CAMPUT: 2026 Energy Regulation Course
CONTENT SCOPE
- Different types of regulation and the regulation of energy utilities; Regulatory independence; Role of governments in setting policy and legislative framework for regulators; Regulator role, due process, and binding decisions; Basics of cost of service economic regulation
- Basic legal ground rules, i.e., “administrative law”, statutory authority Natural justice & procedural fairness; Quasi-judicial hearing process: notice, right to a coherent & understandable procedure; Legal principles governing regulatory tribunals including the rule against bias; Appeals and judicial review; Specific cases that regulators should be aware of: Baker, Consolidated Bathurst
- Due process; Vavilov and the “non-arbitrariness” requirements of regulatory decisions; Procedural Fairness; Steps of a typical adjudicative process. Administrative law principles; Hearing room set up; Role of tribunal staff before, during, and after an oral hearing.; Review real examples and perspectives of commission members; Alternative Dispute Resolution; application, evidence, review for completeness, notice, interventions, discovery, oral hearing vs. written hearing, argument, decision; Review of Decisions
- Due process; Essential elements of structuring a decision; Providing context before detail; Identifying the “real” or “deep” issues in dispute; Organizing the analysis in your decision around those issues; Why the need for reasons (not conclusions)?; Who’s the intended audience? Clarity and Conciseness
- Due process; Legal developments shaping consultation of Indigenous peoples in the energy industry and regulation; Overview of relevant case law on the Duty to Consult and Accommodate; The influence of UNDRIP and related policy development; How developments are reflected in regulatory mandates and adjudicative practice; Special considerations for receiving Indigenous evidence (need to consider venue, format of hearing room, need for in camera sessions, and waiver of rules, eg. form of swearing of evidence)
- The role of expert evidence in regulatory proceedings.; The role of evidence in adjudication and the development of energy policy.; The law related to expert evidence and insights into the use of expert evidence
- Aboriginal Law; Indigenous rights and adequacy of consultation; Reconciliation & reconciliatory justice models/UNDRIP, access to justice; Consultation; Treaties, Aboriginal Rights & Duty to Consult; Cultural Competencies (how to not offend people in meetings); Practical considerations related to the participation of Indigenous peoples in regulatory hearings; Hearing process design and conduct; Examples from regulatory proceedings showing how adjudicators navigate consultation; Procedural fairness, and decision-making responsibilities in an evolving reconciliation context.
- Electric industry 101; State of the electricity sector in Canada; Grid – transmission, distribution, generation; Electricity markets (vertically integrated and other models),; Regulatory system in Canada
- Natural Gas Industry 101; Natural gas market; Consumer demands; Science of natural gas; Pipelines and other gas industry infrastructure; Technology development; Emissions reduction efforts and other policy goals
- What is cybersecurity; Data breach and breach response; Role of staff and Commissioners; AI in the Energy Industry; Vendor and Supply Chain Management; Cyber Insurance; Data Privacy
- Overview of the “four sets of books” used by regulated entities; Standard financial statements and accounting principles; Role of a regulator re: financial statements of regulated companies; How and why transactions are treated differently for regulated entities.; Deferral and variance; How to read financial statements; IFRS/US GAAP
- Establishing the Revenue Requirement; Forecasting exercise to determine the utility’s costs to provide service (i.e., ‘cost of service’); Review and approval process by the regulator so a utility can charge its customers.
- Deferral and Variance Accounts in CoS; Natural monopolies and rates based on the costs of service.; Operating and capital costs.; Variables the regulator considers in establishing Cost of Service and reflecting in rates; Principles that inform regulatory discretion, and what makes cost of capital so contentious; Depreciation
- Determining how to equitably divide revenue requirement amongst ratepayer classes; Design of rates and charges to collect revenue from each class; Load Retention, Riders & Deferrals; Approaches to address affordability
- How do we measure utility performance?; Internal and external performance measures, e.g., OEB’s scorecard, AUC performance framework, OFGEM Totex Incentive Mechanism; Reliability, cost-effectiveness, energy quality; Methods of incentivizing innovation and allocating risk – who pays, who benefits?; Innovation Sandboxes and permitting utility pilot projects that bypass traditional public interest approvals to foster new technologies
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