TC Energy Corporation announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, TransCanada PipeLines Limited, has filed an application with the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) for approval of a six-year settlement with its customers and other interested parties on Canadian Mainline tolls.
“This settlement is the product of a comprehensive collaborative process of engagement and negotiation with our Canadian Mainline customers. It enhances competitiveness and provides toll certainty for our customers while maintaining stable revenue for TC Energy,” said Russ Girling, TC Energy’s president and CEO. “The settlement highlights the continued importance of the Canadian Mainline and we appreciate the efforts of industry to work with us to create innovative solutions that utilize this critical transportation link to enhance the long-term success of the WCSB.”
TransCanada PipeLines Limited has requested timely approval of the unanimous settlement to ensure certainty before terms come into effect in January 2021.
The Canadian Mainline is comprised of approximately 14,100 kilometres of pipeline and associated facilities and primarily transports Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) natural gas for delivery across the Prairie provinces and to markets in Eastern Canada and the United States.
The settlement is designed to facilitate cost-effective transportation of natural gas from the WCSB. The agreement:
- encompasses a six-year term from January 2021 through December 2026;
- sets an equity return of 10.1 per cent on 40 per cent deemed common equity, subject to variance depending on actual operating costs and natural gas throughput;
- sets tolls for the term for separate segments of the Canadian Mainline, including a 20 per cent reduction from existing tolls on the western portion of the system that includes the path from Empress to Emerson;
- includes a sharing mechanism incenting TC Energy to achieve cost efficiencies and increased revenues; and
- affirms TC Energy’s pricing flexibility and allows new market-driven services to enhance flexibility to respond to changing market conditions.
(Newswire)
