10 LEXPERT
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2018
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WWW.LEXPERT.CA
Carenza, Paul S. Gowling WLG
(416) 369-7367 paul.carenza@gowlingwlg.com
Mr. Carenza works with Canadian and international clients in the private and
public sectors, delivering creative and compliant tax solutions to meet their
business needs. He also works extensively on executive compensation mat-
ters and advises clients in the energy sector in Ontario on payments-in-lieu
of taxes and related matters. He is fluent in English and French.
Buttigieg, Bryan J. Miller Thomson LLP
(905) 532-6637 bbuttigieg@millerthomson.com
Certified as a Specialist in Environmental Law by the Law Society of Ontario
and recognized by his clients and peers for his practical advice. Mr. Buttigieg
has expertise in civil litigation, regulatory defence, due diligence, compli-
ance, environmental approvals, brownfields development & contaminated
land. He is also a panel member at CCEAM.com and acts as mediator
in environmental disputes.
Burton, Elizabeth Gowling WLG
(403) 298-1954 elizabeth.burton@gowlingwlg.com
Ms. Burton's practice focuses on diversified financings across a variety
of sectors, with particular expertise in energy, real estate and Indigenous
business sectors. She works with financial institutions and corporate
clients, delivering strategic advice in syndicated and bilateral financing
transactions. She is also a trusted adviser for restructuring and cross-border
financing matters.
Bursey, David W. Bennett Jones LLP
(604) 891-5128 burseyd@bennettjones.com
Mr. Bursey's regulatory practice focuses on natural resource and infrastruc-
ture development, environmental assessment, water resource management
and Aboriginal law. He also advises clients on the economic regulation of
public utilities and energy delivery systems. He advises natural resource
industry clients, public utilities, First Nations and government agencies.
Burns, Stephen D. Bennett Jones LLP
(403) 298-3050 burnss@bennettjones.com
Mr. Burns leads the Information Technology Group. He negotiates IP aspects
of major energy and infrastructure projects, M&A, divestitures, reorganiza-
tions, collaborations and joint ventures. He advises on significant IT outsourc-
ings, investments in tech, information management, cybersecurity, social
media, document retention and privacy.
Burgess, Patrick W. Burgess Energy Advisors
(403) 616-4350 pat@burgessenergyadvisors.com
Mr. Burgess's energy law practice encompasses all aspects of energy law,
including international and domestic transactions relating to JVs and asset
and corporate acquisitions, and acting as corporate secretary for public and
private corporations. He maintains strong relationships with CAPP, EPAC,
CAPL & CELF, and is active in AIPN & RMMLF.
LEXPERT-RANKED LAWYERS
there are opportunities for developers."
In some jurisdictions, Ontario for instance, you
can build generation for yourself. But you can't
sell that electricity to a third party. Nor can you
transmit that electricity across a municipal road-
way, Mondrow notes, "which is a big barrier to
having smaller neighbourhood [DER] systems."
Yet in Saskatchewan, SaskPower, the provin-
cially owned utility, can permit self-generation
of electricity, even allowing distribution of that
power from one property to another. "But it is up
to them," says Mondrow. "And so you have to go
to the utility and get their permission."
Climate change policies, environmental assess-
ment rules, tariff rates, how provinces consult and
negotiate with First Nations, morphing political
ideologies — for everyone in the business of elec-
trical energy, provincial variations in those factors
affect investment certainty and decision making.
As Ontario's June election results proved,
electrons and elections are inextricably bound in
Canada. Mike Richmond, Co-Chair of the Ener-
gy and Power Group at McMillan LLP in Toron-
to, knows that first-hand. He was the architect of
Doug Ford's energy platform, a critical campaign
component in the PC victory.
Richmond previously served as Senior Energy
Policy Advisor to Ontario's Minister of Energy,
responsible for overseeing the restructuring of the
province's electricity markets. He says Ford's elec-
tion will significantly change Ontario's approach
to electrical energy regulations. "For a number of
years Ontario was offering major subsidies for re-
newable energy. And Alberta wasn't. So they [de-
velopers] were all doing business here in Ontario."
ose generous feed-in-tariffs for new proj-
ects in solar and wind or current ones once con-
tracts expire are likely to end in Ontario with the
new government, says Richmond. And, though
he says Ontario will modernize rules around
DERs, don't expect such developments to get ap-
proved because, he says, Ontario is now saturated
with electricity supply. "e policy that was an-
nounced is no more new contracts."
Richmond agrees Canada has a complex and
unharmonious electricity market regimes. "Can-
ada is a tough market. ere is uncertainty, in
part because there are more factors and the rules
change more oen. at doesn't stop investment.
It's just that level of uncertainty translates into a
risk that gets priced into the investment decision.
So to deal with that risk, investors need a higher
rate of return here than they might elsewhere."
At the end of the day he says, the clients he of-
ten deals with "don't really care about political
ideology … e key factor is where is the money?
Who is paying me? If you pay me enough, I am
willing to take on the risk of political involvement
or regulatory complexity."
