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Home > 50^th Anniversary > Staff Stories > Michel Mantha

Michel Mantha

Michel L. Mantha, former Secretary of the Board, retired in April 2007 after 35 years of service. During the early years of his career, Michel focused on socio-economic studies for initiatives such as the Arctic Pilot Project and the North Bay shortcut, then moved on to the financial regulatory area where he worked on toll applications methodology. In March 2009, Michel returned to the Board temporarily as Executive Advisor to the Chair. Charged with overseeing the NEB’s 50^th anniversary celebration, Michel is a results-oriented team worker who values the challenges, opportunities and colleagues he encountered at the Board.

What is your most memorable work experience at the NEB?

When the Board moved to Calgary in 1991, I was the Financial Regulatory Branch Advisor for Division R. In this position, I was responsible for the rates of return tolls applications and the research on incentive tolls which eventually formed the basis for the current rate of return formula.

One of my most memorable experiences occurred while I was the project manager of the TQM (Trans Québec & Maritimes) RH-4-92 tolls application.

In order to facilitate the Board's move to Calgary in 1991, all the tolls applications were put on hold for a year. This provided a transition period because a lot of people had left and our French complement went down considerably after the move. The TQM application was filed in August 1992. My goal as project manager was to produce Reasons for Decision before the end of the calendar year.

I had a great project group working with me. My technique in order to reach our goal was to say, we've got a lot of evidence here, so let's start writing the background information prior to the hearing. We can update the information during the hearing, then following the hearing initiate a meeting with the Panel and get the final Reasons for Decision right away while it's still fresh on everyone's mind.

We held the hearing in Montreal in December. On the airplane coming back from the hearing, I began editing the draft Reasons for Decision with Jean Morel, Counsel for the Board at that time. We landed in Calgary late on Friday, and the next Tuesday we had a Project Working Group meeting with the Board panel to review the Reasons for Decision, in both official languages. The panel reviewed the draft Reasons for Decision and found they had no changes. That's quite unusual. On Thursday of that week it was brought before the Board for noting, and then it was published the following week.

Basically that's a Board record for processing tolls applications which, under normal circumstances, can take up to two years. I must say it was accomplished only through great team work and cooperation.

What is your fondest memory of the NEB?

I have so many. They're all good memories. I was always happy to be here, to come to the office and work on issues. I'm a results-oriented individual and I like the team spirit of working with other people.

Who among your colleagues at the NEB has most influenced you?

Board Chairs Gaétan Caron, Ken Vollman and Roland Priddle were mentors to me.

Of the projects you have worked on, what had the most impact on Canadians?

When I moved to Calgary I was acting advisor in the financial regulatory branch. I had been studying what was happening in the U.S. and England in terms of tolls and incentive regulations. After reviewing all the rate of return evidence coming in for the new tolls applications, one thing became obvious. Companies would hire expert witnesses to provide rate of return evidence to support their requested rate of return on equity. These tolls applications cost millions of dollars to develop by the companies the NEB regulates. I remember sitting down in a casual discussion with Ken Vollman, then Vice-Chair, and Chair Roland Priddle. I shared my observation that all the rate of return on equity evidence filed for all the Group 1 companies was virtually the same - the only difference was the company name and their deemed equity-risk ratio. That observation spearheaded the development of the current generic rate of return formula.

This change saved a lot of money for the public because of the reduction in tolls applications. A lot of companies later reached tolls settlements. So it saved a lot of work for the Board and for the companies, as well as saving money in terms of the expenses incurred by a tolls application.

Is there anything you would like to say to today’s NEB staff?

I see a lot of new young faces. I think there are great career opportunities for young people to come forward and progress. I'm a good example of that - coming in as an economist and as the head of supply and demand data for the economics Branch and eventually retiring as Secretary of the Board.

The NEB is a really excellent employer. I would say to the young crowd, don't be scared to take risks, to take chances and try new ideas. There's always room for progress and improvements.

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Date Modified:

2011-10-26