24 State of the Canadian Electricity Industry 2022 Accelerate Net Zero
Theme 3 Regulating and Policymaking for Net Zero: Moving from Ambition to Transition
Notable regulatory and policy developments in 2021 Last year’s State of the Industry report made a series of recommendations that regulators, policymakers and governments in Canada have made positive movement on in the past year. (View last year’s calls to action in Chapter 3 of the 2021 State of the Industry report.) A summary of some of the important initiatives and regulatory modernization programs in place across the country follow, including key takeaways in terms of the broader sector. New Brunswick: Bill 77, An Act to Amend the Electricity Act, received Royal Assent in New Brunswick. The bill will enable unregulated affiliates of NB Power to offer energy products and services in competitive markets. While other jurisdictions have also enabled utilities to participate in competitive markets via unregulated entities, it is nonetheless an important step forward for New Brunswick in terms of enabling the company to offer innovative products and services. The amendments also enable a regulatory approval path outside of the purview of the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board for NB Power’s Mactaquac Dam refurbishment
project. As the province’s largest hydroelectric generation facility, it is critical to New Brunswick’s clean energy portfolio and climate goals. While this change is important in enabling a regulatory path for the project, it highlights a problematic tendency for provincial and territorial commissions not to include environmental and other social outcomes in their project review process. In addition, the bill recognizes that it is appropriate for governments to have direct input in decisions around projects of this magnitude, because of the significant impacts on the province.
