CALGARY – Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says she’s not worried about potential delays to the Energy East Pipeline project after its three-member National Energy Board panel was forced to resign last Friday.
Notley says she agrees with the federal Liberal government that public trust in the regulator has been eroded after years of conservative governments, both federally and in Alberta, and that trust must be rebuilt to ensure environmentally sustainable projects move forward.
The Alberta government strongly endorses Energy East, a $15.7-billion project by TransCanada (TSX:TRP) to move oil from Alberta and Saskatchewan to Eastern Canada refineries and a marine terminal in Saint John, N.B.
Notley says that hasn’t changed and vowed to continue to promote the project across Canada, adding she confident it will eventually be approved.
On Friday, the NEB announced that the three people overseeing the review of Energy East were stepping down following complaints that two of them met last year with former Quebec premier Jean Charest, a consultant for TransCanada at the time, to discuss the pipeline.
The regulator, which must appoint a new panel to take over the review, says it still aims to deliver a recommendation on the project by March 18, 2018. It admits, however, that delays may be needed.