CEA urges U.S. Congress to support electricity infrastructure and trade

Canadian Electricity Association CEA President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Burpee recently urged members of the U.S. Congress to support greater cooperation between the Canadian and U.S. governments on permitting cross-border electricity infrastructure and trade during a recent legislative hearing held in Washington, D.C..

Jim Burpee appeared as a witness before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee as members gathered to discuss a recently-introduced bill – H.R. 3301, The North American Energy Infrastructure Act – which seeks to reform the U.S. government’s approval process for cross-border energy infrastructure projects and trade.

BurpeeÂ’s testimony highlighted the strength of the existing bilateral electricity relationship the value of further expanding the level of electric integration between Canada and the U.S. and the opportunities for modernizing and aligning the respective regulatory procedures in place in either country as they relate to building new international transmission lines and to exporting electricity across the border.

“CEA views the introduction of bill H.R. 3301 as an opportunity for a broader dialogue on how well the respective permitting processes in Canada and the U.S. for international power lines and electricity exports are working,” Jim Burpee told the subcommittee. He expressed hope that such dialogue would result in “better synergies in the approaches utilized on either side of the border, with the aim of deriving maximum efficiency while protecting consumers and the environment.”

Jim Burpee’s testimony also stated that CEA supports steps being taken by federal governments in both Canada and the U.S. to enact meaningful reforms, and strongly encourages relevant authorities to sustain efforts to foster a strong regulatory framework – based on appropriate public consultation, protection of consumers and world-class environmental standards – that effectively strikes a balance between providing rigorous oversight and supporting infrastructure investments and open trade.