Speed Dating or Serious Courtship? Canada and Foreign State-Owned Enterprises
If Canada wants to benefit from Asia’s long-term growth potential, there is no getting around the need to do business, carefully, with state-owned enterprises (SOEs), according to a report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Speed Dating or Serious Courtship? Canada and Foreign State-Owned Enterprises,” author Daniel Schwanen discusses how Canada can address […] Lease out Toronto Hydro’s assets: National Post Op-Ed
Published in the National Post on March 1, 2012
By Ben Dachis
It’s one thing after another for Toronto’s Mayor these days, who is facing his unlikeliest opponent yet in his plan to sell a share of Toronto Hydro: provincial taxes. Further, Toronto Hydro has started a public war with its regulator, the Ontario Energy Board, after the OEB rejected Toronto Hydro’s application to pay for planned investment with rate increases.
Ontario’s special tax policies for municipal electric utilities (MEUs) make selling more than 10% of Toronto Hydro difficult to justify. However, because owning only 10% of the utility would not give outside investors the control stake they would need to drive operational efficiency, they would be…
Unclogging the Pipes: Pipeline Reviews and Energy Policy
The federal government needs to reform Canada’s regulatory review process for energy pipelines, according to a report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Unclogging the Pipes: Pipeline Reviews and Energy Policy,” Joseph Doucet, Interim Dean at the Alberta School of Business, says Canada’s energy pipeline review process needs to become more efficient, making […] Resolving Water-Use Conflicts: Insights from the Prairie Experience for the Mackenzie River Basin
The prairies’ experience in handling inter-provincial conflicts over water-use may point the way to success in the MackenzieRiver Basin, according to a report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. In Resolving Water-Use Conflicts: Insights from the Prairie Experience for the Mackenzie River Basin, law professor David Percy says a cooperative approach led the prairie provinces […] Hold off on the Lower Churchill: Financial Post Op-Ed
Published in the Financial Post on January 12, 2012
By James P. Feehan
Amid flags and fanfare in November 2010, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Danny Williams announced that the long awaited hydroelectric development of the Lower Churchill River was finally at hand. With premiers, energy executives and Innu leaders sharing the stage, all were agreed: A new plant would be built at Muskrat Falls in central Labrador, and the bulk of the power brought to the island.
The deal would offer favourable benefits to the Innu, a fifth of the power would flow through subsea cables to Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland’s oil-fired electricity plants could be shuttered. Surplus power would go to the Maritimes, New England and possibly…
Newfoundland’s Electricity Options: Making the Right Choice Requires an Efficient Pricing Regime
Newfoundland should hold off on plans to develop a power project on the Lower Churchill River in Labrador, according to a report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Newfoundland’s Electricity Options: Making the Right Choice Requires an Efficient Pricing Regime,” Memorial University economist James P. Feehan says the province should first reform electricity […] Tackle the dairy cartel: Financial Post Op-Ed
Published in the Financial Post on January 10, 2012
By Philippe Bergevin and Finn Poschmann
With an eye on the Christmas shopping season, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty last fall stood up for “irritated” Canadian consumers who persistently complained about high retail prices at home when cheaper buys were to be had south of the border. But rather than reducing barriers to cross-border bargain hunters searching for competitive prices, for example by increasing duty-free limits, the Minister pressed the Senate national finance committee to severely investigate.
Now, when the mail is bringing statements that report in black and white on our successes and failures in finding Christmas bargains, Statistics Canada has…
Rethinking Royalty Rates: Why There Is a Better Way to Tax Oil and Gas Development
When provinces raise royalties charged on oil and gas production, the result can be less, not more tax revenues, according to a report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In Rethinking Royalty Rates: Why There Is a Better Way to Tax Oil and Gas Development, authors Colin Busby, Benjamin Dachis and Bev Dahlby show how resource-rich […] Switching Off the Power Glut: Toronto Star Op-Ed
Published in The Toronto Star on July 21, 2011
By Benjamin Dachis and Don Dewees
After years of concern that Ontario would not have enough electricity, the province has increased generation capacity and now has the problem of periodically having too much electricity. The best way to solve this problem is, perhaps counterintuitively, to pay producers to stop generating.
In many hours so far in 2011, particularly during periods of high wind production and low demand, wholesale buyers were paid to take electricity, but the result has been higher costs for Ontario consumers.
In a normal market, suppliers would not produce power when there is little demand because the price is too low to cover costs. However…
Power Glut: Why Ontario Residents Pay For Costly Electricity They Don’t Need, And What To Do About It
After years of looming power shortages, Ontario faces a periodic problem of excess electricity supply. This costly oversupply, which the province must take under fixed-price contracts with generators, leads to higher electricity bills for consumers. In “Plugging into Savings: A New Incentive-Based Market Can Address Ontario’s Power-Surplus Problem,” authors Benjamin Dachis and Donald N. Dewees recommend […]Zapped: The High Cost of Ontario’s Renewable Electricity Subsidies
Ontario’s subsidy program for renewable electricity suppliers will cost Ontario electricity users about $310 a year, per household, unless the program is reformed, according to a report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Zapped: The High Cost of Ontario’s Renewable Electricity Subsidies,” authors Benjamin Dachis and Jan Carr say subsidies paid to renewable […]Burning Cash to Warm Canada’s Homes: Financial Post Op-Ed
Published in the Financial Post on March 23, 2011
By Benjamin Dachis
In a bid to pass this week’s federal budget, the government has pledged -on top of numerous green subsidies -$400-million over the coming fiscal year to resuscitate a recently expired home energy-efficiency retrofit program. The government’s ecoENERGY Retrofit proposal extends a program that burns money to warm Canada’s houses -with little to show in energy efficiency or environmental benefits.
This extension is the latest in a long line of Liberal and Conservative “Challenges,” “Plans” and “Projects” that have provided hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidize individuals and businesses in hopes that they will reduce activities that cause…