Electricity Statutes (Modernizing Alberta’s Electricity Grid) Amendment Act, SA 2022 c8
Amended
- Alberta Utilities Commission Act, SA 2007 cA-37.2
- Electric Utilities Act, SA 2003 cE-5.1
- Hydro and Electric Energy Act, RSA 2000 cH-16
Summary
Pursuant to the Electricity Statutes (Modernizing Alberta’s Electricity Grid) Amendment Act, the Alberta Utilities Commission (the “Commission”) may by order, allow individuals to construct or operate energy storage facilities.
The Act defines energy storage in the Alberta Utilities Commission Act and establishes the agency’s approach to hearings for energy storage facilities.
The Commission may make rules with respect to the procedures and processes applicable to locating, building, constructing and operating the energy storage facilities.
The Act also defines “self-supply” as the production of electric energy on a property where a person is the owner or a tenant as well as consumer of the produced electric energy. Self-supply facilities are mostly exempted from the application of the Act IF the energy is solely for the producers’ use.
When the Independent System Operator is the applicant for tariff approval, the Commission must provide the Operator with a reasonable opportunity to recover a just and reasonable share of the costs associated with the transmission system from electricity market participants that are connected to the interconnected electric system and that self-supply, or the owners of electric distribution systems that provide electric distribution services to market participants that self-supply.
The Act provides the Minister of Energy with the regulation-making authority.
The Act requires distribution companies to prepare system plans according to regulations made by the Minister.
The Minister may determine the “administration fee”, an amount required to pay for the Office of the Utilities Consumer Advocate’s estimated net expenditures. The Commission must then impose a fee sufficient to pay the administration fee on an owner of a utility or any other person over whom the Commission has jurisdiction or any person to whom the Commission provides services.
The Act assigns many of the current responsibilities of the Balancing Pool to any “entity designated in the regulations”.
In Force: On Proclamation