B.C. recently introduced and passed Bill 14 – the Renewable Energy Projects (Streamlined Permitting) Act.[i]
The Bill itself is brief and can be adequately described for our purposes by quoting selectively from the Province’s Press Release:[ii]
- The Province “is taking action to speed up permitting for renewable energy projects to meet growing demand for clean power”
- Bill 14 “will expand the authority of the BC Energy Regulator (BCER) to oversee renewable energy projects”
- The BCER’s “initial focus will be on the North Coast Transmission Line (NCTL) project and the wind and solar projects in BC Hydro’s 2024 Call for Power”[iii]
- Bill 14 will also “exempt the NCTL Project and the nine wind projects in the 2024 Call for Power from the environmental assessment processes and allow the Government to do the same for other wind power projects in the Province”
- Bill 14 will “enable the BCER to establish a new rigorous regulatory framework for renewable energy projects through consultation with First Nations, ensuring that environmental standards will be upheld.”
Under Bill 14, a renewable energy project means a project powered by biomass, biogas, geothermal heat, hydro, solar, ocean, wind or other prescribed resource.[iv]
The focus of this piece is not on any further analysis of Bill 14 itself – other sources are available for that.[v] Rather we are focused on what Bill 14 represents – part of a reaction in Canada, and in the English-speaking world more generally, to prior delay, inefficiency and unpredictability in the permitting process..
The Challenge of Electrification
Increasing the speed, efficiency and predictability of the permitting process is particularly important in jurisdictions which, like BC, are strongly committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The principal models of pathways to net-zero carbon emissions tend to show that substitution of clean, non-carbon emitting, electricity for fossil fuels is a key building block. The International Energy Agency[vi] projects that to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 will likely result in demand for electricity more than doubling between 2020 and 2050.[vii] Moreover, the IEA model assumes that much of the new capacity required by 2050 will be renewables, principally wind and solar.[viii] Indeed, the IEA model suggests that in a net-zero scenario close to 90% of all electricity will come from some form of renewables by 2050.[ix]
In a similar vein, the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) also projects that in net-zero scenarios, electricity demand could double and that a majority of new electrical generating capacity built between now and 2050 will be renewables, particularly wind and solar.[x]
Turning to BC specifically, the Province estimates in its 2024 publication – Power Our Future: BC’s Clean Energy Strategy:[xi]
“BC’s electricity use will likely double from current levels in order to keep up with population and economic growth, transition from fossil fuels and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050”[xii]
The task of building so much new generating capacity – and the transmission infrastructure to wheel electricity around the Province to load centres – is daunting.
Moreover, we must do this at a time when scrutiny of infrastructure development is heightened and when consultation and participation expectations among the general public or among particularly affected groups, such as First Nations, are high.
Various recent studies have shown that the timelines for reviewing major projects can be quite extended. Some projects – including low-carbon emitting ones – can take 3 to 5 years to approve.[xiii] Moreover, that is only part of the development timeline: preliminary studies or draft impact statements can take an additional 2-3 years to prepare and projects can take up to 10 years to construct after approvals have been obtained.
In fairness these timelines can vary depending on the type of project: as a general rule, wind and solar generation take less time. However, hydro and nuclear – both non-emitting generation sources – can take much longer, as can major transmission facilities.
The current permitting processes are generally consistent with recent estimates from Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) about the aggregate timelines to plan, review and construct power infrastructure:
- 4/5 years for wind and solar
- 10 years for transmission
- more than 10 years for other capital intensive generating facilities.[xiv]
Surveying the task ahead for jurisdictions seeking to electrify and reach net-zero by 2050, the Canadian Electricity Advisory Council (the “Advisory Council”) convened by the Federal government, recently sounded the alarm:
“Achieving Canada’s net-zero goals will require adding an average of 10GW of new clean electricity generation per year. Building that…will require a dramatic shift in the pace of electricity system expansion…without systemic reform of approval processes for essential clean electricity projects, Canada’s ability to achieve its climate goals will be in dire jeopardy.”[xv]
Bill 14 is broadly responsive to this concern and recommendation. Indeed, we have seen similar initiatives aimed at speeding up or streamlining permitting processes both for clean energy projects as well as other types of projects. These include Canada’s Bill C-5[xvi], Ontario’s Bill 5[xvii], the UK’s Planning and Infrastructure Act[xviii] and fast-track initiatives in both Australia[xix] and New Zealand.[xx]
Paradigm Shift
Bill 14 – and these other related changes in peer jurisdictions – represents a paradigm shift in permitting reviews, at least of clean energy projects. This is well summarized by the Advisory Council:
“Historically, economic development and environmental protection were often viewed as trade-offs. To build clean electricity as required, that trade-off must be turned on its head: to protect the environment from the single greatest threat, global climate change, clean power projects must be built more frequently and faster than ever before.”[xxi]
In pursuit of this policy objective to change the overall approach and orientation of permitting – and of any environmental assessment process in particular – the Advisory Council made a series of related suggestions.[xxii]
- Noting that existing permitting reviews displayed an “over-abundance of caution” the Advisory Council suggested a new approach to data disclosure and analysis in permitting reviews. Instead of the comprehensive approach adopted in the US under NEPA and followed virtually everywhere else, the Advisory Council suggested adopting a narrower and more tailored approach, focussing just on critical project – or site – specific risks rather than a more all-risks - general disclosure approach.
