The Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) has now approved the payment of $56 million by
TransAlta Corporation (TransAlta) as an appropriate sanction for
the finding that TransAlta had engaged in conduct
that did not support the fair, efficient and openly competitive
operation of Alberta's electricity market. We described the
AUC's findings in an earlier
post.
As described in another earlier
post, the $56 million payment is the subject of a settlement
between TransAlta and the Alberta Market Surveillance Administrator
(MSA). The payment is comprised of disgorgement of economic
benefits ($27 million), penalty ($25 million) and payment of MSA
investigative costs ($4 million).
The settlement was presented to the AUC by the MSA and TransAlta
as part of a Consent Order. After determining that it has
jurisdiction to accept the Consent Order, the AUC then addressed
whether settlement is in the public interest. The AUC found that a
settlement or joint submission on an
