j'Amey Bevan, acting Commission memberj'Amey Bevan is the chair of the Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training Board, a former director of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 146 Training Trust Fund, and a former director on the board of the Tradewinds to Success Training Society. She is a red seal-certified boilermaker through Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, earned a Blue Seal Program of Achievement in Business Competencies, and in 2014 completed a master's degree of arts in leadership at Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C. Ms. Bevan is a director on the Alberta Workforce Essential Skills Board, the Better SuperVision Board, and the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum Board. She has worked in the construction and maintenance industry for nearly 20 years. She lives in Tofield, Alberta. Ms. Bevan was appointed to the AUC as an acting member in 2018, for a five-year term.
Patrick Brennan, acting Commission memberPatrick Brennan is a doctor of veterinarian medicine, an equine veterinarian and business owner who has served as a member or chair of Alberta association boards, quasi-judicial tribunals and councils at the provincial and municipal level. He has been active in Alberta's veterinary, municipal government and horse racing communities for his entire career. Mr. Brennan is a graduate of veterinary programs at the University of Saskatchewan, and an internship at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana. He founded the Hermitage Veterinary Hospital in Edmonton. Mr. Brennan was an acting member of the Alberta Utilities Commission from 2011 to 2016, during which time he was involved in decisions involving electricity and natural gas transmission and distribution; hydroelectric, gas and wind power generation, costs, and requests for review and variance. Reappointed in 2018, Mr. Brennan's term expires in 2023. Born and raised in Edmonton and living in nearby Parkland County, Mr. Brennan served as a county councillor, on the county's subdivision authority, the subdivision and development appeal board, the agricultural and rural life advisory committee, and the economic development and tourism advisory committee. Mr. Brennan is also a former member of the Capital Region Wastewater Commission, serving as vice-chairman for six years and chairman for three years. In the 1980s, he served as a member and chairman of the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association Discipline Committee, and as a board member for the Western College of Veterinary Medicine equine research committee. Mr. Brennan is a former board member and chairman of Horse Racing Alberta. He was selected by the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties as its representative on the provincial government's foreign animal disease eradication committee, and aggregate review committee. Mr. Brennan has also served as a board member and chairman of the TransAlta Tri Leisure Centre in Spruce Grove.
Merete Heggelund, acting Commission memberMerete Heggelund is the chief administrative officer for the City of Medicine Hat, with an extensive background and experience in the energy sector, including in organizational and policy development and project and portfolio valuation. In her Medicine Hat role, she has an oversight role in the municipality's business units such as electrical generation, electric and gas distribution and upstream oil and gas exploration, development and production. Ms. Heggelund is a graduate of the master of economics program of the University of Calgary, earned a bachelor's degree in economics and statistics from the University of Oslo in Norway, and is enrolled in the Directors Education Program of the Institute of Corporate Directors. She was appointed to the AUC in 2018 with a five-year term. In Medicine Hat, Ms. Heggelund served as the commissioner of corporate services following senior advisory, business services, and administration roles with several oil and gas firms. She is the former director of economics for the Saskatchewan Energy Conservation and Development Authority, manager of forecasting and economics for TransAlta Utilities Corp., and senior economist for the Canadian Energy Research Institute. Ms. Heggelund is a council member of the Standards Council of Canada and chair of the council's governance committee.
Vincent Kostesky, acting Commission member
Vincent Kostesky has a strong private-sector background in
regulatory affairs and strategy, electricity and natural gas marketing, market
structures, electric system operations and oversight, and in electricity market
design. This is derived from senior positions with a major Canadian and
international pipeline and energy generation company, a leadership position
with the former electric system operator and in director roles in electricity,
natural gas and natural gas liquids marketing and trading. Mr. Kostesky has also served on the board of directors of a
major industrial electricity consumers association. Additionally, he was
actively involved in the 2001 restructuring of Alberta’s electric system. Mr. Kostesky, a chartered professional accountant, was appointed
an acting member of the Alberta Utilities Commission in January 2021 for a
five-year term. His professional background includes ownership of a retailing
concern and senior positions in natural gas and natural gas liquids marketing
and trading. Along with completing his accounting
designation at the University of Calgary, he is a graduate of Brandon,
Manitoba’s Assiniboine Community College.
