1,389 research outputs found

    The Question of Social Licence and Regulatory Responsibility

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    The School of Public Policy convened a roundtable with former energy regulators to discuss the impact and implications of broader use of the term social licence. This report offers a summary of recommendations from that meeting that highlight conclusions regarding needed legislative clarity on the relevance and role of the term in the future. Energy in a variety of forms from liquid hydrocarbons to electricity is vital for modern society. Useful, affordable and dependable energy in turn, is entirely dependent on the technology to convert it's potential and the necessary infrastructure for delivery to consumers. Consequently, in developed countries, a working relationship and authority will exist between policy-makers and regulators; regulators typically approve or deny project permits, establish and enforce rules and set standards for the development and operation of these systems. The public is technically represented in this process by elected policy-makers and then in turn by appointed regulators who monitor day-to-day operations in the energy sector. Since energy systems are highly technical, the process of hearings, evidence submittal and evaluation of performance is usually dominated by testimony and submittals that are based on scientific, engineering or economic calculations. As a practical matter, however, public interest especially in areas of environmental impact or rate changes can be high, even in the absence of technical expertise or experience. Determining how to integrate public involvement in the hearing process as a consequence can pose a dilemma for regulators, both in terms of testimony or submittals or a perception on the part of the public that regulatory forums are appropriate to discuss or even demand changes in policy prescriptions for energy issues. One consequence of this is a collision of the public's interest and desire to understand or be involved in those regulatory processes and hearings normally reserved for applicants and experts. An example of the resultant conflict between some members of the public and regulators is a tension emanating from insistence that a so-called "social license" be perfected before permits or permission are granted. This term of art is not provided for in current law or practice. Consequently, it is more a reflection of changeable public opinion than the underlying authority, structure and evidence in the regulatory process itself. In short, the term social license becomes shorthand for a demand from self-defined interest groups to be consulted and granted effective veto power over regulatory approvals or mitigation conditions prior to any final project approval. There is no precedent to guide regulators who are faced with this type of request or demand. Ultimately, they must decide how to include or not include testimony, data or other submittals as a part of a quasi-judicial hearing or case. The result is a challenge to regulatory procedures designed to focus on proposed projects or to interpret the value of any given infrastructure project in satisfying future supply and demand needs. Absent new judicial and policy prescriptions, the matter can only be incompletely and inconsistently dealt with when approached from the regulatory side alone

    A Proposal to Create a Pan-Canadian Energy Information Organization (CEIO)

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    Canada is a safe and stable resource-rich nation in an increasingly energy-hungry world. While this state of affairs imbues our riches with strategic importance, it also creates an acute need for accurate data collection guided by nationally accepted methods, tools and approaches, to cut through the tangle of overlapping jurisdictions that confuse present attempts to understand the Canadian energy sector as a whole. Prepared at the request of the Alberta Department of Energy, this paper proposes the creation of the Canadian Energy Information Organization (CEIO), an independent, objective energy information agency similar, but not identical, to the Energy Information Administration in the United States and the International Energy Agency serving OECD member countries. Funded through modest provincial contributions and working with Statistics Canada, the CEIO would support federal and provincial energy regulatory mechanisms; offer timely energy forecasts, analysis and statistical interpretations; lower research costs for the provinces; promote clear and uniform reporting standards; and aggregate facts and figures in an easily accessible database functioning as an official information portal, educating the public and ensuring that Canada makes the most of its energy bounty. A nationally recognized authority on the Canadian energy sector is long overdue, and in sketching one (right down to the level of corporate governance, budgeting and staffing), this paper fills in a major gap in Canada’s energy landscape

    An Energy Strategy for Canada

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    Canada is struggling to fully develop, sell and move its energy resources. This is a dramatic change from the recent past where the U.S. has provided stable growth in demand for energy supplied by the provinces, from hydrocarbons to electricity. Current circumstances now challenge this relationship, adding environmental, policy and economic hurdles that exacerbate the impact of fluctuations in world demand and pricing. In addition, competitive interaction between provinces, aboriginal land owners and special interest groups complicate and compound the issues of royalty returns, regulatory authority and direction, land-use management and long-term market opportunities for Canadian companies. There is no strategic document guiding the country’s energy future. As the steward of one of the largest, most diverse and valuable energy "banks" in the world, Canada has a unique opportunity to exploit a critical and valuable economic niche in the world economy. Given the lack of federal leadership and the tendency for each province to undercut each other in the same marketplace, there is also the distinct possibility the nation will squander the opportunity. This document offers the rationale for a comprehensive energy strategy, literally a vision where Canada can lead and not follow opportunities in energy markets. This strategic approach to energy systems by definition will include transportation, housing, employment and financial markets. It is not a plan, not a foil for tax or policy guidance in one or more sectors. This strategy is a fundamental rail on which plans, tactics and policies can be built. This vision identifies how the provinces can work together using all the tools available to them, maximizing long-term resource development while minimizing environmental damage. This document assumes there can be a broad commitment and effort by the federal government to help build those tools, providing guidance and assistance where needed without obstructing or denying the fundaments of the Canadian Constitution, First Nations people, and the role of provinces in managing the resources within their borders. This recommended energy strategy highlights changes occurring in world markets that threaten successful, coherent energy policy development in the absence of a unifying strategy. This strategy highlights the need to look ahead, understand these changes, and create adaptive, unifying processes that will provide longterm economic and geopolitical stability using energy as the common denominator for Canada's future

