When the Ontario Energy Board said Enbridge Gas and developers should pay for new fossil fuel connections, the province’s official response focused on housing costs. Internal documents show other priorities were at play

The Narwhal has reported on the extent to which Ontario Government officials considered the financial impacts on Enbridge in their decision to create Bill 165, legislation that will enable the Ontario Government to overturn a December ruling by the Ontario Energy Board.

Ontario Energy Minister Todd Smith publicly decried an independent regulator’s decision to force a fossil fuel giant to pay for new household gas connections; he argued it would drive up the cost of new homes and delay construction. But internally, senior officials in Premier Doug Ford’s office noted the decision would create a “magnitude” of costs for Enbridge Gas and developers, internal emails reveal.

Read the full story here in the Narwhal.