Browsing by Author "Low, Cecilia A."
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- ItemOpen AccessThe Provincial Energy Strategy - An Integrated Approach: The Challenges Raised by a Two-Board Model for Energy and Utility Regulation(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2009-06) Low, Cecilia A.The government of Alberta introduced the Provincial Energy Strategy in 2008. A key element of the Strategy is integration in planning and decision-making across energy sectors and across energy, the environment and the economy. At the beginning of 2008, the government of Alberta moved away from the single board approach to energy and utility regulation back to a two-board model when it re-created the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) and created the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC). The two-board model for energy and utility regulation as established by current legislation will present challenges to the implementation of the Provincial Energy Strategy. In this paper, the author provides an assessment of the respective roles of the ERCB and the AUC as defined by current legislation as well as an assessment of the roles of the boards in the context of the Provincial Energy Strategy. In particular, the author identifies areas where challenges may arise as well as suggestions for how the two-board model for energy regulation in Alberta can be utilized to implement the Energy Strategy.
- ItemOpen AccessThe “Public Interest” in Section 3 of Alberta’s Energy Resources Conservation Act: Where Do We Stand and Where Do We Go From Here?(Canadian Institute of Resources law, 2011-09) Low, Cecilia A.Section 3 of the Energy Resources Conservation Act (ERCA) requires the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) to consider whether a proposed energy resource project is “in the public interest” having regard to three factors, the social and economic effects of the project and its impact on the environment. Although the concept is fundamental to the discharge of the Board’s mandate, the phrase “in the public interest” is not defined in the ERCA. Since little has been written about section 3 of the ERCA and since Alberta Energy propose to change to how the public interest is engaged in the course of regulation of the upstream oil and gas industry, this paper sets out to assess the current state of the interpretation and application of that provision by the ERCB against the background of relevant social science literature on the topic of the public interest and applicable court decisions. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations for the way forward. Section 3 of the Energy Resources Conservation Act (ERCA) requires the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) to consider whether a proposed energy resource project is “in the public interest” having regard to three factors, the social and economic effects of the project and its impact on the environment. Although the concept is fundamental to the discharge of the Board’s mandate, the phrase “in the public interest” is not defined in the ERCA. Since little has been written about section 3 of the ERCA and since Alberta Energy propose to change to how the public interest is engaged in the course of regulation of the upstream oil and gas industry, this paper sets out to assess the current state of the interpretation and application of that provision by the ERCB against the background of relevant social science literature on the topic of the public interest and applicable court decisions. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations for the way forward.