Understanding Alberta’s Expensive, Ideological War on Renewable Energy

Understanding Alberta’s Expensive, Ideological War on Renewable Energy

“This is what happens when ideology runs the power grid,” said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in July 2023 when asked about the province’s sky-high electricity rates. Smith was attempting to cast blame on renewable energy policies of the former New Democratic Party government that had left office more than four years earlier. Just one month later the premier abruptly signed a moratorium on all wind and solar projects followed by additional onero…

New Alberta energy market design will lead to ‘higher power prices and less wind and solar’ - Canadian Renewable Energy Association

Alberta’s electrical grid operator has unveiled its long-awaited energy market reforms, a new framework for the province’s electricity market that is designed to improve reliability and affordability and pull in fresh private investment for more power generation, transmission and storage. But Canadian clean energy advocates have said AESO’s restructured energy market plan, in development for two years, “misses the mark” on modernizing Alberta’s …

Alberta’s restructured energy market misses mark for modernizing the grid - The Environment Journal

Earlier this year, the Alberta government announced it was changing electricity regulations in order to strengthen the power grid, lower and stabilize utility bills, and encourage investment in the province. However, critics say the electricity market rules recently released encourage more expensive means of power generation and discourage new investment in wind and solar projects—the lowest-cost forms of energy generation. “This means Albertans…