Gulf Coast, is expected to have an initial capacity of up to 700,000 barrels per day with an ultimate capacity of 830,000.

Included in the USD2.3 billion is USD300 million for the 47-mile Houston Lateral pipeline that will transport crude oil to Houston-area refineries. TransCanada expects the Gulf Coast Project to be in service in late 2013. As of Sept. 30, 2012, the company has invested approximately USD900 million in the Gulf Coast Project.

Keystone XL generates headlines and grabs attention because of the political aspects of the project during this heated electoral season. But over the next three years TransCanada expects to complete a total of CAD13 billion of projects currently in advanced stages of development. Keystone XL represents CAD5.3 billion of this total.

Since the beginning of 2012 the company has secured an additional CAD7 billion of energy infrastructure projects that are expected to be placed into service during and after 2016, including the Coastal GasLink Pipeline, the Northern Courier and Grand Rapids oil pipeline projects in Northern Alberta and the 900-megawatt Napanee Generating Station in Eastern Ontario.

TransCanada also noted that it has concluded that converting a portion of its Canadian Mainline natural gas pipeline system to crude oil service is both technically and economically feasible. A combination of converted natural gas pipeline and new construction will allow delivery of crude oil between Alberta and Eastern Canada.

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, management noted that TransCanada’s Northeast US power generation assets survived Sandy without suffering any damage. In fact one of its plants proved a vital piece that kept at least some of New York City lit during what could go down as one of the most costly storms in US history.

The Ravenswood Power Plant in Queens continued to produce electricity throughout the storm last night and is operating at full capacity. At various points during the event Ravenswood was able to supply more than half of the electricity serving New York City. The storm surge that’s decimated much of the Five Boroughs peaked below Ravenswood’s protective barrier.

TransCanada’s Ocean State Power facility in Rhode Island is also operating normally. High winds from Sandy actually helped the Kibby wind project in Maine produce more power than it normally does, and operations at TransCanada’s US hydroelectric projects haven’t been disrupted.

Here’s when Canadian Edge Portfolio Holdings are scheduled to post numbers during the current reporting period. 

• AltaGas Ltd (TSX: ALA, OTC: ATGFF)–Nov. 1 (confirmed)
• Artis REIT (TSX: AX-U, OTC: ARESF)–Nov. 7 (confirmed)
• Atlantic Power Corp (TSX: ATP, NYSE: AT)–Nov. 5 (confirmed)
• Bird Construction Inc (TSX: BDT, OTC: BIRDF)–Nov. 9 (estimate)
• Brookfield Real Estate Services Inc (TSX: BRE, OTC: BREUF)–Oct. 30 (confirmed)
• Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners LP (TSX: BEP-U, OTC: BRPFF)–Nov. 8 (confirmed)
• Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (TSX: CAR, OTC: CDPYF)–Nov. 8 (confirmed)
• Cineplex Inc (TSX: CGX, OTC: CPXGF)–Nov. 8 (confirmed)
• Davis + Henderson Income Corp (TSX: DH, OTC: DHIFF)–Nov. 6 (confirmed)
• Dundee REIT (TSX: D-U, OTC: DRETF)–Nov. 5 (confirmed)
• EnerCare Inc (TSX: ECI, OTC: CSUWF)–Nov. 5 (confirmed)
• IBI Group Inc (TSX: IBG, OTC: IBIBF)–November 9 (confirmed)
• Innergex Renewable Energy Inc (TSX: INE, OTC: INGXF)–Nov. 6 (confirmed)
• Just Energy Group Inc (TSX: JE, NYSE: JE)–Nov. 8 (confirmed)
• Keyera Corp (TSX: KEY, OTC: KEYUF)–Nov. 6 (confirmed)
• Northern Property REIT (TSX: NPR, OTC: NPRUF)–Nov. 7 (confirmed)
• Pembina Pipeline Corp (TSX: PPL, NYSE: PBA)–Nov. 6 (confirmed)
• RioCan REIT (TSX: REI, OTC: RIOCF)–Nov. 6 (confirmed)
• Shaw Communications Inc (TSX: SJR/A. NYSE: SJR)–Oct. 26 Flash Alert
• Student Transportation Inc (TSX: STB, NSDQ: STB)–Nov. 9 (estimate)
• TransForce Inc (TSX: TFI, OTC: TFIFF)–Oct. 26 Flash Alert

Aggressive Holdings

• Acadian Timber Corp (TSX: ADN OTC: ACAZF)–Oct. 30 (confirmed)
• Ag Growth International Inc (TSX: AFN, OTC: AGGZF)–Nov. 14 (confirmed)
• ARC Resources Ltd (TSX: ARX, OTC: AETUF)–Nov. 2 (estimate)
• Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund (TSX: CHE-U, OTC: CGIFF)–Nov. 12 (confirmed)
• Colabor Group Inc (TSX: GCL, OTC: COLFF)–Oct. 23 Flash Alert
• Crescent Point Energy Corp (TSX: CPG, OTC: CSCTF)–Nov. 9 (estimate)
• Extendicare Inc (TSX: EXE, OTC: EXETF)–Nov. 7 (confirmed)
• Newalta Corp (TSX: NAL, OTC: NWLTF)–Nov. 7 (confirmed)
• Noranda Income Fund (TSX: NIF-U, OTC: NNDIF)–Nov. 8 (estimate)
• Parkland Fuel Corp (TSX: PKI, OTC: PKIUF)–Nov. 9 (confirmed)
• Pengrowth Energy Corp (TSX: PGF, NYSE: PGH)–Oct. 31 (confirmed)
• PetroBakken Energy Ltd (TSX: PBN, OTC: PBKEF)–Nov. 8 (confirmed)
• Peyto Exploration & Development Corp (TSX: PEY, OTC: PEYUF)–Nov. 9 (estimate)
• Poseidon Concepts Corp (TSX: PSN, OTC: POOSF)–Nov. 8 (estimate)
• Vermilion Energy Inc (TSX: VET, OTC: VEMTF)–Nov. 1 (confirmed)
• Wajax Corp (TSX: WJX, OTC: WJXFF)–Nov. 2 (estimate)