Alberta to study forming its own power company in fight with PM Trudeau
27/11/2023 21:51
By Rod Nickel
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The premier of
Canada's oil and gas producing province Alberta said on Monday
her government will consider creating a publicly-owned
electricity company, in a bid to evade federal requirements to
develop a net-zero power grid by 2035.
The move is Alberta's latest attempt to undermine the
climate action plans of Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
which Premier Danielle Smith and other conservative politicians
say are unrealistic.
Smith's United Conservative Party (UCP) government
introduced a resolution in the Alberta legislature to study
forming a province-run power corporation run under its
Sovereignty Act, a previously unused law enacted last year to
give Alberta a legislative framework to defy federal laws it
opposes.
The resolution, once passed by the UCP majority government,
would also order provincial authorities not to cooperate in
implementing the Canadian federal government's planned clean
electricity regulations, which aim to make the country's power
grid net-zero on emissions by 2035. Such regulations would be
costly to implement and could lead to power shortages, Smith
said.
"It's simply too massive a risk for Albertans," Smith told
reporters. "If we do not act we will end up with instability in
our grid (and) we will either not be able to grow as a province
or end up with brownouts and blackouts."
The resolution would instruct the Alberta government to
study forming a corporation to produce electricity if
private-sector generators determine it is too risky to operate
such facilities because of the Canadian government's
regulations.
The Alberta government company would be "generator of last
resort," Smith said, meaning it would produce power only when
supplies from private-sector companies are insufficient. The
province currently generates most of its power from the private
sector, unlike most others.
That power corporation would not recognize federal
regulations as valid. It would build or buy power plants that
run on natural gas that might otherwise not be able to operate
past 2035 due to the regulations.
Canada already produces most of its power from renewable
sources such as hydro and nuclear. Alberta, however, generates
nearly half of Canada's emissions from electricity generation
due to its reliance on natural gas.
Power generators such as TransAlta TA.TO and Capital Power
CPX.TO have not committed to Trudeau's 2035 goal but some say
they may reach net-zero ahead of Alberta's own 2050 target.
The federal government's electricity regulations are in
draft form and scheduled to come into force on Jan. 1, 2025
after further consultation.
"We hope the federal government backs down," Smith said.
She said the fight may end up in court, stressing that
regulating electricity falls under provincial jurisdiction under
the Constitution.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault was not
immediately available to comment. On Sunday, his spokesperson
said Ottawa has been collaborating in good faith with Alberta on
the regulations.
In a legal challenge brought by Alberta, a court ruled in
October against Trudeau's environmental assessment law for
resource projects, saying it was too broad.
(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba, editing by
Deepa Babington)
((rod.nickel@tr.com; X: @RodNickel_Rtrs;))