INTRODUCTION
In this issue of Energy Regulation Quarterly (ERQ), we are pleased to introduce a series of interviews with the chairs of Canada’s public utility tribunals. There are no fewer than 14 such provincial, territorial and federal tribunals. While their mandates are diverse, they face many similar challenges. ERQ’s purpose in making these interviews available is to share the perspectives of regulators from across the country on how to meet today’s challenges.
Some interviews are being conducted by way of written responses to a series of questions. These written responses will be published periodically in ERQ. Others will originate as podcasts, with links posted to the ERQ website as they become available.
The first of the written responses in this series is from Mark Kolesar, Chair of the Alberta Utilities Commission. Podcast interviews with Peter Gurnham, Chair of the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board, and Robert Gabor, Chair of the Manitoba Public Utilities Board, were conducted by Francis Bradley, President and CEO of the Canadian Electricity Association, and Tim Egan, President and CEO of the Canadian Gas Association, in conjunction with the 2019 Annual Meeting of Canadian Association of Members of Public Utility Tribunals (CAMPUT) in Calgary in May.1
What quickly becomes apparent from these three interviews is the wide range of mandates and responsibilities of Canada’s public utility tribunals (the Nova Scotia Board has responsibilities under 38 statutes; the Manitoba Board at one time fixed the price of beer!), while, at the same time, they face a number of similar current challenges, such as the implications of rapidly advancing technological innovation and the treatment of greenhouse gas emissions in regulatory decision-making.
- These podcasts can be accessed online at <https://podcast.rss.com/fluxcapacitor/?name=2019-05-29_ep6.mp3>.