Reasonable Care and Measures Order – Appeal
Application
AlphaBow Energy Ltd. (“AlphaBow”) applied to the Alberta Court of Appeal (“ABCA”) for permission to appeal a suspension order issued by the Alberta Energy Regulator (“AER”) on June 5, 2023 (“Suspension Order”). The Suspension Order was issued in response to AlphaBow’s non-compliance with a reasonable care and measures order (the “RCAM Order”) issued by the AER in March 2023.
Decision
The ABCA adjourned the application sine die.
Pertinent Issues
The AER granted AlphaBow’s request for a regulatory appeal of the RCAM Order and the Suspension Order on June 28, 2023. The regulatory appeals have not been heard or decided.
As there was an outstanding regulatory appeal of the Suspension Order to the AER, the ABCA determined that the application for permission to appeal was premature. As a general rule, parties should exhaust the administrative process and the available remedies before bringing an appeal or judicial review to the court. None of the exceptions to this rule were applicable in this case.
