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Posted in: Environmental Issues | Energy Policy | Climate Change / Renewables

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Climate Change Litigation: Urgenda Update By Zoë Thoms and Christian Nianiaris Jul 05, 2019 In Urgenda Foundation v. The State of the Netherlands (2015), the State of Netherlands was found by the court to have an affirmative duty toward its citizens to take action against climate change. Since the initial decision, plaintiffs in other jurisdictions have used it as a framework to bring c...

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Ontario Court of Appeal Rules That Federal Carbon Pricing Act Is Constitutional By Zoë Thoms and Emily Chittick Jul 04, 2019 The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that federal carbon pricing is constitutional. In a 4-1 decision, the court rejected Ontario’s claim that the federal carbon levy is outside the federal government’s jurisdiction. This decision comes just a month after the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal release...

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Amendments to Ontario’s Renewable Energy Facility Regulations By Emily Chittick and David Stevens Jun 21, 2019 On May 31, 2019, the Ontario government published two new regulations relating to renewable energy facilities. The first – O. Reg. 121/19: Transitional Matters – Renewable Energy Generation Facilities – made under the Planning Act, provides clarity on the authority of municipal planning authoriti...

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Canada’s Carbon Pricing Strategy Falls Short of Paris Agreement Target By David Stevens and Stan Fedun Jun 18, 2019 A recent report published by the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Closing the Gap: Carbon pricing for the Paris target, estimates that Canada will need to impose a total carbon tax of $102 per tonne if it wishes to meet its Paris Agreement emissions target by 2030. Under the Paris Agre...

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Alberta Passes Legislation to Repeal Provincial Carbon Tax By Stan Fedun and David Stevens Jun 17, 2019 Shortly after Alberta’s United Conservative Party won a majority mandate, Premier Jason Kenney announced the first order of business for his government would be to “repeal the carbon tax, implement the Job Creation Tax Cut, cut red tape and open Alberta for business.”

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Update on Climate Change Litigation By Zoë Thoms and Christian Nianiaris Jun 07, 2019 The decision in Urgenda Foundation v. The State of the Netherlands (2015) set the framework for climate change litigation across the globe. Since our last post about climate change litigation directly following the Urgenda decision, substantial developments have occurred and there have been a lar...

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B.C. Does Not Have Jurisdiction to Regulate the Shipment of Bitumen Through the Province By David Stevens and Stan Fedun May 27, 2019 In a unanimous decision, the British Columbia Court of Appeal held British Columbia does not have jurisdiction to regulate the shipment of “heavy oil” through the province.

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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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