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ARTICLE · 28 JULY 2020

BC Introduces New Legislation Amending The Clean Energy Act

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On June 23, 2020, the Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources introduced Bill 17, the Clean Energy Amendment Act, 2020

CanadaEnergy and Natural Resources
Amy Carruthers
Amy Carruthers
Rob Legge
Rob Legge
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On June 23, 2020, the Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources introduced Bill 17, the Clean Energy Amendment Act, 2020.

Among other things, the amendments would revise the province's energy objectives and remove the requirement for BC Hydro to achieve electricity self-sufficiency. The Bill would also open the door for BC Hydro to dispose of the Burrard Thermal facility. The amendments have been opposed by BC Independent Power Producers ("IPPs") and independent MLA Andrew Weaver who has proposed further amendments to the Bill.

Please read on for further details.

Amending the Province's Energy Objectives

Bill 17 would repeal two of the province's current energy objectives introduced under the Clean Energy Act in 2010, namely to achieve electricity self-sufficiency and to be a net exporter of electricity from clean or renewable resources. These objectives would be replaced with a new objective for the province to serve grid-connected customers1 with

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