The City of Calgary appealed a decision regarding the allocation of proceeds from the sale of utility assets by ATCO Gas and Pipelines Ltd. The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board had approved the sale and allocated a portion of the net gain to ratepaying customers.
The Court of Appeal set aside the Board's decision, finding it lacked jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal and allowed ATCO's cross-appeal, holding that the Board did not have explicit or implicit jurisdiction to allocate the proceeds of the sale of the utility's assets to ratepayers, as the assets were the private property of the utility and the power to allocate proceeds was not necessary to fulfill the Board's mandate.
