A Tale of Two Regulators
Guest Post by JM
The
government of Clyde Wells introduced the Electrical Power Control Act in 1994.
It was implemented to define electrical power policy in the province and to provide
a means for the utilities to earn a return on their investment in the
generation and delivery of the power. Under
the EPCA the Public Utilities Board (PUB) has broad powers to regulate and
legislative responsibility for the planning of future power supply in the
Province.
It
is worth reading the Act to truly understand the breath of powers which the PUB possesses
in these areas. This did not occur by accident. On the contrary, the
legislation received the very deliberate focus of the premier of the day. When he introduced the Bill in the House of Assembly, Clyde Wells stated:
Since
June 2010, when the decision was made by Nalcor to develop the Muskrat Falls
Project, the PUB should have had an integral role to ensure the project met the
clear “Declaration of Power Policy” as outlined within Section 3 of the
Electrical Power Control Act.
The
process of review ran counter to the intent of the 1994 legislative initiative. Muskrat Falls was conceived in secrecy, and
born under both delusion and deception.
