Editorials

Editorial

Authors:  and * | July 2025 – Volume 13, Issue 2, 2025

This is our first edition as managing co-editors of Energy Regulation Quarterly (“ERQ”). We would like to thank the Canadian Gas Association (“CGA”) for trusting us to build on the already established reputation of this important journal and continuing its excellent scholarship — exploring matters relating to energy regulation, economics, and the interplay between law and policy.

We would also like to thank Rowland Harrison for his leadership and guidance, not only over our transition period, but for his years curating content from a broad group of supportive contributors, making ERQ a must-read journal for those interested in the energy regulation space. Rowland leaves a significant legacy, and we have, in short, large shoes to fill.

The global macro economic and political conditions, so dominant in the 2024 Year in Review in the first ERQ issue for 2025 continued unabated in the months leading up to the publication of this second issue. The trade and economic policies of the Trump Administration in the U.S.,[1] have upended Canada’s historical trading and economic relationships with the U.S., with Prime Minister Carney stating that Canada’s old relationship with the United States “based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation, is over.”[2]

Canada is not alone in this regard — actions by the Trump Administration threaten to end the multi-lateral global trading regime in place since the end of the second world war, jeopardizing the status of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency,[3] and potentially ending the role of U.S. treasury bonds as the go-to asset class during times of turmoil, as the U.S. may no longer be viewed as a reliable partner.[4] Public musings by President Trump about firing the Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve,[5] undermining the Federal Reserve’s vaunted independence and political neutrality, have resulted in additional financial market volatility.

President Trump’s Liberation Day[6] tariffs prompted former U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to declare “this is the worst self-inflicted policy wound I’ve ever seen in my career inflicted on our economy”[7] and led J.P. Morgan Research to raise its assessment of the probability of a “U.S. recession occurring in 2025 to 60% — up from 40%.”[8]Against this backdrop, Canadians voted to return the Liberal Party to power for a fourth term, led by former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney. Election night analysis suggested that Carney is perceived to be better positioned to steer Canada through rough waters over the duration of the Trump presidency.

Canada’s new federal government must, among various pressing concerns, address the nation’s over-dependence on the U.S. — the largest destination for Canadian raw materials, products, and energy, by deepening existing trading relationships, finding new ones, working with provincial and aboriginal leaders to reduce internal trade barriers, and building export infrastructure. A further immediate concern is the need to address Western alienation and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s list of demands that would, without resolution in the first six months of a new term, touch off “an unprecedented national unity crisis.”[9]

These demands are not insignificant and include[10]: guaranteeing Alberta full access to unfettered oil and gas corridors to the north, east, and west; repealing Bill C-69 (or the “no new pipelines act”); lifting the tanker ban off the B.C. coast; eliminating the oil and gas emissions cap (which is a production cap); scrapping the so-called Clean Electricity Regulations; ending the prohibition on single use plastics; abandoning the net-zero car mandate; returning oversight of the industrial carbon tax to the provinces; and halting the federal censorship of energy companies.

Whether these demands can be met over the course of a single federal electoral term, let alone in six months, remains to be seen.

The first article in this issue of ERQ “Federal legislative authority in relation to oil and gas development in Canada: An overview”[11] by Martin Olszynski, Associate Professor and Chair of Energy, Resources, and Sustainability at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law, is a timely review of when and how Canada’s federal government can regulate oil and gas development. Olszynski writes that provincial legislatures do not have exclusive domain over oil and gas development and federal heads of power as set out in Canada’s constitution may be engaged. While federal regulation of oil and gas may have incidental effects on matters within provincial jurisdiction, the primary purpose of federal regulation must be about matters that fall within federal heads of power, and not, in pith and substance, be an attempt to regulate a provincial matter of concern. Olszynski also discusses how federal criminal law can be used to regulate electricity production and potentially, oil and gas, and how broad federal powers relating to spending and taxation can be used to shape industrial and economic policy.

Canadian and U.S. economic, infrastructure and environmental interdependencies are illustrated in articles by Nigel Bankes, Emeritus Professor at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law and David Morton, former Chair of the British Columbia Utilities Commission and Member of the Advisory Board of the Canadian Reliability Council.

In his article “The modernization of the Columbia River Treaty: Interim arrangements to implement the Agreement-in-Principle,”[12] Bankes describes the interim measures put in place to bridge the gap between the execution of an Agreement-in-Principle in mid-2024 and the completion and ratification of a final, modernized treaty at some time in the future. The implications relating to the changed relationship between Canada and the United States are also briefly discussed.

The threats to Canadian energy reliability are discussed in the article “Top reliability challenges to Canada’s energy system” by David Morton. What energy reliability is, the context of reliability in the broader energy system, and Canada’s reliability challenges are examined in the article. In his conclusion, Morton argues that it is important to understand the interdependencies in the energy system and not take a siloed approach. He also suggests threats that are currently unidentified may be the greatest challenges to energy system reliability and that there is currently little consensus on an approach that balances reliability with other key energy system goals.

Former Chair of the Alberta Utilities Commission, Mark Kolesar, discusses in his article “Repricing the grid: Should it be regulated as a common carrier?” the challenges facing the modern electricity grid. Gone are the days where the electricity system is one integrated natural monopoly, and all services are priced using average costs. Today, customers can bypass the grid using new technologies, such as increasingly cheaper solar, which leads to a new set of challenges. Kolesar describes these challenges and proposes treating the grid as a common carrier to overcome some of these challenges.

Joe McKinnon, the Manager of Economic Regulations & Standards at Electricity Canada, provides a pithy thought piece “Regulatory solutions to reduce investment risk in the electricity sector.” McKinnon provides five-pointed policy recommendations to overcome emerging supply chain challenges to federal regulations affecting electricity supply and affordability.

In an article titled “Connecting data centres in Ontario: Key considerations and challenges,” Daliana Coban, Daniel Gralnick, and Ian T. D. Thomson (all of the Tory’s law firm) tackle the seemingly ever-present data centres. The question of how to regulate data centre’s access is one that seems to have perplexed regulators and legislators in various jurisdictions. Coban, Gralnick, and Thomson guide the reader with a step-by-step analysis of what is involved in setting up a data centre all the way to mechanics of how such centres access the electricity grid and what regulatory challenges await.

All in all, this issue will provide our readers with articles that will tackle the challenging issues that face our country from both sides of the border. Undoubtedly the upcoming year or two will be unlike any we have seen in the past. We hope, as the two new managing co-editors of the ERQ, to continue the fine tradition that our predecessors have set in providing timely and quality articles that will keep your interest piqued and that will also keep you informed.

 

  • * Karen J. Taylor is an independent energy consultant, with deep experience in capital markets, regulatory policy and infrastructure investing. She is Vice Chair of the Council for Clean & Reliable Energy, a non-profit organization that provides a platform for public dialogue and analysis on subjects related to energy policy and governance. She also served as the Executive Advisor to the Chair of the Ontario Energy Board and was a Member of the Ontario Energy Board.
  • Moin A. Yahya is a professor of law at the University of Alberta. He was a member and acting member of the Alberta Utilities Commission from 2009–2018. He teaches and researches various areas of law.

« Previous

Leave a Reply