GAO examines North American energy integration
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently examined North American energy integration efforts between the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
GAO officials said they looked at how federal agencies are supporting initiatives to incorporate the energy sectors of the three countries further.
The agency said it learned the United States cooperates with Canada and Mexico on integrating North American energy markets and infrastructure, noting there is a working relationship at the presidential and ministerial levels for strategic issues and technical issues.
But officials acknowledge there has been limited progress on some strategic issues.
The GAO said eight American agencies have engaged in multiple efforts to facilitate North American energy integration, with the Department of Energy generally serving as the lead agency on energy integration issues. They said the Department of State also leads some bilateral and trilateral efforts.
For the report, the GAO surveyed and interviewed identified 81 energy integration–related activities conducted in 2014 through 2017, including international agreements and other instruments, research and development, technical forums and assistance, regulatory cooperation and trade promotion.
Officials representing each nation expressed general satisfaction with intergovernmental cooperation on energy integration and said cooperative activities helped foster integration. They also suggested further work in areas such as aligning energy regulations.
Aligning regulations, codes, and standards in all three countries to the extent possible served as another possible alignment suggestion.
