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Public Utilities Board



Why was the project removed from the

Public Utilities Board ?



09.05.18





The Muskrat Falls project was accompanied by important changes in the Electrical Power Control Act.



This bill (Bill 61) removed authority to review and set consumer electrical rates from the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Board (PUB), the regulatory agency responsible for representing the public’s interest in assessing the cost effectiveness, safety and generally ‘public’ utility of public utilities (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 2012). In other words, it is able to consider whether the creation and operation of a provincial utility serves the public good, or whether some other solution might better serve our energy needs. When, in 2011, the PUB asked for more information on alternatives so that it could assess whether Muskrat Falls was the best solution for the province's energy needs, Minister Shawn Skinner declared that the project would be exempted from the Public Utilities Board (CBC News, 2011).



Removing the mega project from the PUB meant that no alternative to the project needed to be considered





and no independent representative of the public was involved in the oversight of this already controversial project. Legislation to limit oversight of public utilities was similarly used in the construction of the Site C Dam in British Columbia, which also removed authority from BC Utilities Board as questions about its utility emerged.



These developments in de-regulation represent important changes in our institutions of democratic oversight.





Public Utilities Boards developed as important elements in fair and reliable access to infrastructure necessary for basic living conditions in modern societies. These boards were created with the recognition that utility infrastructure is not just one among other services we might purchase, but is a basic condition of livability.



Can it ever be in the interests of the public to remove governance of public utilities from its public utilities board? Is it now in our interests to return the project to the PUB?





references





CBC News. 2011, 17 May. Muskrat project to be exempt from PUB. CBC. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/muskrat-project-to-be-exempt- from-pub-1.1017721

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. 2012. Bill 61: An Act To Amend The Electrical Power Control Act, 1994, The Energy Corporation Act, And The Hydro. Government of Newfoundland and Labrador



Muskrat Falls Symposium



September 28 & 29, 2018
#MuskratMUN