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Market power in the electricity sector prior to the implementation of a capacity market

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Market power in the electricity sector prior to the implementation of a capacity market

Report commented on: Charles River Associates, Offer Behaviour Guidelines prior to the implementation of a capacity market, Report Prepared for the Market Surveillance Administrator, December 18, 2018

On September 27, 2018, Alberta’s Market Surveillance Administrator (MSA) provided notice that it was starting a process to determine if it needed to adopt guidelines for market participants in the electricity sector in Alberta during the period prior to the implementation of a capacity market. It will be recalled that the MSA had a set of Offer Behaviour Enforcement Guidelines (OBEG) that were in force until withdrawn by the MSA with the announced advent of a capacity market. For an earlier post referring to the development see here and for discussion of the transition to an energy plus capacity market see here.

To initiate this process the MSA retained Charles River Associates (CRA) to address three questions:

  • Could there be a problem with offer behaviour that would need to be addressed during the transition period?
  • If so, could the problem identified be addressed in whole, or in part, through MSA guidelines and what form could those guidelines take?
  • If guidelines were made and market participants did not follow those guidelines what remedies should the MSA seek from the Alberta Utilities Commission (“Commission”) in an enforcement proceeding?

The MSA has now received that report and this post summarizes some of its key findings.

The Duty of a Regulated Pipeline to Provide Facilities

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: The Duty of a Regulated Pipeline to Provide Facilities

Case Commented On: National Energy Board, Letter Decision, 4 December 2018, Nipigon LNG Corporation (NLNG) Application pursuant to Section 12, Section 13, Section 59, Subsection 71(2), Subsection 71(3) and Part IV of the National Energy Board Act (NEB Act) in respect of TransCanada PipeLines Limited (TransCanada) and the TransCanada Mainline pipeline system (the TransCanada Mainline).

Public utility statutes typically require a public utility to provide service on a non-discriminatory basis to persons within its exclusive franchise area. This is also the common law duty of a common carrier. But what if a regulated utility does not have a franchise area (e.g. TransCanada PipeLines, see for example the comments of the National Energy Board in its TCPL Restructuring Decision RH-003-2011, at 38); and what if the utility is not a common carrier (e.g. a federally regulated natural gas pipeline)?

Severing a joint tenancy in Alberta

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Severing a joint tenancy in Alberta

Case Commented On: Dobransky v Roteliuk, 2018 ABQB 660 and Smilley v McMillan, 2018 ABQB 988.

Co-owners in Alberta may choose to hold an estate in land as joint tenants or as tenants in common: Law of Property Act, RSA 2000, c L-7, sections 4 and 5 (LPA). A joint tenancy carries with it the incident of survivorship – that is, the right of the surviving joint tenant to the entire estate. Despite the fact that there is a presumption in favour of a tenancy in common and that therefore co-owners must indicate expressly that they wish to own as joint tenants and not as tenants in common (LPA, section 8), there is general agreement (and this was certainly the position of courts of equity) that it should be easy to destroy or sever the joint tenancy thereby avoiding the incident of survivorship. This post sets out the law of severance and then comments on two recent decisions in each of which the plaintiff sought to get the Court’s assistance to complete a severance.

Rowbotham Order, Publication Ban, Sealing Order and In Camera Proceeding

By: Myrna El Fakhry Tuttle

PDF Version: Rowbotham Order, Publication Ban, Sealing Order and In Camera Proceeding

Case Commented On: R v Vader, 2018 ABCA 389

The Appellant, Her Majesty the Queen, appealed a Rowbotham order granted by Justice DRG Thomas on March 11, 2016, which directed the Alberta government to pay Mr. Vader’s (the Respondent’s) legal fees for work previously completed. The order also allowed a publication ban, a sealing order and an in camera hearing of the Rowbotham application.

From Recommendation to Legislation: Bill 28 Implements ALRI’s Recommendations about Property Division for Common-law Couples

By: Laura Buckingham

PDF Version: From Recommendation to Legislation: Bill 28 Implements ALRI’s Recommendations about Property Division for Common-law Couples

Legislation Commented On: Bill 28, Family Statutes Amendment Act

On December 11, 2018, Bill 28, the Family Statutes Amendment Act received royal assent and became law. The new legislation implements nearly all of the recommendations the Alberta Law Reform Institute made in Property Division: Common-law Couples and Adult Interdependent Partners, Final Report 112.

Bill 28 accomplishes three things. It:

  • changes the law about property division for common-law couples by creating legislated rules;
  • remedies a gap in child support legislation that did not allow courts to order child support for disabled adult children of unmarried parents; and
  • repeals the Married Women’s Act, a statute dating from 1922 which is now obsolete.

Although all three are important, this post focuses on the new rules about property division for common-law couples.

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