TransCanada Receives South Dakota PUC Approval

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - March 12, 2010) - TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) (NYSE:TRP) (TransCanada) today announced it has received a permit from the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to construct and operate the South Dakota portion of the Keystone Gulf Coast Expansion Pipeline project.

TransCanada filed its permit application with the PUC in March 2009. The PUC conducted public input hearings across the project area and a formal evidentiary hearing was held in November 2009. The PUC order attaches a number of conditions to construction and operation of the pipeline in the State. The order finds that the project, if constructed and operated in accordance with those conditions, will not significantly impact the environment or the health, safety or welfare of those in the area and satisfies all applicable requirements of the State of South Dakota.

The proposed project is an approximate 1,980-mile, 36-inch crude oil pipeline that would begin at Hardisty, Alberta and extend southeast through Saskatchewan, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. It would incorporate a portion of the Keystone Pipeline to be constructed through Kansas to Cushing, Oklahoma before continuing through Oklahoma to a delivery point near existing terminals in Nederland, Texas to serve the Port Arthur, Texas marketplace.

When completed, the Keystone expansion project will increase the commercial design of the Keystone Pipeline system from 590,000 barrels per day to approximately 1.1 million barrels per day. The US$12 billion system is 83 per cent subscribed with long-term commitments of 910,000 barrels per day for an average term of approximately 18 years. The Keystone Pipeline System will link a reliable and stable source of Canadian crude oil with the largest refinery market in the world.

The proposal also received approval from the federal regulators in Canada on March 11, 2010. Applications for other U.S. regulatory approvals are proceeding and decisions are anticipated during the fourth quarter of 2010. Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2011 and we expect deliveries of crude oil to the U.S. Gulf Coast to begin in the first quarter of 2013.

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 and oil pipelines, power generation and gas storage facilities. TransCanada's network of wholly owned natural gas pipelines extends more than 60,000 kilometres (37,000 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 380 billion cubic feet of storage capacity. A growing independent power producer, TransCanada owns, or has interests in, over 11,700 megawatts of power generation in Canada and the United States. TransCanada is developing one of North America's largest oil delivery systems. TransCanada's common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol TRP. For more information visit: www.transcanada.com. Forward-Looking Information

TransCanada

This news release may contain certain information that is forward looking and is subject to important risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "expect", "believe", "may", "should", "estimate", "project", "outlook", "forecast" or other similar words are used to identify such forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements in this document are intended to provide TransCanada securityholders and potential investors with information regarding TransCanada and its subsidiaries, including management's assessment of TransCanada's and its subsidiaries' future financial and operations plans and outlook. Forward-looking statements in this document may include, among others, statements regarding the anticipated business prospects and financial performance of TransCanada and its subsidiaries, expectations or projections about the future, and strategies and goals for growth and expansion. All forward-looking statements reflect TransCanada's beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the statements were made. Actual results or events may differ from those predicted in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, the ability of TransCanada to successfully implement its strategic initiatives and whether such strategic initiatives will yield the expected benefits, the operating performance of TransCanada's pipeline and energy assets, the availability and price of energy commodities, capacity payments, regulatory processes and decisions, changes in environmental and other laws and regulations, competitive factors in the pipeline and energy sectors, construction and completion of capital projects, labour, equipment and material costs, access to capital markets, interest and currency exchange rates, technological developments and the current economic conditions in North America. By its nature, forward-looking information is subject to various risks and uncertainties, which could cause TransCanada's actual results and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or expectations expressed. Additional information on these and other factors is available in the reports filed by TransCanada with Canadian securities regulators and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date it is expressed in this news release or otherwise, and to not use future-oriented information or financial outlooks for anything other than their intended purpose. TransCanada undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

CONTACT INFORMATION

TransCanada
Media Inquiries
Cecily Dobson or Terry Cunha
(403) 920-7859 or (800) 608-7859
www.transcanada.com