Category Archives: Energy

Crossed Wires: The AESO-Milner Transmission Loss Saga

By: Sean Bullen

PDF Version: Crossed Wires: The AESO-Milner Transmission Loss Saga

Decision commented on: AUC Decision 2014-110, Application for Review of AUC Decision 2012-104: Complaint by Milner Power Inc. regarding the ISO Transmission Loss Factor Rule and Loss Factor Methodology

On April 16, 2014, an Alberta Utilities Commission panel released Review and Variance Decision 2014-110 (the “R & V Decision”) relating to a complaint made by Milner Power Inc. (“Milner”) in 2005. Milner is a subsidiary of Maxim Power Corp. and is the general partner of the limited partnership owner of the HR Milner power plant, a 150 megawatt coal-fired generation facility located near Grande Cache, Alberta. Milner’s 2005 complaint came on the heels of a change made by the Alberta Electric System Operator (the “AESO”) to the rule and methodology employed to determine the allocation among Alberta’s electricity generation owners of “transmission losses” resulting from the transmission of electricity from the sources of generation to the locations of consumer load. A lengthy regulatory entanglement has ensued involving each of the province’s leading electricity generators, including TransAlta, Capital Power, ATCO, ENMAX and TransCanada, together with Milner and the AESO. Coming nearly a decade after Milner’s original complaint, the R & V Decision represents a partial step toward resolution of the transmission losses issue. However, much remains unsettled. This comment will provide some background to the decision, summarize its procedural history, review the R & V Decision itself and consider the path forward. Continue reading →

Greenpeace v Canada: Symbolic Blow to the Nuclear Industry, Game-changer for Everyone Else?

By: Martin Olszynski

 PDF Version: Greenpeace v Canada: Symbolic Blow to the Nuclear Industry, Game-changer for Everyone Else?

Case commented on: Greenpeace Canada v Canada (Attorney General), 2014 FC 463 (CanLII)

In this lengthy (431 paragraphs) decision, the Federal Court allowed in part Greenpeace et al’s application for judicial review regarding the Joint Review Panel report(the Report) for the Darlington New Nuclear project proposed by Ontario Power Generation (OPG). Justice Russell held that the environmental assessment (EA) conducted by the Joint Review Panel (JRP) failed to comply with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, SC 1992 c 37 (as it then was).  Specifically, there were gaps in the treatment of hazardous substances emissions and spent nuclear fuel, and a failure to consider the effects of a severe “common cause” accident.  As noted by the media, while the decision is of limited effect on a project already indefinitely postponed by the province, “it is a symbolic blow to an industry coping with the public and political fallout from Japan’s 2011 Fukushima meltdown.”  As further discussed below, the decision is also likely to have implications for EA in Canada generally and several other projects currently making their way through either the regulatory process or the courts, including Taseko’s New Prosperity mine, Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline and Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline.

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EPA’s New Power Sector Climate Rules: A Brewing Political and Legal Storm

By: James Coleman

PDF Version: EPA’s New Power Sector Climate Rules: A Brewing Political and Legal Storm

Proposal Commented On: United States Environmental Protection Agency proposal for cutting power plant greenhouse gas emissions

On June 2, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed requiring all fifty states to adopt greenhouse gas controls for their existing power plants. And EPA went further, proposing that, together, states would have to cut U.S. power sector emissions by 30% by 2030.  (You can see a chart of how much each state would have to cut here.)

These rules face strong political and legal opposition and will not go into action until 2020 at earliest. Their ultimate fate will depend on whether President Obama’s administration stands behind them, whether the public elects a new President that supports them, and whether the courts agree that EPA has authority to cap state greenhouse gas emissions. Their immediate impact is twofold: 1) it tells other countries that there’s a chance the U.S. could commit to strong greenhouse gas rules at 2015 negotiations in Paris; and 2) it sets the stage for an epic political and legal struggle over energy policy in the United States. Many nations, including Canada, are eager to see what will result.

