EDMONTON — Jason Wang, senior analyst at the Pembina Institute’s electricity program, made the following statement in response to the Government of Alberta’s announcement that it intends to launch a legal challenge against the federal Clean Electricity Regulations:
“Today’s announcement from the Government of Alberta is disappointing. At a time when other governments across this country and across the world are attracting investment in low-cost, secure, clean power, and modernizing their electricity grids to be fit for the needs of the next century, Alberta is introducing yet more uncertainty to its electricity market. This will further undermine investment confidence at the worst possible time.
“The points Premier Danielle Smith raised today around reliability and affordability are nothing new. They are based on unpublished analysis from the Alberta Electric System Operator and are unchanged from the concerns that Alberta repeatedly raised in 2023 and 2024 during engagement with the Government of Canada. The final version of the Clean Electricity Regulations included several revisions in response to Alberta’s feedback, such as an increase in the carbon intensity threshold for gas plants, as well as extending the number of years existing gas plants could remain in operation. This ensured the final rules balanced reliability needs, while still charting a clear course ahead for investment in low-cost, low-emissions electricity production and grid modernization. Nevertheless, Alberta continues to cite these same concerns, as if no such collaboration between it and the federal government ever took place.
“For the last two years, electricity investment in Alberta (especially its renewables sector, which was previously leading Canada), has suffered under repeated layers of regulatory and policy uncertainty introduced by the provincial government. Instead of fully utilizing the range of tools at its disposal to build a grid fit for the future – such as renewables, interties, transmission and demand-side measures; exactly the technologies that the CER guides investment towards – the province is claiming that a continuation of the status quo gas-fired power is the only solution to reliability and affordability. In the meantime, Alberta’s communities are missing out on billions of dollars of investment and tax revenues that clean electricity projects would bring.
“One thing Alberta has not done is present any alternate plan for its future electricity system. Instead of launching a legal challenge that leaves investors guessing about future policy trajectory, Alberta could have sought an equivalency agreement – and demonstrated that it takes affordability, reliability and electricity emissions seriously.”
Quick facts
- In comments today, Premier Smith asserted that the Clean Electricity Regulations have undermined investments in gas-fired power in the province. However, since the publication of the draft regulations in August 2023, a total of 30 new gas-fired power plants have been proposed in Alberta, for a total installed capacity of 4,600 MW, which would grow Alberta’s gas fleet by 35%. As of April 2025, none of these projects have been cancelled following the publication of the finalized regulations (in December 2024). The lack of additional new project proposals in 2025 does not seem to be a consequence of the publication of the final version of the Clean Electricity Regulations, but rather a result of the AESO's new cluster approval process, which seeks to approve new power project proposals in groups, rather than one at a time. As such, it is likely that new gas project proposals will appear in the new cluster, which is set to open in October 2025.
- Since the start of the Government of Alberta’s seven-month moratorium on renewables in August 2023, the same month as the first draft of the Clean Electricity Regulations, 39 wind and 122 solar projects have been cancelled, representing over 14,000 MW of installed capacity.
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Contact
Alex Burton
Communications Manager, Pembina Institute
825-994-2558
Background
Blog: Alberta is swimming against the tide on clean electricity
Media release: Alberta’s electricity market restructure remains a source of investment uncertainty
Report: I'll Have What They're Having: Lessons learned from six jurisdictions leading in wind and solar deployment
Report: Creating (Un)certainty for Renewable Projects: Review of the impact of Alberta's renewable energy moratorium one year later
