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Market Surveillance Panel
The Market Surveillance Panel (MSP) monitors, investigates and reports on activities and behaviour in the IESO-administered markets in Ontario's electricity sector. IESO stands for Independent Electricity System Operator.
The Panel’s specific responsibilities include:
- monitoring activities and behaviour in the IESO-administered markets and recommending remedial action
- investigating market activities and the behaviour of specific market participants (for example, if they are suspected of gaming or abusing their market power) and making recommendations related to the results of its investigations
- reporting on the results of its monitoring and investigations
Under the Electricity Restructuring Act, 2004, the MSP transferred to the Ontario Energy Board from the IESO, effective January 1, 2005. Section 4.3.1 of the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998 provides the statutory basis for the continuation of the MSP, while Section 37 of the Electricity Act, 1998, establishes the MSP’s statutory powers of investigation. The mandate of the Panel is set out in OEB Bylaw #3, which was most recently amended by By-law #5.
The Board and the IESO have entered into a Protocol under which the IESO's market assessment unit will continue to assist the Market Surveillance Panel now that it has become a Panel of the Board. The Protocol, which was contemplated in the Board’s By-law #3, also provides for the Market Surveillance Panel to continue to assist and advise the IESO on various matters arising under the market rules and addresses issues relating to confidentiality and the exchange of information. The Protocol came into effect on April 25, 2005 for a period of one year and has been renewed for two successive two-year terms to April 25, 2010.
Panel Members
The members of the Panel bring with them broad experience and expertise in economics, competition law, corporate governance, public policy and the electricity industry:
Neil Campbell is a partner with McMillan Binch Mendelsohn where he practises competition, trade and foreign investment law. He is also a member of the firm's Board of Partners and the Head of its International Business and Trade Law practice group. Mr. Campbell authored Merger Law and Practice: The Regulation of Mergers Under the Competition Act and has made numerous contributions to policy papers, journals and books on competition, trade and investment subjects. Mr. Campbell was called to the Ontario Bar in 1991 and holds a Doctorate of Juridical Science from the University of Toronto, specializing in competition and trade law, as well as an M.B.A. with a major in public administration from York University. Mr. Campbell fills the vacancy left by the departure of former Chair, Dr. Fred Gorbet.
Don McFetridge received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Toronto. Dr. McFetridge is currently a Professor of Economics at Carleton University where he has been teaching and engaging in research on industrial organization, anti-trust, regulatory and public policy issues for more than 25 years.
Tom Rusnov, P.Eng., earned a B.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Toronto. He has gained extensive knowledge and experience in the Ontario energy sector while serving for more than 34 years in various capacities with Ontario Hydro. Mr. Rusnov spent most of his career planning the Ontario power system and as a Manager within the System Planning Division. In 1991 he was appointed Director - Hydraulic Generation and Transmission Operations Division and, during Hydro’s major downsizing and restructuring in 1993, he was appointed General Manager - Grid System. In 1996, he was appointed General Manager - Distribution. He retired from Ontario Hydro in September 1998.