Alberta is set to meet its goal to eliminate coal-fired electricity production years earlier than its 2030 target, thanks to recently announced natural gas conversion projects.

The money will fund four planning, training and research programs in Alberta and five in Saskatchewan.

The provincial government announced Monday that the east-central Alberta town of Hanna would be receiving $450,000 to help stimulate economic diversification.

TransAlta Corp. has committed to phase out its coal-fired power plants years ahead of Alberta government deadlines.

Conservative think tank Fraser Institute says the concept of 'dirty coal' is out of date, and phasing out coal will do little to alleviate the burden on our environment and our healthcare system.

The province is giving the entity that brokers the electricity system —known as the balancing pool — the ability to borrow money from the province to manage its funding obligations so those costs don't get passed on to consumers.

Alberta's environment minister says a federal plan to phase out coal-fired electricity by 2030 helps validate the province's own goal and demonstrates there's no going back.

In Hanna, about 200 of its 2,700 residents are directly employed by Atco's Sheerness coal power station, and the Westmoreland mine adjacent to it.

Capital Power has once again delayed a final go-ahead on its new natural gas-fired power plant south of Edmonton because of continued uncertainty about Alberta's coal phase-out and power market.