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Posted in: Climate Change / Renewables | Saskatchewan | Ontario | Practice & Procedure

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Saskatchewan Court of Appeal Affirms Federal Carbon Pricing Act is Constitutional By Zoë Thoms and Emily Chittick May 24, 2019 Saskatchewan’s highest court has ruled that the federal carbon pricing legislation is constitutional. On May 3, 2019, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal released its decision on the reference with a split 3-2 outcome stating that climate change is a vital national issue and the federal government h...

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CAMPUT 2019: The Elephant in the Room – the Uncertain Future of Carbon Pricing in Canada By Zoë Thoms May 10, 2019 Carbon emissions and the role of fossil fuel in Canada’s energy future was not the official theme of the 2019 CAMPUT Conference, but these issues came up in a number of panels over the three-day conference. An interesting session on May 7, 2019 looked at carbon pricing, “The elephant in the room ...

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CAMPUT 2019 - Utility “Hardening” for Extreme Weather Events By David Stevens May 07, 2019 The theme of the 2019 CAMPUT Conference is “Managing the Regulatory Range” – addressing how regulators, utilities and consumers can best prepare for the many challenges that face the industry. An interesting session on May 6 looked at the implications of serious weather-related events on utilitie...

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Nova Scotia Revokes Licence for Cape Sharp Tidal and Orders Removal of Turbine By David Stevens Apr 04, 2019 On April 3, the Nova Scotia Department of Energy and Mines announced that it has revoked the marine renewable-electricity licence issued to Cape Sharp Tidal Venture Ltd.

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Ontario Announces “Made-in-Ontario” Emissions Standards By Zoë Thoms Feb 22, 2019 The Ontario government announced new emission reduction standards as part of its plan to address climate change without imposing a carbon tax. The province developed the Emissions Performance Standards as an alternative to the federal Output-Based Pricing System.

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Top Energy Insider Posts of 2018 By Zoë Thoms Jan 21, 2019 2018 saw many interesting developments in the energy sector, both in Ontario and across Canada. The topic that got the most reads on Energy Insider in 2018 was the changes implemented by Ontario’s new provincial government. Other widely-read topics included developments at the Ontario Energy Boar...

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IESO Publishes Recommendations for Removing Obstacles to Energy Storage in Ontario By David Stevens Dec 20, 2018 On December 19, 2018, the Independent Electricity System Operator published a report titled "Removing Obstacles for Storage Resources in Ontario." The report explains the work that has been done by the IESO-sponsored Energy Storage Advisory Group, and sets out a number of recommendations towards ...

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BCUC Report Finds No Need For Regulation of Public EV Charging Stations By David Stevens Dec 12, 2018 On November 26, 2018, the British Columbia Utilities Commission issued its Phase I Report from its Inquiry into the Regulation of Electric Vehicle Charging Service. In this Report, the BCUC found that the public EV charging market does not exhibit monopoly characteristics and economic regulation ...

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Ontario Government Files Arguments in Federal Carbon Pricing Challenge By Zoë Thoms Dec 07, 2018 The Ontario government recently filed a factum setting out its argument against the federal government’s carbon pricing legislation as unconstitutional. The factum expands on the arguments outlined in the statement of particulars previously filed by the Attorney General of Ontario.

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Ontario Releases Its New Environment Plan By David Stevens Dec 06, 2018 On November 29, 2018, the Ontario government released its promised plan to address climate change, titled Preserving and Protecting our Environment for Future Generations: A Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan. The Environment Plan addresses four main topics: protecting air and water; addressing cli...

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Federal Government Announces Carbon Tax Systems For Ontario, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Saskatchewan By Zoë Thoms and Jonathan Yantzi Nov 09, 2018 On October 23, 2018, the federal government announced details regarding the federal carbon tax systems that it will implement in Ontario, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Saskatchewan (the “federal backstop jurisdictions”) in 2019. The federal backstop jurisdictions did not design their own pollution ...

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Ontario Repeals Green Energy Act, 2009 By Zoë Thoms and Jonathan Yantzi Oct 12, 2018 The Ontario Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines recently introduced legislation to repeal the Green Energy Act, 2009 and its regulations. The Green Energy Act, 2009 was enacted ten years ago to expand renewable energy production, encourage energy conservation and create jobs in the...

