The Provincial Energy Strategy - An Integrated Approach: The Challenges Raised by a Two-Board Model for Energy and Utility Regulation

Abstract

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.