GRANDE CACHE – Two environmental organizations are criticizing the Alberta Energy Regulator’s (AER) CEO's decision to cancel an application hearing for a proposed coal mine near Grande Cache.
The Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) and Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) Northern Alberta, which were granted full participation status in the hearing, said in a joint statement that the decision “robbed the public” of the opportunity to provide input.
“It has never happened before, and even in the letter from the CEO stating the decision to cancel the hearing, he had remarked that it is unprecedented,” said Tara Russell, program director for CPAWS Northern Alberta.
The public hearing for Summit Coal Inc.’s Mine 14, which would be located four kilometres northwest of Grande Cache and produce about 3,562 tonnes of coal per day, was set to occur on Oct. 21.
AER hearing commissioners had previously denied Summit’s request to move forward without a public hearing before the proponent directly asked the CEO to cancel the hearing.
“It really feels like it has just gone around the due regulatory process to have this hearing cancelled,” Russell said.
Rob Morgan, the head of the regulator and a former oil and gas CEO, acknowledged in his Aug. 21 letter to interested parties that it was “without precedent” to override the authority of hearing commissioners.
“My decision should not be construed as a means by which parties can circumvent hearing or other AER decisions they disagree with,” Morgan wrote, but noted the “very unique circumstances in this situation.”
In an email, AER spokesperson Coral Hulse noted the overwhelming support of the community, local Indigenous communities and the Municipal District of Greenview, which declined to comment. She added how the four Indigenous groups previously opposed to the project have withdrawn their objections.
Hulse clarified that AER leadership was not inclined to exercise discretion to reconsider the decisions of hearing panels, out of respect for both the hearing process and the autonomy of these panels.
“Certainty, and finality in decision making is of fundamental importance to Alberta’s energy regulatory system, to the participants involved in the same, and Albertans generally,” she said.
Valory Resources Inc., owner of Summit, stated in a media release how excited it was to advance Mine 14 in Grande Cache, with the support of the community and surrounding Indigenous groups.
“This project will bring meaningful jobs and economic growth to regional Alberta,” it stated. “We welcome the Alberta Energy Regulator’s decision and look forward to creating wealth and opportunity for all of Alberta.”
AWA conservation specialist Kennedy Halvorson challenged the idea that the entire community supported the project.
“And also, AWA is representing the environment in this case, and we’re also representing all of our members who live, work and play in Grande Cache but also the entire watershed downstream,” Halvorson said.
Russell added how circumventing the regulatory process in such a way “sets a very dangerous precedent,” and the two environmental groups had been granted full participation from the AER to raise their concerns about the project at a public hearing.
“Just because more groups or certain groups have expressed support for a project doesn’t mean that the hearing and this regulatory process should be cancelled,” she said.
Both environmental groups are still considering their next steps and determining whether this decision was consistent with the Responsible Energy Development Act.
Alberta NDP energy critic Nagwan Al-Guneid criticized Morgan's decision, saying interested parties would be denied the chance to have their voices heard.
"This cancelation weakens the regulatory standards and procedures in the way Alberta develops its projects," Al-Guneid wrote on social media.
If you haven’t been paying attention, please do because this is unprecedented.
— Nagwan Al-Guneid (@NagwanYYC) August 26, 2025
The CEO of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) has canceled the public hearing for a coal mine development after a special request to do so by the company proposing the mine.
The AER holds public…
Mine 14 is one of the few projects exempt from a moratorium on coal development and exploration on Alberta’s eastern slopes. According to the AWA, this project has been in limbo for almost 20 years, with most of its current permits and licences over a decade old.
Halvorson noted the proposed site at Grande Mountain was high in biodiversity values, had good landscape and stream connectivity and could serve as a buffer zone between nearby protected land and areas with lots of human development.
She added how AWA would have used the public hearing to highlight some alleged inadequacies of Summit’s application.
A nearby mine operated by CST Canada Coal has been fined for two separate wastewater spills over the past year. Halvorson explained how such projects don’t exist in isolation and need to be considered with the existing impacts on the landscape.
“Adding another mine to this landscape means there’s more risk of these accidents where things are released into the environment, but they also just release pollutants into the environment as they operate,” she said.
The Alberta government recently put out a proposed draft plan for the Upper Smoky sub-region, which encompasses the area between Grande Cache and Grande Prairie.
Russell noted that land-use decisions, such as whether a mine goes forward, should not be made until a land-use plan is finalized. She added how cancelling the hearing cast “significant doubt” over the Alberta government’s claims that its regulatory process was world-class.
“If a company can simply sidestep that hearing process just by asking the CEO to cancel it, it raises huge doubt and distress over the regulator’s ability to safeguard our environment or just allow public participation in general in these hearings,” she said.