    The Issue of Social Licence and Energy Utility Planning and Investment

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    The vagaries of the term “social licence” and its broad application by various interest groups who tailor its meaning to their widely differing agendas, have proved frustrating for regulatory institutions as well as the energy industry. This problem was the subject of a symposium held in October 2014 in Calgary, and organized by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, to assess the situation and its effects on the energy industry. The use of the term social license may be traced to a growing distrust of regulators and government; in recent years it has been used as a means to demonstrate that the viewpoints of given stakeholders, such as directly affected landowners, specialinterest groups or even minority groups who may only be remotely affected by projects, are being ignored. This issue is exacerbated by the fact that various stakeholders involved in energy projects often have complicated, overlapping and sometimes inconsistent interests in its outcome; this tension is in turn further compounded by the fact there is no firm legal or regulatory definition of social licence. The consequent lack of definitional allows a term or concept such as social licence to be used without precision and authority in the approval process by interested groups, who may insist on rulings or conditions for proposed energy projects to meet a range of ill-defined and unenforceable standards. The regulatory process has been established to solicit and use the contributions of public participation. This participation role, however, brings with it a requirement and commitment to participate under the rule structure established by the regulatory agency, which also typically specifies the qualifications of those testifying as well as establishing the veracity of submittals and oral testimony. This is a key feature separating the policy debates undertaken by legislatures and regulatory institutions that are mandated to implement and enforce policy objectives, but are not in a position to define or re-interpret them. The upshot is that in order to maintain objective control of the hearing and permit process, both the energy industry as well as the full range of engaged public and stakeholders must adhere to the published and governing rule structure in order to sustain and improve the overall energy infrastructure and use system. Absent such a process and rule structure, the system cannot function in a timely, efficient or egalitarian manner. Panelists in this symposium stressed the critical need to maintain a clear, transparent and efficient regulatory process for considering future energy projects and the upgrading and maintenance of existing systems. This process was cited as a clear example of an opportunity to bring together the voices of groups that often feel disenfranchised such as landowner or First Nations people, in a forum that respects, solicits and encourages their participation as key stakeholders. However, the participants also stressed the need to have a uniform set of procedures and rules for hearing projects while stressing the fact that the regulatory process is driven by policy prescriptions and is not a substitute for hearing voices and opinions about the nature and design of energy systems serving the public. The panellists in this symposium were clear that Canada can improve the existing system to consider future regulatory issues. Alberta was cited for positive examples of including citizen engagement in proposed energy developments. A first step in achieving better alignment between regulatory processes and maintaining an informed citizenry will be started by restoring public trust in due process and in regulatory authority. Ultimately, it is clear is that the term “social licence” warrants a definition and standardized framework so that regulators and, potentially, the judiciary will be able to use the term consistently and fairly in the future. A well functioning energy system is critical for society. As well, confidence in the regulatory and policy process are vital for ensuring investment and appropriate, environmentally responsibility energy infrastructure facilities are available for all

    The “Green Jobs” Fantasy: Why the Economic and Environmental Reality Can Never Live Up to the Political Promise

