The province's new Private Surface Agreements Registry does not have any teeth for aiding in the enforcement of contracts between landowners and energy companies, the Alberta Surface Rights Group's (ASRG) president said last month.
On Dec. 3, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) unveiled the registry, under which landowners and property occupants can now register surface agreements made with energy companies operating on their properties.
"If a landowner feels that a company is not meeting a term or condition of a registered agreement, they can request that the AER intervene,î an AER media release states. "If the AER determines that the company is not meeting the terms of the agreement, it can issue an order (for the company) to comply.î
But Don Bester, who has 30 years of experience with surface rights agreements and currently heads the ASRG, which advocates for thousands of landowners across the province, said on Dec. 23 the AER has no legal grounds to step in if there is a breach of contract between a landowner and an energy company.
"It's an agreement between two parties,î said Bester. "The AER cannot get involved in an agreement between two parties.î
The only recourse property owners have if an energy company does not live up to the conditions of an agreement, Bester added, is to take the company to court.
Furthermore, he said, if the AER did try to intervene, the energy company could take it to court for interfering.
The province should therefore get rid of the registry, he said.
"All it is is just an empire-building scheme,î he said. "How many people do you think it's going to take to administrate this thing?î
When the Mountain View Gazette contacted the AER for comment on how it could legally intervene in a dispute between a landowner and an energy company, it was pointed to a section of Alberta's Responsible Energy Development Act that focuses on the enforcement of private surface agreements.
"If, on the request of the owner or occupant of land in respect of which there is a registered private surface agreement, the Regulator determines that the holder of the registered private surface agreement is not complying with a term or condition of the registered private surface agreement, the Regulator may issue an order directing the holder to comply,î the act states.
When the Gazette asked for further clarification from the AER about the legal means in which it could enforce agreements between a landowner and an energy company operating on the landowner's property, an AER spokesman responded with an email stating "The legislature debated and then passed and proclaimed legislation that gave the power to the AER to carry out the rules outlined in the Responsible Energy Development Act, including the section on the Private Surface Agreements Registry.î
