CAMPUT
Moderator Ian Mondrow is Partner at Gowling WLG. Asa Hopkins is SVP at Synapse Energy Economics. Paul Cheliak is VP of Strategy and Delivery at the Canadian Gas Association. Jehmal Hudson is NARUC Second VP and a Commissioner for the Virginia State Corporation Commission.
As the global energy landscape pivots toward decarbonization, the role of natural gas has become the subject of intense debate. Given the continued uncertainty surrounding the future of natural gas, how should regulators proceed? This panel at Canada's prestigious energy regulatory conference CAMPUT 2025, Natural Gas: Risk, Uncertainty, and the Road Ahead, examined ways regulators can navigate the challenges presented by the unsettled role of natural gas as a tool for decarbonization.
On the panel were Moderator and Gowling WLG Partner Ian Mondrow, Synapse Energy Economics SVP Asa Hopkins, Canadian Gas Association VP of Strategy and Delivery Paul Cheliak, and Virginia Commissioner and NARUC Second VP Jehmal Hudson. Enjoy these excerpts.
Moderator and Gowling WLG Partner Ian Mondrow: On December 21st, 2023, the Ontario Energy Board issued a decision on the first cost-of-service application by Enbridge Gas or its predecessor since 2013. Energy transition was front and center.
Concerns on stranded assets were reflected in the decision. The capital budget for Enbridge is going forward where its five-year rate fund was significantly reduced by the decision and there was a direction to focus on asset-like extensions. There was also a direction that new connection costs should be fully recovered from the customers upfront. That part of the decision was since reversed by legislation.