Top EUB officials retire in wake of spying controversy

Three directors of the Energy and Utilities Board are leaving the agency rocked by a spying scandal for "personal reasons."

John Nichol, Ian Douglas and Graham Lock sat on an EUB panel considering an application for a power line between Calgary and Edmonton. The agency later admitted to hiring private investigators to eavesdrop on landowners opposed to the project.

A privacy commissioner ruled the energy regulator broke the law and a government report condemned the actions.

Energy Minister Mel Knight announced Wednesday the three men are leaving their jobs for "personal reasons." A total of six people have now been let go or resigned from the EUB since the controversy broke earlier this year.

The agency has already disbanded its security unit, made up of two employees, and the manager who oversaw security for the EUB stepped down in October.

The board decided to hire plainclothes detectives after a hearing in April saw some pushing and shoving between board staff andlandowners, some of whom are worried about possible health effects of the power line.

The province has introduced a new bill to scrap the current energy regulator and create two new bodies,and to overhaul public hearings into new power lines and other projects. Bill 46is in its second reading in the Alberta legislature.