Event5 October 2017Action

TransCanada terminates the Energy East pipeline to Quebec and New Brunswick

TransCanada (now TC Energy) said it would no longer proceed with its Energy East and Eastern Mainline projects, withdrawing its applications from the National Energy Board and Energy East from Quebec's environmental review "after careful review of changed circumstances". It expected an after-tax non-cash charge of about C$1 billion on the project's carrying value of about C$1.3 billion (TransCanada release, 5 October 2017).

Date

5 October 2017

Kind

Investment decision

Where

Canada

Evidence

Action: Something was done: a law switched on, a tariff imposed, money committed. How evidence is weighed

Who

TC Energy (acted)

Sources

• TransCanada (TC Energy), “TransCanada Announces Termination of Energy East Pipeline and Eastern Mainline Projects” (external site), 5 October 2017. source record
• Canada Energy Regulator, “ARCHIVED – Energy East and Eastern Mainline Projects” (external site), 11 January 2024. source record

Projects

• Energy East pipeline (TransCanada)

Claims that rest on this event

• SupportsOutcome

  Canada's build-out was not obvious in advance. The US Energy Secretary said new Canadian pipelines were hard to build and did not expect the oil trade to change; conservative US analysts expected only a Conservative government to unleash oil and gas; and after Northern Gateway and Energy East fell through, 'Canada won't build' was a reasonable default. Some analysts foresaw Canada selling elsewhere, but in the US public record we found no one who predicted it would build fast and keep supplying the US. It is a surprising result that needs explaining.

  TransCanada terminated Energy East.