There is no requirement to post this notice on the Environmental Registry of Ontario, but we wanted to hear your thoughts. Thank you for your feedback.
This consultation was open from:
July 13, 2021
to August 27, 2021
Decision summary
The Ministry of Energy has moved forward with amendments to Ontario Regulation 161/99 (Definitions and Exemptions) under the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998 to exempt certain electricity transmission projects from Section 92 (Leave to Construct) approval.
Decision details
Following consideration of comments received in response to our draft regulatory amendments, the government has adopted amendments to Ontario Regulation 161/99 -Definitions and Exemptions, made under the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998. As noted in the original proposal, these amendments are intended to exempt projects that are exclusively funded by commercial and industrial load and generator customers and that are not expected to have a significant impact on other electricity ratepayers from the requirement to obtain Leave to Construct approval under section 92 of the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998. The language used in the final amendments is changed from the draft amendments that were included in this posting to improve clarity. The changes do not alter the policy intent or the effect of the regulations.
Effects of consultation
Effects of Comments
The Ministry of Energy (ENERGY) received two comments and undertook additional discussions with interested Indigenous communities and stakeholders. The feedback that ENERGY received was supportive. Clarification was provided to one commenter that the proposed amendments will not impact other regulatory approvals or requirements for electricity transmission lines or the manner in which stakeholder and Indigenous engagement and consultation are conducted as part of those regulatory processes.
Analysis of Regulatory Impact:
These amendments are intended to streamline approvals for projects that are exclusively funded by commercial and industrial load and generator customers and that are not expected to have a significant impact on other electricity ratepayers, without impacting other aspects of the approvals processes for these projects including electricity system impact assessments and environmental assessments.
Supporting materials
View materials in person
Some supporting materials may not be available online. If this is the case, you can request to view the materials in person.
Get in touch with the office listed below to find out if materials are available.
77 Grenville Street, 6th Floor
Toronto,
ON
M7A 2C1
Canada
Connect with us
Contact
Kirby Calvert
Original proposal
Why consultation isn't required
Regulatory changes must be consulted on via the Regulatory Registry (RR) of Ontario.
The government has also chosen to consult on the ERO; however, it is not anticipated that the proposal to amend Ontario Regulation 161/99 (Definitions and Exemptions) to exempt certain projects from Section 92 (Leave to Construct) approval will result in environmental impacts.
Environmental impacts of electricity transmission projects are assessed through the processes set out in the Environmental Assessment Act and associated regulations, administered by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP).
Proposal details
We are posting draft amendments to Section 6.2 of Ontario Regulation 161/99 which will exempt electricity transmission projects that are exclusively paid for by commercial and industrial load and generator customers and therefore are not expected to have an impact on other electricity ratepayers from the requirements of Section 92 of the Ontario Energy Board Act (electricity Leave to Construct (LTC) proceedings).
A more complete description of the intentions and rationale for this proposal can be found in a prior posting, ERO 019-3038. We are posting potential draft amendments for further feedback in response to comments requesting an opportunity to review the draft amendments.
The amendments do not impact other aspects of the approvals process for projects that fall under the exemption, including electricity system impact assessments administered by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) and environmental assessments administered by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP). The OEB LTC approval for electricity transmission is scoped to the review of impacts to electricity prices and quality and reliability of service. Since the projects proposed to be eligible for exemption are funded by the customers seeking to connect, these projects are not expected to have a ratepayer impact. Impacts of these projects on quality and reliability of service will continue to be assessed through a system impact assessment. In other words, the proposed amendments will streamline the approvals process for eligible projects.
Please note that there is a separate proposal from MECP to update environmental assessment requirements for certain electricity transmission line projects (see https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-3937).
The draft amendments also remove expired provisions of Regulation 161/99. Clause 6.2 (1) (e) and Subsections 6.2 (2) and (3) as currently written are transition provisions dating back over 20 years and are no longer relevant. Our proposed amendments would take their place in the regulation.
Supporting materials
View materials in person
Some supporting materials may not be available online. If this is the case, you can request to view the materials in person.
Get in touch with the office listed below to find out if materials are available.
77 Grenville Street, 6th Floor
Toronto,
ON
M7A 2C1
Canada
Comment
Commenting is now closed.
This consultation was open from July 13, 2021
to August 27, 2021
Comments received
Through the registry
2By email
0By mail
0