Initiatives to address climate change continue to permeate developments in energy regulation, with significant implications for both regulators and the industries they regulate[…]

Natural gas plays a central role in various initiatives aimed at moving towards reducing carbon emissions. That role, however, sometimes appears inconsistent, indeed self-contradictory. On the one hand, as the cleanest-burning, lowest carbon-emitting of the hydrocarbon fuels, wider use of natural gas is often promoted as a “bridging fuel,” particularly to replace the burning of coal[…]

With the coming into force on August 28, 2019 of Bill C-69 enacting the Canadian Energy Regulator Act (“CER Act”) and the Impact Assessment Act (“IA Act”), the federal assessment process for energy infrastructure projects was fundamentally restructured.

Canada may soon receive the worldwide prize for being the most difficult jurisdiction to build energy projects in. This is particularly the case with pipelines. In the last five years, investors have walked from four major projects. In total they accounted for over $50 billion in investment.

As has been observed before in Energy Regulation Quarterly, developments resulting from technological innovation in energy production and distribution raise important policy/regulatory issues.[…]

Perhaps the word that best describes the current Canadian energy regulation landscape is “challenged”. The issues facing energy policy-makers and regulators are profound, described by many as “existential”[…]