Alberta’s Bill 22 amends three electricity statutes to formally recognize energy storage facilities and resources. It gives the Alberta Utilities Commission approval, inspection, connection and reliability powers over storage projects, while integrating storage into the province’s electricity-market and utility-ownership rules.
The bill also draws a line between competitive market activity and regulated grid infrastructure. Transmission and distribution owners generally cannot use approved storage resources to sell electricity or ancillary services in electricity markets, and distribution utilities may own storage only when competitive procurement of non-wires services is unavailable, uneconomic or inadequate for safety and reliability needs.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill defines energy storage facilities and energy storage resources, requires Commission approval for most construction and operation, and gives the Commission authority over connections, inspections, reliability and discontinuance. It also updates market, tariff, municipal ownership and regulatory provisions so storage can be treated as a distinct electricity asset rather than as a generating unit.
Who It Affects
Developers of grid-connected batteries and other storage technologies must obtain approvals and comply with the Commission’s rules. Transmission and distribution owners, municipalities, the Independent System Operator, electricity market participants and customers that use self-supply or non-wires services all face updated rules.
Why It Matters
The legislation establishes storage as part of Alberta’s regulated grid architecture without treating it as ordinary generation. Its ownership and market-participation limits are designed to preserve competitive procurement and market neutrality, but they also constrain how utilities can deploy storage to manage grid needs.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
Bill 22 creates two related concepts. An “energy storage facility” is a facility that takes in electric energy, stores it and later discharges electric energy.
An “energy storage resource” is the component that performs that function, together with associated facilities needed for safe, reliable and economic operation. The Electric Utilities Act generally excludes a storage resource from the definitions of generating unit and electric distribution system, preventing storage from being automatically classified as either generation or distribution equipment.
Most storage facilities require an Alberta Utilities Commission order approving construction and operation. The Commission may establish rules for siting, construction and operation, inspect facilities and records, regulate connections, and apply provisions dealing with security, environmental protection, abandonment and continuity of service.
A person storing electricity solely for personal use is generally exempt unless the Commission directs otherwise, although regulations may require notice and information. Storage embedded in an electric distribution system or transmission line also falls outside the standalone approval requirement.
Existing facilities and facilities already under construction receive deemed approvals until the Commission issues a replacement approval or makes another order.The bill places important limits on regulated ownership. A transmission owner may own a storage resource included in an approved needs identification document, but cannot offer energy or ancillary services from it into an electricity market.
A distribution-system owner needs Commission approval to own or operate a storage facility. The Commission must generally be satisfied that the owner cannot competitively procure the required non-wires service, although it may approve ownership when only one provider exists, procurement is uneconomic, or the storage project offers superior safety and reliability.The amendments also update planning and cost rules.
Distribution owners must prepare system plans under future ministerial regulations, including information about objectives, timing, frequency and sharing. Those plans must address non-wires services.
Storage resources become part of reliability standards, tariff provisions and municipal ownership rules, and municipalities may hold interests in storage resources connected with their distribution systems or transmission facilities. The bill also expands regulation-making authority over small-scale and community generation, including the possibility that the Independent System Operator may act as a market participant for small-scale producers.Finally, Bill 22 adjusts self-supply and transmission-cost provisions.
Self-supplied electricity and electricity consumed by an industrial system receive specified treatment under the Electric Utilities Act, while the Independent System Operator may recover a just and reasonable share of transmission-system costs from certain self-supplying market participants and distribution owners serving them. That allocation does not apply to electricity consumed by industrial systems, and the bill revises several municipal and Balancing Pool references to allow regulations to designate the entity receiving payments.
The Five Things You Need to Know
A person generally cannot construct or operate an energy storage facility without Alberta Utilities Commission approval. The standalone approval requirement does not apply to storage solely for the owner’s use, unless the Commission directs otherwise, or to storage included in a distribution system or transmission line.
