It didn’t take long for Environmental Minister Steven Guilbeault to add his two cents worth into Alberta’s electricity debate, after the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) warned on Thursday that his policies could leave Albertans — literally — freezing in the dark in winter..Shortly after AESO chief executive Mike Law gave a rare, and dire warning about the potential damage the feds’ proposed electricity regulations would cause, Guilbeault gave a lengthy screed on Twitter ("X") proclaiming he knows best and accused Law of spreading “misinformation.”.“Any claim that building a clean electricity grid in Alberta will lead to blackouts is misinformation, designed to inflame not inform,” he wrote. “I urge the AESO to publicly release its analysis that underlies these claims.”.Guilbeault further went on to proclaim “flexibility” on the issue of operating gas plants in winter..“Because of the flexibilities we've built in, there is no cliff for natural gas plants as a result,” he added..The proposed regulations add contingencies for 450 hours per year — 18 days — which both Premier Danielle Smith and AESO’s Law complained wouldn’t get Alberta to the end of January..Guilbeault also touted $335 million in federal dollars for 21 Alberta-based solar and wind projects — even though, for Smith, the closer number to bring Alberta’s grid to ECCC standards is more like half a trillion dollars..Nobody really knows, added Environmental Minister Rebecca Schulz, because the technology hasn’t been built yet..As if to seemingly underscore the point, Energy and Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, along with Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault on Thursday awarded $23 million for a wind project in Cypress County on the Blood reserve it says will power 15,000 homes per year..At a speech to the Canadian Club in Ottawa on Wednesday, Guilbeault blamed a “noisy minority” for suggesting political and and executives could be criminally charged for failing to meet emissions targets calling it a “fabrication.”."I keep seeing critics falsely claim that we are banning all gas generation by 2035 — upon threat of jail time," he said. "This fabrication is not designed to inform, it is designed to inflame.”."But while fact-checkers play whack-a-mole with misinformation and insults around climate change, the cost of inaction keeps rising — a debt to our kids and grandkids that too few politicians talk about."
