PROFILE By Vawn Himmelsbach
Learning curve
New Brunswick Energy & Utilities Board's Ellen Desmond learns energy law and the violin.
Drawing a bow across the strings of a violin at the back of a children's music class isn't where you would expect to find the legal counsel for the New Brunswick Energy & Utilities Board. Aside from editing a provincial legal journal, being a lecturer, a member at large with the Canadian Bar Association, and being part of one of the largest ener- gy stories in Canada — the Quebec/N.B. power deal — Ellen Desmond decided to take up the violin. It wasn't a decision totally out of the
blue, she found out her three children were learning it in school so decided to take up the instrument along with them. But Desmond isn't only learning in music class; having a social justice background may seem like 180 degrees from energy law, so industry-based jar- gon was part of the learning curve when she moved into her role four years ago. The energy board is an independent
Crown agency established by the legis- lature to regulate the electricity, natural gas, and motor carrier industries and set maximum gasoline prices for the province. "I had no idea what energy law was when I first started private practice," says Desmond. "It's a small bar and we probably see the same eight or 10 counsel every time. For 95 per cent of
I had no idea what energy law was when I fi rst started private practice.
ELLEN DESMOND, New Brunswick Energy & Utilities Board
INHOUSE APRIL 2010 •
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