A distribution-system owner needs Commission approval to own or operate an energy storage facility. Approval normally depends on an inability to competitively procure non-wires services, subject to exceptions for sole-provider situations, uneconomic procurement, or superior safety and reliability.
Transmission and distribution owners cannot offer electricity or ancillary services from specified approved storage resources into an electricity market. The restriction applies to transmission storage included in an approved needs identification document and to distribution storage approved under the Hydro and Electric Energy Act.
The Alberta Utilities Commission can impose administration fees to fund the estimated net expenditures of the Office of the Utilities Consumer Advocate. It may set classes of payors, exemptions, payment rules, late-payment penalties and appeal procedures.
The bill requires distribution-system owners to prepare electric distribution system plans under future regulations. The regulations may specify the plans’ objectives, required information, timing, frequency and how the plans must be shared, including information about non-wires services.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Extends Commission oversight and funds the Utilities Consumer Advocate
The amendments add energy storage facilities and storage facilities to the Alberta Utilities Commission’s hearing, public-interest, local-intervener, security and enforcement provisions. The Market Surveillance Administrator’s mandate also expands from electricity supply and related activities to storage and discharge, giving storage activity a clearer place within market oversight.
New section 70.1 authorizes the Commission to impose administration fees sufficient to fund the estimated net expenditures of the Office of the Utilities Consumer Advocate. Commission rules may determine who pays, how fees are calculated and appealed, who receives exemptions, and what penalties apply for late payment. The bill also preserves the ability to treat the fee as a utility cost under the Public Utilities Act.
Separates storage from generation and distribution
The bill defines an energy storage facility and an energy storage resource, adds storage to the definition of an electricity market participant and excludes storage resources from the definitions of generating unit and electric distribution system, subject to specified approvals. It also updates ownership, transmission-facility and system-operator provisions so storage can be regulated as its own asset category.
These definitions have practical consequences. They determine which assets fall within market rules, tariff treatment, municipal ownership restrictions and transmission planning requirements. The amendments also allow certain self-supply and industrial-system electricity to remain outside portions of the Act’s application, while clarifying that storage may be part of infrastructure included in an approved needs identification document.
Limits regulated storage activity in electricity markets
A transmission owner with a storage resource included in an approved needs identification document may not offer energy or ancillary services from that resource into an electricity market. A distribution-system owner faces the same market restriction for a storage resource that forms part of a Commission-approved storage facility.
The provision separates storage used as a regulated grid tool from storage competing in the market. It protects the market from a utility using rate-supported infrastructure for commercial market activity, but it also means the utility cannot rely on market revenues from those assets to offset their regulated costs.
Adds storage to system planning and cost-allocation rules
The bill requires distribution-system owners to prepare electric distribution system plans in accordance with future ministerial regulations. Those regulations may govern the plans’ purpose, content, timing, frequency and sharing, and the underlying duty expressly refers to non-wires services. Storage resources are also added to reliability-standard and tariff provisions.
When the Independent System Operator seeks tariff approval, the Commission must consider recovery of a just and reasonable share of transmission-system costs from certain self-supplying market participants and from distribution owners serving them. The rule excludes electricity consumed by industrial systems, creating a specific boundary around transmission-cost recovery.
Creates the approval pathway for storage facilities
New sections 13.01 to 13.03 prohibit construction or operation of an energy storage facility without Commission approval, authorize Commission rules for locating and operating facilities, and allow site surveys before approval. The exemptions cover storage solely for the owner’s use, subject to Commission direction and possible notification rules, and storage already included in a distribution system or transmission line.
The Act’s broader powers over connection, inspection, records, environmental protection, abandonment and continuity of operations are extended to storage facilities. Storage facilities containing an isolated generating unit, or included in a transmission line, receive additional treatment under emergency and discontinuance provisions.
Controls distribution-utility ownership of storage
An electric distribution-system owner cannot own or operate an energy storage facility without Commission approval. The Commission must generally find that the owner cannot competitively procure the relevant non-wires service, but may approve ownership when only one provider is available, competitive procurement is not economic, or the facility would provide superior safety and reliability.