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    Agriculture is one of the least “green” — that is, the least environmentally friendly — sectors in Canada, based on its energy-use intensity and greenhouse gas emissions intensity. But agriculture is also the “greenest” sector in Canada, according to one measure that calculates the proportion of “green employment” in various industries. Welcome to the world of “green jobs,” where vague definitions often give energy-intensive, carbon-heavy industries a “green” stamp of approval. Examples include companies making solar panels, but using large volumes of energy to do so or where an accountant preparing financial returns is counted as a “green” worker at one office, but turns instantly “dirty” should he cross the street to do the same accounting work at another office. It is also a world where inefficient power generation is considered positive, if it means employing more “green workers” per unit of power output, regardless of any negative effects that may have on the economy. The concept of “green jobs” has become immensely popular among policy planners looking to address the problem of global warming, yet are aware of the economic costs of anti-carbon measures. The promise that western economies can reduce carbon emissions while creating thousands, if not millions, of “green jobs” — which will more than compensate for the job losses that will occur in sectors reliant on fossil fuels — has been especially embraced by politicians, relieved to find a pro-climate policy that also doubles as a pro-economic policy. Unfortunately, there is scant agreement on what fairly qualifies as a “green job,” and much evidence that what policy-makers frequently consider “green jobs” are, in fact, existing jobs, belonging to the traditional economy, but simply reclassified as “green.”  By emphasizing “green jobs,” policy-makers risk measuring environmental progress based on a concept that can often be entirely irrelevant, or worse, can actually be detrimental to both the environment and the economy. Too often, “green job” policies reward inefficiency, while also failing to distinguish between permanent, full-time jobs and temporary or part-time jobs. In some cases they can also discourage trade, limit or thwart competition, result in greater job losses elsewhere in the economy, and demand massive government subsidies, with some government “green job” programs requiring hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions, to create a single job.  The urge of politicians to champion “green employment” is understandable given its convenient, if frequently unrealistic promise of a politically saleable anti-carbon policy. However, a more reliable and meaningful measure of environmental progress ultimately has little to do with the number of jobs a particular company creates (after all, if economic efficiency — and hence, prosperity — is indeed a policy goal, the number of jobs created should ideally be as minimal as necessary for every unit of output). Rather, if minimizing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions is the desired policy outcome, then measuring the intensity of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions per unit of output can be the only meaningful metric. It may not have the political appeal that a promise of “green jobs” does. But unlike “green jobs,” both of these measures provide quantifiable, non-arbitrary metrics of environmental performance and progress. In other words, unlike the problematic, arguably illusory concept of “green employment,” measuring energy-use intensity and emissions intensity actually tells us very clearly and reliably whether we are making the environment better or worse

    Ethical Risks of Environmental Policies: The Case of Ethanol in North America

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    Policy to address the environmental impacts of transportation fuel derived from conventional oil is frequently focused on the promotion of alternatives such as biofuels. While there are some biofuels that can be developed with relatively few impacts, others can result in broader, complex social concerns that should be included in the policy debate. These concerns include impacts arising from the conversion of natural landscapes and changes in food supply. To help inform policy development, this paper raises a series of questions to encourage a fuller debate and proposes a methodology to capture ethical risks related to the energy and environmental choices. This methodology should be applied to policies that encourage a transition to fuel alternatives for transportation – whether unconventional fossil fuels or corn ethanol. Energ

    Energy Literacy in Canada

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    Energy plays an important role in everyday activities, whether at a personal, institutional, corporate or social level.  In this context, an informed or literate public is critical for the longterm conservation, management, pricing and use of increasingly scarce energy resources.  A series of surveys were used to probe the literacy of Canadians with regard to energy issues ranging from relative ranking and importance of energy compared to other national issues, preference for various fuel types and willingness to pay for offsetting environmental impacts from energy generation. In addition, they were asked how Canada’s government should prioritize national energy independence over trade, even if ultimately reducing imports might impact national economic health. The survey revealed that Canadians have a good general knowledge of energy use and relative cost but lack detailed knowledge about sources of energy fuels, as well as sources and linkages with environmental impacts. However, an overwhelming majority of respondents indicated they were concerned about environmental issues; most seemed to direct that concern towards fuels such as coal and nuclear power where support was low compared to a relatively unconcerned view about the often substantial environmental effects of hydro dams or wind farms. Canadians say they have been willing to make adjustments to their own energy-consumption habits, to save money and conserve energy. Further, respondents  generally expressed a willingness to pay a surcharge on monthly utility bills, if it would help mitigate the environmental impact of energy generation. There were limits to this view. Support for extra charges falls off rapidly as the costs go up; drivers showed themselves highly resistant to switching their commute to transit, even despite rising gas prices; and respondents were less enthusiastic to the idea of installing home solar panels or switching to electric cars, even when offered a subsidy to do so. In spite of some limitations regarding overall energy literacy, Canadians are also highly skeptical about the information they do get from virtually every stakeholder in the energy arena. In terms of trust and confidence, overall, respondents said they were more willing to listen to academics and economic experts; only a small majority was willing to fully trust those information sources at even low levels. In this serious topic area, respondents indicated they could not trust the credibility of environmental groups, and considered the oil and gas industry and governments by far the least trustworthy sources of information. Finally, in terms of future policy development, most cite the importance of Canada’s energytrading relationship with the United States, but believe it is too dominant, and should diminish, with more effort focused on opening up new export markets elsewhere

