Participant Funding Program
The NEB’s Participant Funding Program (PFP) provides funding to facilitate the participation of intervenors in hearings with respect to new or abandonment projects for pipelines or power lines and Environmental Assessments of designated projects.
6 funding envelopes announced in 2017-18
Funding Awarded: $2.3M
Expected PFP Program Outcome…
Program delivery is timely and efficiently managed.
… to support energy adjudication processes that are fair, timely, transparent and accessible.
Participant Funding Program Allocations in 2017-18
The NEB is seeing increasing public interest in participating directly in Adjudication processes. We actively adjusted the program’s Terms and Conditions, which were implemented in 2017-18, to respond to this increased demand. The amendment expanded the scope of the program so that any hearing where there is a public interest in participation could be eligible for funding. The amendment also provided increased flexibility to structure the funding process to align with expected hearing process changes.
We can expect that not only will interest in participation continue to increase over time, but the nature of that participation will change as well. The Participant Funding Program will need to respond quickly and effectively to the unique needs of participants in a hearing process. This will be especially acute in the area of Indigenous group participation as the NEB implements changes as a result of the modernization of our legislation. We feel that we have the right tools in place to deliver on those expectations in the near future.
The percentage of Participant Funding Program service standards met, because the timely delivery of the PFP program enables accessibility and participation in NEB processes.
- Target 80%
- Results
2016-17 70% - Results
2017-18 100%
The NEB made changes to the process for deciding funding awards that improved performance on the service standards. The average days to provide a decision went from 150 to 11.
The percentage of applicants who are satisfied with the service provided by the NEB in its administration of the Participant Funding Program to ensure that the forms and support provided by staff are meeting client needs.
- Target 80%
- Results
2016-17 81% - Results
2017-18 95%
The NEB introduced several improvements to our administrative tools that eased the burden for funding applicants. This along with new indicators to measure satisfaction resulted in improvements to overall service to applicants and recipients.