Enbridge Seeks Approval to Sell Stake to Indigenous Communities

(Bloomberg) -- Enbridge Inc. is seeking regulatory approval to sell a stake in its British Columbia natural gas pipeline system to Indigenous groups, potentially presaging another partnership between those communities and Canadian energy companies.

The application to the Canada Energy Regulator changes the ownership structure of the system, allowing possible indigenous owners, but doesn’t mean a deal is imminent, the Calgary-based company said in an email. Enbridge mentioned the filing on its earnings call on Friday.

Canadian energy companies are increasingly partnering with the Indigenous communities their projects affect, partly to burnish their ESG credentials and head off legal opposition to projects. Enbridge last month said it was working with Indigenous groups to develop a wind farm in southeast Saskatchewan and has previously sold pipeline stakes to communities in Alberta.

Rival TC Energy Corp. recently agreed to sell a stake in its NGTL gas pipeline system to 72 indigenous communities in western Canada in a C$1 billion ($721 million) transaction. That deal too was proceeded, last year, by the filing of a regulatory application with the CER.