BCUC's Indigenous Utilities Inquiry Comes To A Close With Release Of Final Report

On April 30, 2020, the British Columbia Utilities Commission ("BCUC") released its Final Report (PDF) as part of its Indigenous Utilities Regulation Inquiry ("Inquiry"). The Final Report includes thirty-five (35) recommendations for the Government of British Columbia, intended to spur the development of Indigenous controlled utilities (including power projects), and provides the government with a rubric for potential foundational change to the regulatory framework applicable to public utilities and power producers.

As discussed below, the Final Report addresses matters such as:

• whether Indigenous-controlled power projects should be able to access the transmission system and sell directly to customers (Answer: yes);