Send a Letter: Oppose the Cancellation of a Public Hearing for Summit Coal Inc.’s Mine 14 Project

August 26, 2025

Coal
Energy

AWA staff and volunteers protest outside of the Alberta Energy Regulator office in Calgary on January 14, 2025.

On August 21, the CEO of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) cancelled the public hearing for Mine 14, an underground metallurgical coal mine near Grande Cache, Alberta, proposed by Summit Coal Inc.

A public hearing is a formal proceeding. It allows the public to voice concern or support for a development project. According to the AER, a public hearing “allows the hearing commissioners to make a fully informed decision” about the project. Public hearings serve as a vital tool for public transparency and for keeping communities informed about the potential impacts of a project.

The public hearing was supposed to be on October 21, 2025, until AER CEO Rob Morgan, a former oil and gas executive, cancelled the hearing outright. This is an action that Morgan himself acknowledges “is without precedent.”

Summit has now successfully circumvented the public hearing process and invalidated all the previous decisions made by the AER’s own hearing commissioners and panel by appealing directly to the CEO of the AER. Morgan’s decision undermines the authority and credibility of the AER, the hearing commissioners, the panel appointed to review Mine 14, and the entirety of the public hearing process.

Send your letter if you disagree with the CEO’s decision to cancel the public hearing.

Send a Letter: Oppose the Cancellation of a Public Hearing for Summit Coal Inc.'s Mine 14 Project

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I am writing to express my strong disapproval of your unprecedented decision to cancel the public hearing for Mine 14, an underground metallurgical coal mine near Grande Cache proposed by Summit Coal Inc.

Public hearings serve as a vital tool for public transparency and for keeping communities informed about the potential impacts of a project. The AER recognizes a public hearing “allows the hearing commissioners to make a fully informed decision” about the project. They are one of the few avenues available for members of the public to voice their concern or support for a project, and to directly participate in resource development in Alberta.

The decision to cancel that opportunity at industry’s request, overturning your staff’s previous decisions at all stages of the proceeding, raises significant doubts about whether community voices are valued in the regulatory process. It risks creating the impression that industry can sidestep accountability by appealing directly to you when dissatisfied with established procedures.

Such a perception undermines confidence in the fairness of the regulatory system and weakens trust in the AER’s ability to balance industry interests with the broader public interest. This is especially concerning given the AER’s mandate to act on behalf of Albertans in managing public waters, lands, and resources.

I urge you to reconsider this decision and to take steps that demonstrate a clear commitment to transparency, independence, and the separation of executive and adjudicative functions at the AER. These measures would help restore public trust in the AER’s processes going forward.

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