The government of Alberta has sent an 18-page technical submission to Ottawa detailing exactly why it says the national Clean Electricity Regulations “are simply unworkable.”
In a letter attached to the submission to the federal government, Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Shulz wrote:
“In Alberta, your regulations will increase power bills, lead to job losses, compromise the grid, and impose health and safety risks when blackouts occur. The federal electricity regulations are simply unworkable and I encourage you to scrap them entirely, before it is too late.”
The purpose of the regulations is threefold, according to federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault. It is designed to increase Canada’s economic competitiveness, transition the energy economy to renewables and fight climate change.
READ MORE: Ottawa unveils draft rules to clean Canada’s electricity grid
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has set a target of making the electricity grid net-zero by 2035.
The regulations ask more of Alberta than most provinces, strictly because of the current makeup of the power grid — which is heavily reliant on natural gas.
“The clean electricity regulations state that large power generating facilities have to admit below a certain amount of tons of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour of electricity that they’re producing. That figure is 30 tons of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour,” explained Sophie Simmonds, managing director of consulting firm Anova Energy.
Simmonds said a hydro-electric plant, like the ones used in Ontario, emits roughly 25 tons of CO2 per gigawatt hour, but a natural gas fired power plant will emit between 300 and 500 tons of CO2 per gigawatt hour.
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“So the federal government is essentially asking Alberta to change 70 per cent of our electricity grid compared with most of the other provinces out there who are having to change between 20 and 30 per cent,” Simmonds said.
“So that’s really the reason why Alberta’s had such a strong opposition.”
Making the change to renewable electricity sources is something Simmonds said has multiple benefits.
“Not only from a carbon emissions perspective, but also renewable sources by definition can be used over and over again, unlike fossil fuels of which have an end life.”
But she acknowledges it will be an expensive transition, something the province has been warning people of in their $8 million cross-country advertising campaign.
“That cost is going to be passed down to the consumer in some way,” Simmonds said.
There are, however, costs to inaction as well. Climate change results in more frequent and more intense natural disasters. Alberta just experienced its most devastating wildfire season on record, forcing the evacuation of more than 38,000 people.
The province’s “Tell the Feds” ad campaign also warns Canadians could be plunged into darkness by the new regulations.
“Our regulator has said that there are very real risks of blackouts. I mean, last year alone we had seven grid alerts,” said Minister Shulz.
But David Gray, the former executive director of the Alberta’s Utility Consumer Advocate, says that’s an issue the province has created — by allowing four companies to monopolize power generation.
“We have a risk of blackouts because we have a shortage of capacity, sometimes caused by these guys taking plants off line and we have prices that have quintupled — not just quadrupled.”
He notes electricity was six cents per kilowatt hour just three years ago. Now, it’s 32 cents per kilowatt hour.
Shulz said Alberta has its own targets, and argues this is provincial jurisdiction.
“Our aspiration of being carbon neutral by 2050, it’s aligned with industry. We’re asking the federal government to join us to show that flexibility to reduce emissions.”
In a statement issued to Global News on Monday, a spokesperson for Guilbeault’s office said the Clean Electricity Regulations “offer provinces and territories flexibility and a neutral approach to decide which technology works best for them so that Canadians can count on affordable, reliable electricity.”
The statement said the federal government looks forward to working with other levels of government on the draft regulations.
“The draft regulations were informed by extensive engagement with all provinces and territories, Indigenous organizations, utilities, industry and experts,” the statement reads. “These engagements will continue over the consultation period, and will help inform the final regulations, which are expected in 2024.
“The federal government is very open to feedback in the spirit of ensuring we ‘get this right.’ We know that there are some sticky areas for some provinces, and we will work to address them.”
Guilbeault’s office noted the federal government has now committed over $40 billion to support the clean electricity sector.
“Environment and Climate Change Canada has received and is carefully reviewing the government of Alberta’s technical submission,” the statement reads.
— with files from Global News’ Sarah Komadina
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