- The Advisory Council also suggested greater concentration on, and resort to, strategic environmental assessments. These are provided for in most permitting legislation but have been used sparingly. A strategic assessment system could evaluate types of technologies and establish a standard set of conditions. Proponents of individual projects could then focus simply on variations from that standard. Strategic assessments can streamline the regulatory review process through an assessment which can inform broader policy and save time for future projects.
- Historically, permitting has focused principally on the risks of constructing and operating a project. The Advisory Council suggests that permitting must increasingly “account for the risk of NOT completing a given project in a timely manner”.
- Finally, the Advisory Council suggested permitting approaches that facilitate the introduction of low-risk, net-zero electricity projects by decreasing the number of advance approvals required. Instead the regulatory process should consider increased reliance on enforcement mechanisms to audit and confirm the compliance of the projects with established criteria.
These are all various permitting reforms advanced for the purpose of accelerating the permitting review system for renewable and net-zero projects. We note that BC’s Bill 14 give the Provincial governments broad discretion to adopt any or all of these, or similar, recommendations to improve the efficiency and predictability of permitting for renewable energy projects. These Bills may have ben among the first – or at least among the first wave – of legislation designed to facilitate permitting for renewable energy projects. They will not be the last.
[i] Bill 14; Renewable Energy Projects (Streamlined Permitting) Act; First Session; 43rd Parliament; 3 Charles III, 2025; Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
[ii] “BC Streamlines Permitting for Renewable Energy Projects”; news.gov.bc.ca/32295
[iii] BC Government; New Wind Projects will Boost BC’s Affordable Clean-Energy Supply; December 9, 2024
[iv] See Bill 14; Section 1(1) “renewable resource.”
[v] David Bursey, Jessica Kennedy, Larissa Sakumoto and Samantha Chenatte; “BC Government Streamlines Renewable Energy Regulatory Process and Announces 2025 Call for Power”; Bennett Jones; May 9, 2025.
[vi] International Energy Agency; Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector; iea.li/nzeroadmap
[vii] IEA; note 6; at p.70.
[viii] IEA; note 6; at p.47.
[ix] IEA; note 6; at p.73.
[x] Canada Energy Regulator; Canada’s Energy Future 2023: Energy Supply and Demand Projections to 2050 at p.64. See also the attached projections: Global Net-Zero Scenario: Electricity Generation – Primary Fuel (GWh) and Global Net-Zero Scenario: Electricity Capacity – Primary Fuel (MW).
[xi] Province of British Columbia; Powering Our Future: BC’s Clean Energy Strategy; June 27, 2024.
[xii] Province of British Columbia; note 11; at “Planning for an Increasingly Electrified Future”
[xiii] Kurtis Reed, Bradley Grant, Cameron Anderson and Jonathan Drance; Timing of Canadian Project Approvals; 54 Alberta Law Review No. 2, December 2016; See also Jonathan Drance, Glenn Cameron and Rachel Hutton; Federal Energy Project Reviews: Timelines in Practice; 6 Energy Regulation Quarterly, Issue 3 (2016) and Marla Orenstein et al; Federal Impact Assessment Act under Review: Measuring Progress on Projects and Timelines; Canada West Foundation; (April, 2023).
[xiv] Janet Annesley, David Campbell, Arash Golshan and Edward Greenspon; Project of the Century – A Blueprint for Growing Canada’s Clean Electricity Supply – and Fast; Project Energy Future Forum; (July 19, 2023) at “Chapter 4: Hurry-Up Offense.”
[xv] Canada Electricity Advisory Council; Powering Canada: A Blueprint for Success; Government of Canada – Natural Resources Canada; (May 2024); at “Enable the Build.”
[xvi] Bill C-5, Part 12: Building Canada Act.
[xvii] Bill 5 – Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025.
[xviii] Sarah Lewis, Elena Ares and Alan Walker; Planning and Infrastructure Bill 2024-25; House of Commons Library; (March 2025).
[xix] National Renewable Energy Priority List; Government of Australia; (March 2025).
[xx] Fast-Track Approvals Act 2024; New Zealand Public Act 2024 (November 2024).
[xxi] Canada Electricity Advisory Council; note 15; at “Enable the Build.”
[xxii] Subsequent references to comments by or quotes from the Advisory Council are from Canada Electricity Advisory Council, note 15 at “A Risk Based Approach to Project Reviews”.
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