Ian Richler

The appellant, Halton Hills Hydro Inc., appealed a decision of the Ontario Energy Board refusing a discretionary rate adjustment for operation, maintenance, and administration costs of a new transformer station between five-year rate-setting intervals.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding no error of law or jurisdiction in the Board's conclusion that the requested costs were not sufficiently material to justify an exception to its general policy.

The appellant, Enbridge Gas Inc., appealed a decision of the Ontario Energy Board setting April 1, 2019, as the effective date for a natural gas rate increase, arguing the date should have been January 1, 2019.

The appellant contended the OEB failed to ensure rates were just and reasonable at all times and relied on irrelevant considerations, such as the timing of the application.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding the OEB made no error of law and properly exercised its broad discretion to set just and reasonable rates by considering the timing of the application and the impact of retroactive rate changes on consumers.

The City of Hamilton appealed a decision of the Ontario Energy Board denying a request to update the load profile for the street lighting class to reflect reductions from an LED conversion program.

The City argued the Board failed to provide adequate reasons and failed to implement provincial energy conservation policies.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding that the Board's refusal to selectively update load profiles without data for all classes was reasonable and grounded in fairness, and did not conflict with provincial conservation policies.