This creates a procurement-first rule for utility-owned storage. The utility must justify ownership as a response to a grid need that the competitive market cannot adequately meet, rather than treating storage ownership as an automatic extension of its distribution business.
Extends land powers and protects existing facilities
The Act extends land-acquisition and expropriation provisions to qualifying energy storage facilities, including facilities containing isolated generating units. Owners and operators must still obtain any separate permits, licences or authorizations required under other legislation.
New section 42.1 deems a person operating or constructing a storage facility when the provision comes into force to hold a subsisting approval covering that activity. The Commission may later issue a replacement approval on whatever notice it considers appropriate, allowing existing projects to enter the new framework without an automatic interruption.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on this topic across all five countries.
Explore this topic in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Grid-scale storage developers gain a defined approval pathway and a statutory classification that distinguishes storage from generation, reducing uncertainty about which electricity-law rules apply to their projects.
- Electric distribution customers may benefit when storage provides a lower-cost or more reliable alternative to building traditional wires infrastructure, particularly where non-wires services can defer or avoid upgrades.
- The Office of the Utilities Consumer Advocate receives a dedicated funding mechanism, reducing reliance on general funding and allowing the Commission to recover approved administration costs from regulated entities or other prescribed payors.
- The Alberta Utilities Commission and Market Surveillance Administrator gain explicit authority to oversee storage construction, operation, market activity, reliability and consumer-advocacy funding.
- Small-scale and community electricity producers may benefit from future regulations allowing the Independent System Operator to perform market-participant functions on their behalf. The bill creates the authority but leaves the operating details to regulation.
Who Bears the Cost
- Energy storage developers must obtain Commission approvals and comply with new rules on construction, operation, connection, inspections, records, security, reliability and discontinuance, adding regulatory work before and during project operations.
- Electric distribution-system owners must prepare system plans and may need to demonstrate that competitive procurement cannot deliver needed non-wires services before receiving permission to own storage.
- Transmission and distribution owners with regulated storage lose the ability to offer energy or ancillary services from those resources into electricity markets, limiting potential revenue and operational flexibility.
- Utilities and other persons designated by Commission rules may pay administration fees for the Office of the Utilities Consumer Advocate. Late payment can trigger interest or penalties under the expanded framework.
- The Commission, the Independent System Operator and provincial ministries must develop and administer additional rules for storage approvals, planning, reliability, fees, small-scale generation and market participation, creating implementation costs and regulatory complexity.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
Bill 22 tries to make storage available as a flexible grid tool without allowing regulated utilities to become privileged market competitors. A procurement-first ownership rule and a ban on market sales protect competition and ratepayer boundaries, but they can also reduce the value and flexibility of storage assets that could otherwise serve several grid functions at once. The central question is whether regulation can capture storage’s system benefits without making deployment too rigid or costly.
The bill establishes the legal category and core controls for storage, but many operational details remain outside the statute. Commission rules and ministerial regulations will determine approval procedures, fee calculations, distribution-plan content, reliability requirements, exemptions and the treatment of small-scale producers.
That delegated framework will materially shape project timelines, costs and the practical meaning of non-wires procurement.
The ownership model also creates a boundary that may be difficult to administer. Utilities can use storage as regulated infrastructure only in specified circumstances, and cannot simultaneously use those resources for market sales.
The distinction protects competitive neutrality, but it may limit the ability to optimize a storage asset across reliability, congestion management and market opportunities. The legislation does not itself resolve how regulators will value those competing uses or allocate costs when a facility serves more than one function.
The bill’s treatment of self-supply raises a related allocation question. It requires some self-supplying participants and the distribution owners serving them to bear a share of transmission-system costs, while exempting electricity consumed by industrial systems.
The result may improve cost recovery for some grid users but leave regulators to distinguish carefully between covered self-supply, industrial consumption and storage-related flows.
There's more to this law than the bill.
Codify Laws traces every connection across the legislative lifecycle.