Them’s fighting words..Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was succinct in her response to the Liberal government’s proposed clean energy regulations:.“They will not be implemented in our province – period.”.And she made a not-so-thinly veiled threat to execute the Sovereignty Act if Alberta and Ottawa are unable to come to terms..“If this alignment is not achieved, Alberta will chart its own path to ensuring we have additional reliable and affordable electricity brought onto our power grid that is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”.It comes after Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault unleashed a hornet’s nest in Ottawa Thursday morning with the long-awaited draft net-zero power regulations..That came after Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson released a policy vision statement in Vancouver on Tuesday..In his own remarks, Wilkinson seemed to anticipate the hostility from provinces that rely on fossil fuels — Alberta and Saskatchewan, but also Nova Scotia — to power their grids by stressing that the looming regulations are indeed “proposed” and not final. .In his own remarks, Guilbeault said his takeaway from his meeting in Calgary last month was that the message from local business leaders was: “Just tell us what the rules are.”.Now that they have presumably been made aware, the draft will go to a 75-day ‘consultation’ period for review..“One of the only positives at this point is that these are ‘draft’ regulations and Alberta is about to commence a working group with the federal government to discuss how to bring Ottawa’s efforts to decarbonize the economy in line with Alberta’s Emissions Reduction and Energy Development Plan,” Smith said. .Smith said this will be accomplished by ensuring an appropriate amount of high-efficiency natural gas base load is added to the grid while incentivizing carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) abated natural gas generation, small modular reactors, hydrogen generation and a sustainable amount of wind, solar and other renewables to drive down electricity costs..“This is the direction Alberta is going. We invite the federal government to support us, rather than hinder us, in doing so,” she said..Those sentiments were echoed by Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz at a press conference in Calgary on Thursday where she accused the federal government of “bait and switch” tactics..Schulz, who met with Guilbeault in Calgary last month — and apparently spoke with him by phone as late as yesterday — said she was completely blindsided by the announcement..”This is not in good faith,” she said. “It’s disappointing and quite frankly, disrespectful.”.”Who would trust the federal government with their math?”.After the meeting she told the Western Standard she was becoming so emotional she almost dropped her pen..Nonetheless, the message was the same. .“They (the regulations) will not be implemented in Alberta. They can’t… that is non-negotiable.”
Them’s fighting words..Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was succinct in her response to the Liberal government’s proposed clean energy regulations:.“They will not be implemented in our province – period.”.And she made a not-so-thinly veiled threat to execute the Sovereignty Act if Alberta and Ottawa are unable to come to terms..“If this alignment is not achieved, Alberta will chart its own path to ensuring we have additional reliable and affordable electricity brought onto our power grid that is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”.It comes after Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault unleashed a hornet’s nest in Ottawa Thursday morning with the long-awaited draft net-zero power regulations..That came after Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson released a policy vision statement in Vancouver on Tuesday..In his own remarks, Wilkinson seemed to anticipate the hostility from provinces that rely on fossil fuels — Alberta and Saskatchewan, but also Nova Scotia — to power their grids by stressing that the looming regulations are indeed “proposed” and not final. .In his own remarks, Guilbeault said his takeaway from his meeting in Calgary last month was that the message from local business leaders was: “Just tell us what the rules are.”.Now that they have presumably been made aware, the draft will go to a 75-day ‘consultation’ period for review..“One of the only positives at this point is that these are ‘draft’ regulations and Alberta is about to commence a working group with the federal government to discuss how to bring Ottawa’s efforts to decarbonize the economy in line with Alberta’s Emissions Reduction and Energy Development Plan,” Smith said. .Smith said this will be accomplished by ensuring an appropriate amount of high-efficiency natural gas base load is added to the grid while incentivizing carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) abated natural gas generation, small modular reactors, hydrogen generation and a sustainable amount of wind, solar and other renewables to drive down electricity costs..“This is the direction Alberta is going. We invite the federal government to support us, rather than hinder us, in doing so,” she said..Those sentiments were echoed by Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz at a press conference in Calgary on Thursday where she accused the federal government of “bait and switch” tactics..Schulz, who met with Guilbeault in Calgary last month — and apparently spoke with him by phone as late as yesterday — said she was completely blindsided by the announcement..”This is not in good faith,” she said. “It’s disappointing and quite frankly, disrespectful.”.”Who would trust the federal government with their math?”.After the meeting she told the Western Standard she was becoming so emotional she almost dropped her pen..Nonetheless, the message was the same. .“They (the regulations) will not be implemented in Alberta. They can’t… that is non-negotiable.”
