Court of Appeal of Alberta

Contributions in Aid of Construction Appeal

The Court of Appeal of Alberta (the Court) has issued its decision regarding the appeal of Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) Decision 26061-D01-2021. The appeal was filed by AltaLink Management Ltd. (AltaLink), ATCO Electric Ltd., ENMAX Power Corporation, and EPCOR Distribution & Transmission Inc.  The crux of this appeal is the Commission’s treatment of contributions in aid of construction. In Decision 26061-D01-2021, the Commission disallowed transmission and distribution facility owners (TFOs and DFOs) from earning a return on contributions in aid of construction, despite affirming that the current practice was in line with the legislative framework. The utilities could then only treat the contributions as expenses in the year of disbursement because of the decision. The four DFOs filed an appeal with the Alberta court.[1]



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ATCO v Commission Court of Appeal Decision

In the Court of Appeal of Alberta, ATCO Electric Ltd. (ATCO) v Alberta Utilities Commission (the Commission), 2023 ABCA 129 Memorandum of Judgment, ATCO sought the appeal of a Commission decision that denied ATCO the recovery of losses associated with the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire. The Commission’s initial decision relied on ATCO Gas & Pipelines Ltd v Alberta (Energy & Utilities Board), 2006 SCC 4 (the Stores Block decision), from which the Commission understood that ‘extraordinary retirements’ of assets are attributable to shareholders rather than customer accounts. After considering the circumstances, the Court of Appeal issued a decision allowing ATCO’s appeal to stand.



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