Recent Regulatory & Legislative Developments Of Interest To Energy Lawyers

I. INTRODUCTION

This has been a significant year for the practice of energy law in Canada given challenging market conditions, along with changes in government — federally and provincially in Alberta. The mandate and policy preferences of these new governments led to the introduction of new policies in 2015–2016, many of which are still in development and have contributed additional uncertainty to the energy industry during a time of unprecedented challenges.¹

Many of these new policies are still being refined and the full impacts cannot yet be determined. On the oil and gas side, new technologies coupled with increased North American production has led to a reduced need for Canadian energy products in our traditional markets, underscoring the need for Canada to ensure access to new and diverse markets in a timely way. In Canada, major energy projects, notably pipelines and LNG export facilities, continue to languish in the regulatory processes and face new and complicated challenges post-approval, thereby calling into question the timeliness or certainty of their completion.

With respect to electricity, the Government of Alberta has introduced an ambitious climate change strategy, including carbon pricing, along with a commitment to accelerate the retirement of Alberta's coal-fired generation and to replace two-thirds of coal-generated electricity with renewable sources of energy. This represents perhaps the most significant realignment of the industry since de-regulation.

This article is intended to canvass decisions of interest to energy lawyers as well as legislative and policy developments that have taken place since the last review. The article is organized into eight topics under relevant headings where the respective legislative and policy developments and judicial and administrative decisions are discussed with reference to the topical heading.

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Previously published in Alberta Law Review

Footnote

1 Please note that the Canadian Energy Law Foundation does not necessarily endorse the views put forward in this article.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.