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Companies no longer file 'letters of intent'

Companies that want to build pipelines, power lines and generation facilities will now have a streamlined application process before the Public Service Commission.

The old procedure required companies to file a “letter of intent” with the PSC. And that would mean the companies would wait a year before filing a formal application. The reason to do that was to give the Commission time to get staff in place to look at the project. Routinely, companies would ask for a shorter time between the letter of intent and the formal application, and the PSC would grant that.

Now, the requirement for a “letter of intent” has been abolished. Commissioner Julie Fedorchak says that further streamlines the process.

"It will get the ball rolling quicker for companies," said Fedorchak. "They don't have to remember to file and ask for the shortened time period. This is an area where we are actually decreasing regulations."

PSC Chairman Brian Kalk says in his five years on the Commission, companies were never denied a shortening of that waiting period – and he says the PSC wants to get those projects decided as soon as possible.