Sadly, the first item in this issue of Energy Regulation Quarterly (ERQ) is an In Memoriam remembering Gordon E. Kaiser, the Managing Editor who was instrumental in the founding of ERQ more than 10 years ago, who died on May 16, 2024. There is no doubt that without Gordon’s vision, determination and commitment, ERQ simply would not exist. His contributions are memorialized by his professional colleague and friend Bob Heggie and by Timothy Egan on behalf of the Canadian Gas Association, the publisher of ERQ.
The first article in this issue is Bob Heggie’s review of “Alberta Regulatory Developments for 2023”, which had been intended as a contribution to the “Year in Review” series that Gordon had been responsible for and which he was busy developing at the time he died. In the circumstances, it is included here as a standalone review of Alberta-only developments. Bob’s agreement to do so is gratefully acknowledged.
In the following article, Jackie Ashley and David Morton take a step back to revisit the foundational question: “What “Value Added” do Utility Regulators Provide?” Their reflections were prompted by being asked how regulators evaluate their own performance: “It was surprisingly difficult to respond to this question.” In rising to the challenge, they helpfully revisit some first principles and invoke Scott Hempling’s observation that the measurement of value is necessary “but the currency of value is elusive.”
The potential development of the extensive natural gas reserves in the Mackenzie Delta has been thwarted twice — first by the recommendation of the 1977 Berger Report of a 10-year moratorium principally to allow for the settlement of Aboriginal land claims and then in 2017 by the steep decline in natural gas prices. In the third article of this issue, Rowland J. Harrison asks whether if there may be “A Faint Hope for Development of Mackenzie Delta Gas?” in light of the conclusion of a recent report for the Government of the Northwest Territories that “the responsible development and export of Mackenzie Delta Liquefied Natural Gas (MDLNG) has enough merit to, at least, warrant a full study.”
The issue closes with a review by Kenneth A. Barry of Alex Epstein’s Fossil Future, subtitled “Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas – Not Less”.