CALGARY C The nation’s Energy Board is asking TransCanada Corp. to file a consolidated Energy East application that is simpler to read and understand.
The NEB sent the request Wednesday, the same day as Energy East president John Soini was at Montreal seeking to build support for that pipeline with an equipment deal announcement he explained would create 120 direct jobs and 90 indirect jobs in the area.
Soini said the offer with ABB Group to build 22 electrical houses within the Montreal area was “an expression of our resolve for providing economic benefits to Quebec and showing that commitment very at the start of the work at this point.”
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He added that the company would be making further announcements about agreements with local suppliers across the pipeline route in the coming weeks and months.
In Calgary, the NEB sent TransCanada a letter Wednesday asking the organization to supply a table of contents to the documents already filed using the regulator, and supply a period for when it might file a consolidated application in English and French.
“The board has determined the structure, format and flow from the application, designed for those most directly impacted, ought to be revised and consolidated now, to help parties because they still assess the application, instead of at another time,” the letter states.
“This is really a request a repackaging of the information already filed in a clear and easy-to-follow format that may be also easily searched and referenced,” it said.
The updated, consolidated application will make it easier for your customers to sign up in the NEB’s review process, that has come under criticism in recent weeks and which Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr has said will be amended for future projects.
TransCanada spokesperson Mark Cooper said the organization is trying to satisfy the NEB’s request a consolidated application, adding that Energy East is really a “large project that required a really large application.”
TransCanada’s original Energy East application was 30,000 pages long, and also the company has since filed supplemental reports as well as an amended project description.
Cooper also said the NEB’s request a consolidated application likely won’t create a delayed in-service date for that project, currently planned for 2020.
NEB spokesperson Katherine Murphy said the countdown hasn’t begun on the NEB’s 21-month timeline for making a recommendation around the project since the regulator hasn’t determined whether the Energy East application is finished.
She said that the board still expects to look for the application’s completeness early this year, despite the request a consolidated application.
gmorgan@nationalpost.com
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