The SCC Vavilov Decision: Will it Increase Regulatory Risk?
×In December 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada in Vavilov significantly reshaped the law of judicial review of administrative actions[…]
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Canada Energy Regulator Denies NGTL Abandonment Application1
×On May 20, 2020, the Commission of the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) denied an application by NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. (NGTL) for leave to abandon facilities that are part of NGTL’s extensive system of pipeline and facilities in Alberta and British Columbia[…]
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Manitoba Hydro v Manitoba Public Utilities Board: Reduced Rates for Indigenous Peoples Overruled
×In June 2020, the Court of Appeal of Manitoba released its decision in Manitoba (Hydro-Electric Board) v Manitoba (Public Utilities Board)[1] and overturned a utility board directive creating a special rate class for on-reserve First Nations in Manitoba[…]
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Resource Projects and the Honour of the Crown
×This case comment considers two decisions. The first is the Alberta Court of Appeal’s decision in Fort McKay First Nation v Prosper Petroleum Ltd,[1] issued April 24, 2020, finding that the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) improperly failed to consider the honour of the Crown separate from the duty to consult on Prosper’s Rigel Oil Sands Project[…]
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Nova Gas Transmission Ltd. System Rate Design and Services Application1
×In this decision, the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) considered an application (the “Application”) from Nova Gas Transmission Ltd. (NGTL) for approval of a new rate design methodology and terms and conditions of service for the NGTL System[…]
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National Steel Car: A Constitutional Challenge to the Ontario Global Adjustment Charge to Electricity Consumers
×In legislative committee hearings that were part of the fallout from Ontario’s 2010 gas plant scandal, one of the more charged — some might say naïve — observations was offered by an expert witness who, when asked for his opinion on remedying Ontario’s continuing electricity woes, recommended that politicians “swear a blood oath to not meddle in electricity policy.”
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Toronto Hydro Rate Decision Punts the Regulatory Treatment of Storage to the OEB DERs Consultation
×In its December 19, 2019 decision in Toronto Hydro’s “Custom IR” rate application, the Ontario Energy Board (“OEB”) ruled that utilities wishing to include behind-the-meter storage in their regulated operations should seek policy changes in the OEB’s ongoing Distributed Energy Resources (DER) consultation.
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Canada’s Existential Crisis over Climate Change Regulation: Tempest in a Teapot?
×Canada and its provinces are once again going through growing pains that necessitate final resolution by the Supreme Court of Canada. The subject matter is climate change regulation and the federal government’s constitutional authority to set minimum standards for provincial carbon pricing through its Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (the Act)[…]