Doug Larder, QC, acting Commission memberMr. Larder serves as the AUC's general counsel and was
appointed as an acting Commission member in July 2020. As general counsel his
primary responsibilities are to ensure that the Commission receives sound legal
advice and representation in all areas of the Commission's operations. Mr. Larder is a member of the AUC’s Regulatory Burden
Reduction Task Force, a committee focused on improving processes and procedures
to enhance the efficiency of AUC work on a broad, cross-divisional level. Mr. Larder joined the Commission's predecessor, the Alberta
Energy and Utility Board (AEUB) in 1997 and acted on its behalf in major public
hearings related to oil and gas and electric energy facilities, resource
disputes, utility rate-making matters and court challenges. Mr. Larder was appointed general counsel of the AEUB in 2004
and continued in that capacity with the Alberta Utilities Commission when it
was created in 2008. He has sat as an acting Commission member for the
Commission and as an acting board member at the AEUB. Prior to 1997, Mr. Larder
was in private legal practice in Calgary, mostly focused on litigation. He has a bachelor of arts degree, and a bachelor of law degree
from Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Koren Lightning-Earle, acting Commission memberKoren Lightning-Earle is a Maskwacis-based lawyer and a member of the Samson Cree Nation in Alberta. She is the Indigenous initiatives liaison for the Law Society of Alberta, and operates her own law firm, Thunderbird Law, at the Samson Cree Nation at Maskwacis (formerly Hobbema), Alberta, in Treaty Six territory. The practice focuses on family law, wills and estates, Aboriginal and Indigenous law, alternative dispute resolution, governance and policy work, and strategic planning. Ms. Lightning-Earle is a graduate of the University of Alberta with a bachelor's degree in recreation and leisure studies; a special bachelor's degree in arts from Augustana University College in Camrose, Alberta; and completed the program of legal studies for native people at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. She also received a bachelor of laws from the University of Alberta; and will be completing her master of laws degree with specialization in alternative dispute resolution from York University in Toronto, Ontario, in fall 2018. She is a member of the Law Society of Alberta and was appointed to the AUC for a five-year term in 2018. Ms. Lightning-Earle has a strong background and current involvement in Indigenous law and legal affairs. She is a former president of Canada's Indigenous Bar Association, a former elected council member of the Samson Cree Nation and co-chair of the First Nations Women's Economic Security Council. Ms. Lightning-Earle is also a member of the National Indian Child Welfare Association, board member for First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and vice-president of Kasohkowew Child Wellness Society. She is a sessional instructor in business law, introduction to western law and Indigenous people, native insight and issues, and organizational behaviour at Maskwacis Cultural College.
Rick Robinson, acting Commission memberRick Robinson was the chief administrative officer of Lethbridge County until January 2018, and served in county roles for 24 years, including in as cost accountant, controller and director of corporate services. Mr. Robinson is also a retired member of the Alberta Rural Administrators Association. Mr. Robinson is a chartered accountant. Mr. Robinson is a graduate with great distinction of bachelor of management program of the University of Lethbridge and a member of Chartered Professional Accountants Alberta. He also holds a certificate in municipal management and leadership from the University of Alberta. During his time at Lethbridge County, Mr. Robinson, a Metis, took a two-year leave of absence to work as the chief financial officer of the Hopital Albert Schweitzer, in Haiti. Mr. Robinson was appointed as an acting AUC member in 2018 with a term that expires in 2023. As an active supporter of the Lethbridge community, Mr. Robinson has also served in board positions at the Lethbridge Curling Club including president and vice-president, and as secretary-treasurer for the Southern Alberta Individualized Planning Association and the Lethbridge Chargers Soccer Club. |