Author: Gordon L. Weil
This AIMS paper says there is a “natural benefit” to the establishment of a regional electricity market in the “Atlantica” region straddling the Canada-U.S. border and proposes an innovative mechanism for drawing provinces and states together to create this market. Gordon L. Weil argues that the region is primed for the development of a more competitive regional market for electricity. The problem he considers is how to get the provinces and states to operate their power grids to promote the development of this market.
Dr. Weil, who has been involved in national and international energy policy since 1980, proposes the adoption of identical laws in each participating province and state. These laws would set the basic rules for open access to the power grid for market participants.Power exchanges among players in New England, New York, the Atlantic Provinces and Quebec are in decline, Dr. Weil says. These areas constitute “Atlantica”.
“There has to be commitment at the most senior political level to make this happen. Regional leaders have to sit down and decide how to promote more coordination and uniformity among regulatory authorities,” he says. Political leaders in both Canada and the United States often speak of the benefits of closer linkages in the Atlantic region, but little progress has been made so far.