The Alberta Utilities Commission is responsible for adjudicating allegations of wrongdoing in the province's wholesale electricity market.
When Albertans receive their electricity bills, they expect that what they pay has been arrived at in a fair and ethical way. The AUC's mission includes ensuring that Alberta families and industries are protected from market manipulation.
The AUC works with the Alberta Market Surveillance Administrator, which brings allegations of market wrong-doing before the AUC, where they are dealt with in an evidence-based, open and quasi-judicial manner.
The AUC enforces Alberta's Fair, Efficient and Open Competition Regulation and the Electric Utilities Act, and has powers to levy significant financial penalties – including a disgorgement of funds that were gained through a contravention, and the costs of the proceeding. Specifically, the AUC may impose:
The AUC has imposed penalties for breaches of Alberta's electricity market rules and have imposed administrative penalties of almost $52 million dollars in addition to payment for Market Surveillance Administrator costs.