Regulatory Efficiency – Strategic Plan
In its 2021-2024 Strategic plan, published on April 26, 2021, the AUC outlined three areas on which it will focus: efficiency and limiting regulatory burden, facilitating change in the sector, and people. The plan requires the AUC to produce an annual report card describing the progress it has made in meeting the objectives associated with each strategic plan theme. A key part of the annual report card is assessing the impact on industry and stakeholders, which includes reporting cost benefits of recent efforts to reduce red tape and regulatory burden. In this Bulletin, the AUC asked stakeholders to submit what benefits and cost savings they have experienced.
The AUC noted that reducing regulatory lag and burden is not only a priority for industry and the AUC, it is also a fundamental policy goal of the provincial government. The reduction of red tape legislation directs the AUC to reduce the requirements found in its 33 rules by one-third by 2023.
Last year the AUC attempted to quantify the benefits that were experienced because of the various initiatives taken to reduce regulatory burden and lag. Although the AUC’s initial assessment was focused on the AUC’s own internal direct costs, as a next step, the AUC will solicit cost savings realized by utilities because of its efficiency improvements through the AUC Industry Impact Assessment tool. The AUC noted that the regulated companies are the best source of information on how the AUC’s rules and processes impose a regulatory burden and what benefits result from reducing process and regulatory requirements. The AUC repeated that its goal is to evaluate the cost benefits and effectiveness of its burden reduction initiatives and to track continuous improvement through future business cycles. The industry impact assessment will form part of the AUC Annual Report Card.
The AUC attached, as an appendix, an outline describing how the assessment tool works for the AUC and invited stakeholders to assess and submit their own costs savings that have resulted from efficiency gains described in the appendix by May 19, 2021.
