Guy Holburn
looks at obstacles to renewable energy
Watch a 5-minute interview
with Guy Holburn, Director of Energy@Ivey, on
regulation in the electricity sector
Renewable energy
might be seen as a bright light in the
electricity sector, but unstable policy
environments often hinder investors to this
area.
Guy Holburn, Director of Energy@Ivey, has been
researching governance and regulation in the
electricity sector and will be presenting his
findings at a conference on June 2 called
Governance and Regulation in the Electricity
Sector: Balancing Independence With
Accountability.
The event, organized by
Energy@Ivey, the Council for Clean and
Reliable Electricity, Gowlings and University of
Waterloo, will bring together energy-sector
experts to discuss how electricity policies are
made and who should be responsible for the
decision-making.
Holburn will present his recently released
report,
Guidelines for Governance of the Electricity
Sector in Canada.
“We’re trying to understand how the allocation
of policy-making authority – to Ministers,
agencies or even the legislature – ultimately
influences the development of the sector,” said
Holburn.
According to Holburn, the electricity sector in
Canada is facing some challenges, including
upward cost pressures as Canada tries to
implement greater use of environmentally
friendly renewable energy, which is more
expensive. Although Canada is encouraging
investments in renewable energy, investors have
been frustrated by the instability of the policy
environment.
Holburn and Ivey researchers last year surveyed
more than 100 renewable energy companies in
Canada and abroad to determine what aspects of
the policy environment were important to them.
Results showed a key factor was the stability of
the policy environment and Canada, particularly
Ontario, is poorly ranked in that area compared
to other jurisdictions. In Ontario, energy
policies are controlled by the Minister of
Energy, yet Ministers change frequently, leaving
policies to be adjusted or abandoned.
"Centralised
control of policy in the Ministry can have a
fundamental impact on the performance of the
sector and whether or not it’s operating
efficiently,” said Holburn. “It exposes the
sector to short-term political pressures, which
undermines long-term planning efforts. One of
the challenges for government is to create the
structure for a more stable, predictable
environment so that it will be easier to attract
sufficient levels of investment."
For more information on the report and the
conference, please visit
Energy@Ivey.
