Alberta Premier Defends Potential Plan to Use Sovereignty Act If Federal Government Pushes Energy Regulation Plan

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks to the media in Calgary on Sept. 18, 2023. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith backed her government’s option to use a sovereignty motion against the federal government’s push on net-zero regulations, as she raised concerns over the risk of the power grid failing in the province.

“The federal government is creating so much uncertainty around what is going to be possible,” she said during a radio call-in show on Sept. 30.

“They are trying to make the public believe that they’re being measured and reasonable,” she said, adding the government’s expectation that new plants be 95 percent carbon dioxide-free by 2035 was too much.

Ms. Smith said that her government is on board with a net-zero emissions plan by 2050. However, it opposes the federal government’s new Clean Electricity Regulations, which impose a 2035 net-zero electricity grid objective.

“[Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada] Steven Guilbeault keeps being unreasonable and as long as he’s unreasonable, we have to continue with our campaign to educate the rest of the country about what this means not only for us but for Saskatchewan, for Nova Scotia, for New Brunswick,” Ms. Smith said, referring to the Alberta government’s public campaign against the regulation plans.

“For any other province that is contemplating having to bring on new power for growth, the targets they’ve set out there, the provisions they have, they’re not going to be achievable,” she said.

“We have to remember that when the wind doesn’t blow, it doesn’t blow and you get no power. When the sun doesn’t shine, it doesn’t shine and you get no power. We cannot run a power grid in Alberta with plus-30 and minus-30 weather,” she said.

“It’s not possible and I don’t want anyone to believe it is possible.”

Power Grid Failing

Ms. Smith said she was concerned about the state of the provincial electricity grid.

“We’ve had seven level-three alerts in the last year, which means that the power grid is close to failing,” she said. “Some people have gathered with their lights turned off to be able to maintain the integrity of the grid.”

She said most years there were none or just one alert.

“To have seven in a year shows that we have major instability and part of that is that we don’t have enough baseload that is in the system. In the next year, we’ve got three major projects, gas plants coming on that will help solve that reliability problem.”

Ms. Smith also said she was hearing concerns from business leaders about the repercussions the federal government says they will enforce if its energy regulations are not met.

“The executives responsible for that company will go to jail for three years. That’s what they’re telling the public,” she said.

“Any business executive I’m talking to, who is in the business of power plants, are saying, ‘My board of directors isn’t going to allow me to build a power plant today on the basis that I might go to jail 12 years from now, or somebody’s going to go to jail.’ And so as a result, all we have in the queue is intermittent power.”

Lack of Communication

The premier said she was also concerned about the lack of information among Canadians about the government’s plan.

“We are astonished that in New Brunswick, for instance, only 10 percent of the population even know what the Clean Electricity Regulations are, and yet they are going to be one of the most impacted provinces.”

She said it could be a result of government relying on businesses to spread the word.

“Business just quietly keeps their heads down, and then they look for other places to invest their money. It’s up to us as government to tell people the risks that they’re going to have if we don’t have reliable, affordable electricity. We are not the only ones at risk. Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick are as well. And we need to make sure everybody understands that.”