By: Nigel Bankes
PDF Version: The Regulation of District Energy Systems in Alberta: Part 3
Decision Commented On: AUC Decision 26717-D01-2022, Calgary District Heating Inc. Exemption from Provisions of the Public Utilities Act, March 2, 2022
As the title indicates, this is my third post dealing with the regulation of district energy systems in Alberta. My first post, “Regulatory Forbearance and The Status of District Energy Systems Under the Public Utilities Act”, dealt with an application by ENMAX for relief from the entirety of Part 2 of the Public Utilities Act, RSA 2000, c P-45, (PUA) as it might apply to a proposed district energy system in Edmonton (Edmonton DE Decision). The Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) denied the application. It concluded that ENMAX had not discharged its onus to show that (at para 35) “sufficient competition will exist such that regulation of ENMAX in its provision of thermal energy within the exclusive franchise area is unnecessary; or, stated in another way, that it would be in the public interest to exempt DE Edmonton and ENMAX (as its owner and operator) from Part 2 of the Public Utilities Act.” Rather, the evidence that customers who agreed to take service from the district energy facility and removed their existing boilers would effectively be captive to the service provided by ENMAX. While there was some discussion of whether more limited exemptions would protect these customers, it became clear that ENMAX’s application was in the nature of an “all-or-nothing application.” Accordingly, the AUC found it unnecessary to opine on the acceptability of a more limited set of exceptions.