Barrie McKenna
Globe and Mail
August 29, 2003

Washington: A U.S. congressional committee probing this month’s massive cross-border power blackout will hold public hearings next week without any input from Canadian government officials, regulators or power company executives.

Billed as a sweeping examination of how and why the blackout happened, the U.S. House of Representatives energy commerce committee has summoned more than two dozen witnesses to its Sept 3-4 hearings, including U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, three state governors, plus regulators and power company executives.

There is concern in Canada that the hearings could lay the groundwork for a sweeping overhaul of U.S. energy policy, including regulation of the power grid.

The Aug. 14 power failure is believed to have begun in Ohio, quickly cascading through eight states and Canada and leaving roughly 50 million people without power. In the immediate aftermath of the power failure, officials on both sides of the border blamed each other.

The committee opted not to invite Canadian authorities because Congress is responsible for determining "accountability" for the blackout on the U.S. side of the border, said Arturo Silva, a spokesman for committee chairman Billy Tauzin.

"It’s a disappointment," noted Tom Adams, executive director of Toronto-based watchdog group Energy Probe. "We have a lot to add. We weren’t just involved in the event, we are going to have to be involved in the solutions as well."

Of 28 witnesses slated to appear, the committee will hear from just one Canadian – David Goulding, chief executive officer of Ontario’s Independent Electricity Market Operator, or IMO.

The IMO is the five-year-old quasi-public company created to run the province’s wholesale electricity market and oversee the reliability of the power grid.

Indirectly, Canadian utilities will also be represented at the hearings through the New Jersey-based North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC), the industry’s cross-border self-regulatory arm. NERC’s president, Michehl Gent, is slated to testify.

Congressional hearings are often long on political grandstanding and short on answers. And Canada is a joint partner in the official bi-national task force set up last week by Mr. Abraham and his Canadian counterpart, Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal.

As a matter of protocol, Canadian officials almost never testify at foreign government hearings, although they often file letters into evidence.

Canada has "plenty of input" into the blackout investigation through the task force, which met for the first time yesterday, noted Alexandra Muir, Mr. Dhaliwal’s director of communications.

"The formalized joint Canada-U.S. process is through the task force," she said. "The minister and his officials are working hand in hand with the United States through that vehicle. . . . There’s already a dialogue."

Ontario was miffed last week to learn that it had been denied a seat on the cross-border task forced launched by Ottawa and Washington to examine the causes of the blackout.

A spokesman for Ontario Power Generation, the provincially owned utility, said the company is willing to help the committee. "It’s early in the process," said OPG spokesman Bill McKinlay. "OPG is willing and prepared to provide any information, and help in any way."

Still, not having a greater voice at these hearings could prove costly. Committee hearings are typically powerful tools for focusing public attention and pressuring the U.S. administration.

And given the timing of these hearings, the committee’s work is likely to have significant impact on proposed electricity transmission reforms contained in pending U.S. energy legislation.

Mr. Tauzin, a Louisiana Republican, is the lead House negotiator working with the U.S. Senate to draft a final bill that could be ready for President George W. Bush to sign as early as next month.

Canadian industry and government officials have expressed concerns that new rules for the North American transmission grid could be drafted with little or no Canadian input.