Author: Martin Olszynski Page 1 of 18

By: Drew Yewchuk, Shaun Fluker, Martin Olszynski, and Nigel Bankes

Commented on: Final report: Premier’s Review of the Alberta Energy Regulator (May 2024)

PDF Version: The Premier’s Review of the AER: A Recipe for How Industry Can Have its Cake and Eat it too

The UCP government continues to overhaul energy policy and regulation in Alberta with no meaningful opportunities for public scrutiny or input. In January 2023, Premier Danielle Smith appointed a five-person Premier’s Advisory Council on Alberta’s Energy Future (Energy Future Council) to prepare a report on Alberta’s energy future. The terms of reference for this Energy Future Council were set by Ministerial Order 02/2023, which was only released to the public in response to a FOIP request (see When Does a Ministerial Order Have to be Published?). The Energy Future Council submitted its report to the Premier in June 2023, but that report has never been made public. In response to this non-published report, the Minister of Energy and Minerals initiated another panel, similarly closed to public input, to review and report on the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER). On May 22, 2024, the Government of Alberta elected to release this second report (the AER Report) under the names of two of the five members of the Energy Future Council, David Yager and Bob Curran. As was the case with the recission of the 1976 Coal Policy, the AER Report demonstrates that the UCP government takes its instructions on the direction of energy policy primarily from industry, rather than from the public it serves.

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By: Nigel Bankes and Martin Olszynski

Matter Commented On: Policy Guidance to the Alberta Utilities Commission, February 28, 2024

PDF Version: Premier Smith Converts a Legal Pause on Renewable Energy Projects Into a De Facto Moratorium of Uncertain Duration

In August 2023, the Government of Alberta (GoA) stunned most commentators and the renewable energy sector in Alberta by announcing that it would be instructing the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) to withhold approval of all new renewable energy projects in the province for seven months. We commented on that announcement here: “An Incredibly Ill-Advised and Unnecessary Decision”.

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