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Ontario to Challenge Federal Carbon Pricing Statute as Unconstitutional By Zoë Thoms and Jonathan Yantzi Sep 28, 2018 The Government of Ontario recently filed a reference with the Court of Appeal challenging the federal government’s carbon tax legislation as unconstitutional. On July 25, 2018, the newly-elected Ontario government introduced legislation to cancel the Ontario Cap and Trade Program.

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Ontario Natural Gas Distributors to End Cap and Trade Charges By David Stevens Aug 30, 2018 Now that the Cap and Trade Cancellation Act, 1998 has passed, the Ontario government has issued an announcement indicating that Ontario natural gas distributors will be required to remove Cap and Trade charges from customer bills as of October 1, 2018. This will change (reduce) the distribution r...

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Nova Scotia Utility Withdraws from Tidal Generation Project By David Stevens Aug 16, 2018 Recent events seem to signal the end of the Cape Sharp Tidal project. As previously discussed, Cape Sharp Tidal has been a joint venture between Ireland-based OpenHydro and Nova Scotia Power affiliate Emera, created to deploy two 2MW tidal turbines in Minas Passage at the Fundy Ocean Research Cen...

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Ottawa Eases Carbon Tax Threshold While Ontario Government Launches Court Challenge Against Tax By Zoë Thoms and Peter Dalglish Aug 10, 2018 On July 27, 2018, the federal government announced that large industrial companies will face a less-stringent threshold on emissions penalties when Ottawa’s carbon tax rolls out on January 1, 2019.

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Ontario Introduces Legislation to Cancel the Cap and Trade Program By David Stevens and Peter Dalglish Aug 03, 2018 On July 25, 2018, the Ontario government introduced Bill 4, referred to as the Cap and Trade Cancellation Act, 1998. The new legislation will implement the Government of Ontario’s commitment to wind down Ontario’s Cap and Trade Program, and follows up on the July 3, 2018 announcement that the gov...

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New Ontario Government Introduces Hydro One Accountability Act By Zoë Thoms and Peter Dalglish Jul 24, 2018 On July 16, 2018, the Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines Greg Rickford introduced Bill 2, Urgent Priorities Act, 2018, into the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The bill marks the first major piece of legislation tabled by the new Progressive Conservative government, and directly ...

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Ontario Cancels Renewable Energy Projects and Introduces White Pines Wind Project Termination Act, 2018 By Zoë Thoms and Stan Fedun Jul 19, 2018 On July 5, 2018, Ontario’s newly-appointed Minister of Energy, Development and Mines, Greg Rickford, issued a Directive (1003/2018) pursuant to subsections 25.32(5) and (11) of the Electricity Act, 1998 to the Independent Electricity System Operator to immediately wind down all Feed-In Tariff and...

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New Ontario Government Outlines Plan for Energy, Gas in First Throne Speech By Zoë Thoms and Peter Dalglish Jul 13, 2018 The incoming Progressive Conservative provincial government delivered its first Speech from the Throne on July 12, 2018, in the Ontario Legislature. The speech set out the government’s agenda for the first legislative session of the 42nd Parliament of Ontario, which was officially opened on July ...

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Ontario to Cancel White Pines Wind Project By David Stevens Jul 11, 2018 On July 10, 2018, the Ontario government announced its three “top legislative priorities” for the upcoming summer sitting of the legislature. Two of these have energy implications. First, the Ontario government is cancelling the Cap and Trade Program. Second, the Ontario government also announced...

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Government of Ontario Officially Ends Cap and Trade By David Stevens and Stan Fedun Jul 05, 2018 On July 3, 2018, Premier Doug Ford announced that the Government of Ontario has revoked Ontario Regulation 144/16 – The Cap and Trade Program under the Climate Change Mitigation and Low-carbon Economy Act, 2016 and that his government will take immediate steps towards an “orderly wind-down” of al...

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Green Ontario Fund To Be Wound Down By Incoming Government By David Stevens and Stan Fedun Jun 28, 2018 During the 2018 Ontario general election, Doug Ford and Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives made a number of promises and statements related to energy policy and their plans if elected, including a promise to end Ontario’s cap and trade program. On June 15, 2018, Premier-Designate Ford announced ...

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Ontario Takes First Steps to “Cancel” Cap and Trade By David Stevens Jun 19, 2018 In a recent post, we asked what's next under Ontario's new government? It didn’t take long to get a first answer to this question. On June 15, 2018, Ontario’s Premier-designate (Doug Ford) announced “an End to Ontario's Cap-and-Trade Carbon Tax.” According to the news release, “cabinet's first ac...

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