trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/LTz9Y2ZYzNplvXXpxQj0Hw2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Canadian regulator allows TC Energy to alter maintenance rules

Podcast

Next in Tech | Episode 49: Carbon reduction in cloud

Blog

Using ESG Analysis to Support a Sustainable Future

Research

US utility commissioners: Who they are and how they impact regulation

Blog

Q&A: Datacenters: Energy Hogs or Sustainability Helpers?


Canadian regulator allows TC Energy to alter maintenance rules

The Canada Energy Regulator will allow TC Energy Corp. to change the way it operates the nation's largest natural gas gathering system during maintenance disruptions to ease the impact on Alberta producers.

In a two-page decision letter, the regulator, known as the CER, allowed TC Energy to incorporate a Temporary Service Protocol that will increase access to storage for producers while the company's NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. system is undergoing maintenance. The Sept. 27 decision was issued in advance of the regulator's reasons for its decision to allow market participants to prepare for the changes, which go into effect Sept. 30. The change will remain in effect until Oct. 31, 2020.

Gas prices sometimes plunged to near-zero over the past year at the benchmark AECO C hub in Alberta during maintenance on the NOVA system and producers have been forced to shut production, causing a wave of bankruptcies among smaller operators. The ruling will allow NOVA to temporarily set aside service agreements to direct more gas to storage during maintenance. TC has been upgrading the system to better handle changing production patterns from the shale regions that straddle the Alberta-British Columbia border.

Alberta's government, which receives royalty revenue from gas production, worked with TC Energy to develop the temporary strategy. The CER held a one-day hearing in Calgary, Alberta on Sept. 26 where some industrial consumers and traders argued against the change, claiming it would impact supply reliability. The CER said it received 23 submissions on the proposal and heard oral arguments from nine participants.

"We have encouraged industry to see the big picture, and find real solutions that will ease the pressures companies face," Dale Nalley, Alberta Associate Minister of Natural Gas, said in a Sept. 27 statement. "CER's decision allows TC Energy to update its storage rules during pipeline maintenance periods, allowing natural gas producers to access previously unavailable storage, creating more balance on our pipelines and reducing price volatility."

The ruling is CER NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. (NGTL) Application for Approval of Amendments to the NGTL Gas Transportation Tariff Temporary Service Protocol (Application) RH-002-2019 Decision with Reasons to Follow.