Bishop, Dachis – Ontario Industrial Power Prices Are Set To Spike: A Four-part Reform
From: Grant Bishop and Benjamin Dachis To: Greg Rickford, Ontario Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines Date: May 5, 2020 Re: Ontario industrial power prices are set to spike: A four-part reform Ontario electricity rates for many businesses will surge just as power demand plunges. This perverse result occurs because reduced load must fund fixed costs for […] Bishop, Shaffer – As Electricity Demand Sinks, Ontario Power Costs Rise 24 Percent With More To Come
From: Grant Bishop and Blake Shaffer To: Greg Rickford, Ontario Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines Date: April 21, 2020 Re: As electricity demand sinks, Ontario power costs rise 24 percent with more to come Many Ontario businesses can expect a surge in their power bills even with the pandemic driven fall in demand […] Brian Livingston – Shut And Swap Can Be A Lifeboat For Canada’s Oil Producers
To: Federal and provincial governments From: Brian Livingston Date: April 15, 2020 Re: Shut and Swap can be a lifeboat for Canada’s oil producers The federal government has pledged specific support for Canada’s beleaguered oil producers but has yet to deliver. Ottawa and provincial governments – particularly Alberta – will need to collaborate on the design of support. This […] For Canada’s Devastated Oil Industry, A Price Floor Would Be A Bridge To Nowhere – Globe And Mail Op-ed
The plunge in global oil demand from COVID-19 shutdowns worldwide represents an existential challenge for Canada’s petroleum producers. Oil prices have cratered as the cartel machinations of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) unravelled in the face of the pandemic. Current forecasts expect that global oil demand will plummet 30 per cent or more from the pre-pandemic levels of roughly 100 million barrels per day.
On Thursday, OPEC members and Russia (OPEC plus) agreed to cut 10 million barrels from daily production but also called on the U.S. and Canada to cut an additional five million barrels’ worth of production per day. After Friday’s meeting of G20 energy ministers, the G20 pledged to do “whatever it…
Glen Hodgson – The Other Canadian Threat: The Oil Sector Price Shock
From: Glen Hodgson To: Canadians concerned about COVID Date: March 24, 2020 Re: The Other Canadian Threat: The Oil Sector Price Shock Canada’s leaders and policy thinkers are rightly focused today on COVID-19, and its health and economic impacts. A recession in the first part of 2020, which could be very deep, is a realistic expectation as […] Jim Feehan – The Muskrat Falls Electricity Project: A Hard Lesson
From: Jim Feehan To: Electricity Policy Analysts, ratepayers and politicians Date: February 25, 2020 Subject: The Muskrat Falls Electricity Project: A Hard Lesson Arm’s length independent assessments of megaprojects are crucial for government decision-making. Governments that give them little weight risk imposing enormous burdens on the public, especially when projects are publicly funded. Muskrat Falls […] Ottawa should use principles, not politics, in Frontier decision – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
When Canada’s federal government makes its call on Teck’s Frontier oil sands project, it will show whether it actually subscribes to the economics of carbon pricing – or whether it intends to reduce greenhouse gases by central planning and government fiat.
The federal cabinet has until the end of February to decide on whether to approve or prohibit the Frontier oil sands mining project. An assessment by a joint review panel has found that the project would likely cause significant adverse environmental effects but recommended that it would be in the public interest. Still, the project faces opponents who argue that approving Frontier goes against the federal government’s commitments to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
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Bishop, Dachis – Let’s Get The Private Sector Into Orphan Well Cleanup Pricing
From: Grant Bishop and Ben Dachis To: Albertans concerned about orphan wells Date: February 14, 2020 Re: Let’s get the private sector into orphan well cleanup pricing There are now more than 3,400 old or spent oil and gas wells across Alberta, and the environmental risk is high and rising. So are the financial liabilities. The public cost for […] Regulations Alone Won’t Fix Alberta’s Potential Oil-and-gas Well Crisis – Globe And Mail Op-ed
Old or spent oil and gas wells have accrued across Alberta in the thousands. The environmental risk in the province is high and rising, and the financial liabilities are, too: Analysis by the C.D. Howe Institute in 2017 showed that the public cost could be in the billions of dollars if companies designated as “financially fragile” by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) simply abandoned their wells for taxpayers to clean up – an extreme scenario that is not beyond contemplation.
So amid reports about budget cuts, layoffs and alleged mismanagement on the part of the AER’s former CEO, the regulator has faced increasing pressure to change its one-size-fits-all rules, which use the valuations of operators…
Benjamin Dachis – Fixing Oil And Gas Property Tax Problems Through Regional Governance Reform
From: Benjamin Dachis To: The Alberta Ministers of Municipal Affairs, Energy, and Treasury Board and Finance Date: January 29, 2020 Subject: Fixing oil and gas property tax problems through regional governance reform There’s a property tax revolt coming to Alberta. With oil and gas companies under financial distress, many cannot afford to pay eye-watering business […] Brian Livingston – International Credits For Canada Reducing Overseas Ghg Emissions
To: Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson From: Brian Livingston Date: December 17, 2019 Re: International Credits for Canada Reducing Overseas GHG Emissions Canadian governments and industry are agreed that Canada should increase its offshore exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Part of the attraction is the possibility that Canada could lay claim to some of the reductions in greenhouse […] The ‘Solomon’s Choice’ That Could Render Ottawa’s Carbon-pricing Backstop Unconstitutional – Globe And Mail Op-ed
Starting Dec. 16, the Alberta Court of Appeal will hear arguments regarding the constitutionality of the federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act – the so-called carbon-pricing “backstop,” under which Ottawa would impose a price on greenhouse gas emissions in any province where it deemed provincial measures are not sufficiently stringent. The Alberta government’s challenge to the federal backstop is just the latest in a months-long string of appeals-court processes by governments in Ontario and Saskatchewan, where the legislation was upheld; those appeals are now headed to the Supreme Court, which will begin its hearings in March.
So the legal arguments being deployed feel, at this point, quite well-trod. However, the federal…