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Posted in: Ratemaking | Energy Policy | Practice & Procedure | Ontario

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OEB Initiates Consultation Addressing DERs and Utility Remuneration By David Stevens Mar 25, 2019 On March 15, 2019, the Ontario Energy Board announced that it is starting concurrent consultation processes to look at how the electricity sector in Ontario should respond to Distributed Energy Resources and encourage utilities and regulated service providers to “embrace innovation” in their oper...

Posted in: Canada (Federal) | Energy Policy

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Federal Government Recruiting For New Canadian Energy Regulator Positions By Zoë Thoms Mar 22, 2019 The government is proposing to replace the NEB with the Canadian Energy Regulator in order to “help restore investor confidence, re-build public trust and advance Indigenous reconciliation – all while ensuring good projects go ahead and our energy resources get to markets responsibly.”

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Ontario Government Releases OEB Modernization Report By David Stevens Mar 22, 2019 As we explained in an earlier post, the previous Ontario government appointed an expert panel to conduct a review of the OEB, examine best practices from other jurisdictions and report back about potential changes and improvements. The OEB Modernization Review Panel began its work in early 2018, ...

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Ontario Government Releases Its Plan to Reform the OEB and Reduce Electricity Costs By David Stevens Mar 22, 2019 On March 21, 2019, the Ontario government announced a series of plans aimed at lowering electricity costs for consumers and reforming the structure of the Ontario Energy Board.

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OEB Staff Recommend Changes to Ontario’s Commercial and Industrial Electricity Rates By David Stevens Feb 25, 2019 On February 21, 2019, the Ontario Energy Board released the Staff Report to the Board on Rate Design for Commercial and Industrial Electricity Customers. The Staff Report is titled “Rates to Support an Evolving Energy Sector” and sets out OEB staff’s recommendations for new rate designs for elect...

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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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Ontario Directs NextBridge to Construct the East-West Tie Transmission Line By David Stevens Feb 01, 2019 On January 30, 2019, the Ontario Minister of Energy issued an Order in Council and Directive to the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), mandating that the East-West Tie Line Project will be constructed by NextBridge Infrastructure LP (NextBridge). The Directive indicates that NextBridge’s electricity tra...

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OEB Launches “Innovation Sandbox” By David Stevens Jan 23, 2019 On January 16, 2019, the Ontario Energy Board announced that its "Innovation Sandbox" is open for business. The goal of this initiative is to provide advice and support to project proponents seeking to advance “innovative projects related to electricity or natural gas service.”

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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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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 ...

Posted in: Procurement | Ontario | Energy Policy

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IESO Forecasts Electricity Shortfall of 1,400 MW by 2023 By Zoë Thoms Oct 19, 2018 The IESO recently released details of its long-term electricity outlook and planning processes. The IESO projects a shortfall of 1,400 MW by 2023 and 3,700 MW by 2025 before plateauing to about 2,000 MW over the long term. The need for new capacity is primarily driven by the retirement of the Pic...

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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...

Posted in: Energy Storage | Facilities | Ontario | Energy Policy

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Ontario Decides Not to Implement New Regulations to Support Expanded Net Metering By David Stevens Oct 03, 2018 A recent Notice from the Ontario government indicates that the planned amendments to Ontario’s Net Metering Regulation under the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998 will not proceed as planned. The result is that the amendments that were planned for October 1st have been revoked. Instead, the Notice i...

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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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OEA Releases Discussion Paper on Load Serving Entities By Ron W. Clark Sep 20, 2018 On September 13, 2018, the Ontario Energy Association released “Policy Case: Recommendations for an Ontario Load-Serving Entity Model.” In the paper, the authors make the case for allowing local electricity distribution companies to act as Load Serving Entities and procure electricity generation ...

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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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OEB Confirms Rejection of Hydro One’s Proposed Acquisition of Orillia Power Distribution By David Stevens Aug 27, 2018 On August 23, 2018, the Ontario Energy Board issued a Decision and Order dismissing a motion to review and vary the OEB’s prior decision denying Hydro One’s application to purchase the shares of Orillia Power Distribution Corporation. The OEB found that the moving parties (Hydro One and Orillia P...

Posted in: Energy Policy | Ratemaking | Manitoba

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Manitoba Hydro Appeals PUB Approval of Special Rates for On-Reserve First Nations Customers By David Stevens Aug 17, 2018 In its Final Order with respect to Manitoba Hydro’s 2017/18 and 2018/19 General Rate Application, the Manitoba Public Utilities Board (PUB) ordered and approved a new rate class and rate for On-Reserve Residential Customers in Manitoba to address bill affordability issues for those customers. Spe...

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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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