On November 1, 2019, the British Columbia Utilities Commission
(BCUC) issued a Draft Report in its Inquiry Respecting
the Regulation of Indigenous Utilities. The Draft Report sets out
the commission's recommendations about the extent to which
"Indigenous Utilities" should be regulated in British
Columbia. Among the key recommendations are that ratepayers of
Indigenous utilities should receive the same protections as
ratepayers of other utilities, and that Indigenous utilities should
have the same opportunity to self-regulate on reserve lands as is
the case for municipal utilities in the province.
As described in an earlier post, the British Columbia
government issued an Order in Council to the BCUC to establish
an Inquiry Respecting the Regulation of Indigenous Utilities. The
Terms of Reference for the inquiry include a number of key
questions to be addressed. As set out in the Order in Council, the BCUC is required to first
submit an interim report and then to submit