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Directly and Adversely Affected: The Actual Practice of the Alberta Energy Regulator

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Directly and Adversely Affected: The Actual Practice of the Alberta Energy Regulator

Decisions commented on:(1) AER Letter decision to Beaver Lake Cree First Nation re CNRL’s Kirby Expansion Project; (2) AER Letter decision to Cold Lake First Nation re CNRL’s Kirby Expansion Project, (3) AER Letter decision to Fort McMurray First Nation re CNRL’s Kirby Expansion Project, (4) AER Letter decision to Kehewin Cree Nation re CNRL’s Kirby Expansion Project, (5) AER Letter decision to Oil Sands Environmental Coalition re CNRL’s Kirby Expansion Project, (6) AER Letter decision to Whitefish Lake Nation re CNRL’s Kirby Expansion Project, (7) AER Letter decision to AltaGas Ltd re Keyera Energy Ltd’s Rimbey Plant Turbo Expander Project, (8) AER Letter decision to ATCO Energy Solutions re Keyera Energy Ltd’s Rimbey Plant Turbo Expander Project, (9) AER Letter decision to NOVA Chemicals Corporation re Keyera Energy Ltd’s Rimbey Plant Turbo Expander Project

This post examines the actual practice of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) with respect to a number of related matters: (1) decisions by the AER as to whether a person is directly and adversely affected by an application, (2) decisions by the AER as to whether or not to hold a public hearing on an application, and (3) decisions by the AER as to whether it should disregard a statement of concern. The discussion is based on nine letter decisions of the AER in relation to two different project applications: CNRL’s Kirby in situ oil sands expansion project, and Keyera Energy’s application to enhance the extraction of liquids at its Rimbey Plant.  The interested parties who filed statements of concern (SOCs) or requests to participate with respect to the two applications include First Nations, an environmental organization, and industrial competitors. Thus the range of decisions examined here provides valuable guidance as to how the AER will exercise its discretion in relation to standing, hearing and statement of concern matters involving a number of different types of interests.

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Round One of the Electricity Competition Playoffs Goes to the Market Surveillance Administrator: MSA 1; TAU 0. TAU Cannot Hijack the MSA’s Own Proceeding

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Round One of the Electricity Competition Playoffs Goes to the Market Surveillance Administrator: MSA 1; TAU 0. TAU Cannot Hijack the MSA’s Own Proceeding

Decision commented on:AUC Decision 2014-135, TransAlta Corporation, TransAlta Energy Marketing Corp., TransAlta Generation Partnership, Mr. Nathan Kaiser and Mr. Scott Connelly; Complaints about the conduct of the Market Surveillance Administrator, May 15, 2014

Is it possible to ensure a competitive electricity market in Alberta? This is I think the broad issue that underlies the current proceedings before the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) involving the Market Surveillance Administrator (MSA) and TransAlta (TAU). Several months ago the MSA filed with the AUC notice of a request to initiate a proceeding against TAU and two of its current or former employees, Kaiser and Connelly (K & C). In brief the MSA is charging these parties with unlawfully manipulating the price of electricity as set by Alberta’s power pool to the advantage of TAU in breach of the Electric Utilities Act, SA 2003, c E-5.1 and the Fair, Efficient and Open Competition Regulation, Alta Reg 159/2009. The MSA seeks to prosecute those charges before the AUC as contemplated by the Alberta Utilities Commission Act, SA 2007, c A-37.2 (AUCA). Days before the MSA took this action TAU, K and C seized the moment and filed their own complaints with the AUC under s.58 of the AUCA alleging that the MSA was abusing its position. To be clear, TAU and K and C knew what was in store for them. The MSA had informed TAU three years ago (March 2011) that it was commencing an investigation and it has spent the time in between diligently collecting information from TAU and building its case. The MSA provided TAU with the draft case against it in November 2013. It is fairly evident therefore that the preemptive filing by TAU, K and C was a strategic effort to seize the initiative, put the MSA on the defensive, and perhaps seek to have the complaints against the MSA heard before the MSA’s own case.

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