    Aboriginal-Canadians and Energy Literacy: A Survey of Opinions and Thoughts on Energy

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    In Canada, the energy and resource industry, its investments, employment and products have an effect on every citizen and every cultural group. And yet, the public debate over energy projects in Canada is increasingly divisive. Aboriginal-Canadians are an important part of the debate over land use and energy development, and it is essential to understand the attitudes towards and knowledge of energy in this unique group. This survey of Aboriginal-Canadians from across the country reveals that their knowledge and opinions about Canada’s energy system are similar to that of Canadians polled in previous surveys of the general population and of business and policy leaders. However, in a few key areas, the opinions of AboriginalCanadians diverge from those of other poll respondents. Aboriginal-Canadians place less trust in business, industry groups and the government as reliable sources of information about energy issues. Thirty-four per cent of Aboriginal-Canadians put absolutely no trust in information from oil and gas companies, compared to 26 per cent of the general public, and 24 per cent of Aboriginal-Canadians put no trust in information from the federal government, compared to only 15 per cent of the general public. Additionally, Aboriginal-Canadians tend to place a much higher emphasis on environmental preservation over economic concerns: they say they are “very concerned” about the environmental impacts of energy production at a rate that is 14 percentage points higher than the general public. Land and land access are important issues for the Aboriginal-Canadians surveyed. They reluctantly support oil and gas pipelines near their communities, with only 38 per cent in favour. When project development delivers additional funding for educational and social programs in their community, support shifts to a slight majority (51 per cent). This survey highlights the need for simultaneously extending efforts to improve the energy literacy of this important demographic and cultural group, while incorporating their opinions, beliefs and land ethics into long-term energy development strategies. Overall, this group understands many of the overarching issues facing energy development that impacts them, yet reinforces the gap in public knowledge revealed in the previous surveys. Developing Canadian energy will require addressing Aboriginal-Canadian concerns, including lack of trust and the environmental impacts of energy projects

    The Challenge of Integrating Renewable Generation in the Alberta Electricity Market

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    Renewable electric generation is forecast to enjoy an increasing share of total capacity and supply regimes in the future. Alberta is no exception to this trend, having initiated policy incentives in response to calls for increasing the fraction of wind and solar energy available to the province over the next decade.1 This call is coming from various sectors including advocacy groups, the provincial government and some utilities. The University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy convened a roundtable discussion on Sept. 15, 2015. Given the wide-ranging aspects of increased renewables integration (for example the policy options, economic forces and engineering/technical issues) the topic demands attention from a wide range of experts and stakeholders. To that end, we endeavoured to group expert panellists and representatives of utilities, public agencies, academe and consumer groups to consider the planning necessary to integrate new renewable capacity into the existing and future grid system in the province and its potential impact. The purpose of the roundtable was to facilitate and foster a knowledge exchange between interested and knowledgeable parties while also aggregating this knowledge into a more complete picture of the challenges and potential strategies associated with increased renewables integration in the Alberta electricity grid

    Size, Role and Performance in the Oil and Gas Sector

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    The oil and gas sector is a key driver of the Canadian and Albertan economies. Directly and indirectly it typically accounts for roughly half of Alberta’s GDP, as well as one-third of the country’s business investment and a quarter of business profits — and rising global demand will only add to these figures. However, that energy sector is also a changeable place populated by companies of all shapes and sizes, from small Emerging Juniors to wellestablished Majors whose daily production capacities are hundreds or thousands of times greater. The sector’s assorted firms have different structures and ambitions, respond in distinct ways to market forces and have unique impacts on the economy. These differences in size, role and performance must be reflected in energy and related economic policies if they are to be effective in achieving policy goals. For example, they must recognize that the smallest firms are not always the fastest growers or the most innovative; that Intermediates are the most highly leveraged, with the highest debt-to-equity ratios; and that while Majors tend to have the lowest average cost per well drilled, they also (along with Emerging Juniors) have the highest operating costs. Despite the industry’s critical importance, relatively little hard data has been made available concerning companies’ structure, behaviour and performance, based on size. This paper goes a considerable way toward filling that gap, bringing together comprehensive datasets on 340 public oil and gas firms to chart essential patterns and trends, so policymakers and industry watchers can better understand the complexity and functioning of this important sector
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