Alberta’s energy regulator issued two grid alerts within less than a week as the province’s electricity infrastructure struggles to keep up with heavy demand and low output from renewable energy sources like solar and wind.
The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) issued its latest grid alert on Aug. 29 in response to “challenging conditions caused by hot weather, heavy demand, a B.C. outage impacting imports, low wind and declining solar.”
The grid alerts have prompted Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to call for a more reliable electricity supply as provinces face increasing pressure from the federal government to convert to a net-zero electricity grid via the Clean Electricity Regulations.
“It is critical that Alberta add more base-load power from natural gas and other sources to our electricity grid to protect the reliability and affordability of power for Albertans,” said Smith.
Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs also chimed in and blasted the Trudeau government for imposing a “costly transition” away from fossil fuels.
“Yet again, what yesterday’s Alberta grid alert points out is that the reality of electricity generation and grid capacity in every province and territory is the number one question the Liberals must answer Canadians ASAP as they talk about imposing their costly transition away from oil and natural gas, penalize and increase the costs of traditional energy for everyday Canadians, and set targets and penalties around EV sales, which will require a massive scale up,” posted Stubbs on X.
“How will they get there? How will they incent innovation and technology instead of letting it collapse in Canada’s ‘valley of death’ between idea and commercialization, and stop driving innovation and investment out of Canada? How will major projects actually get approved and built in Canada when the Liberals’ track record after 8 years is the opposite?”
Recently, Saskatchewan’s energy regulator said achieving the Liberal government’s target year of 2035 to achieve net-zero was impossible for provinces that don’t have access to alternatives like hydroelectricity.
SaskPower spokesperson Scott McGregor told the outlet Pipeline Online that the target year was unfeasible.
“SaskPower is working as fast as it can to decarbonize the power grid while also providing reliable, sustainable, and cost-effective power,” McGregor told the outlet.
“We’re committed to achieving a net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions power system and we’re on track to do so by 2050 or earlier. We’re also on track to reduce GHG emissions by 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. However, reaching net zero by 2035 isn’t feasible technically, logistically, or financially.”
