Alberta will never comply with a federal plan to phase out carbon emissions from power generation by 2035 and will go its own way if such a plan is implemented, Premier Danielle Smith said.
The province, which relies on fossil fuels for 89 per centof its electricity, can achieve a net zero power grid by 2050 but the Trudeau government’s 2035 goal would be too costly and carry the risk of blackouts, Smith said at a news conference on Monday. The price tag to zero out emissions could run as high as $400 million , she said.
Smith’s United Conservative Party, which was reelected in Canada’s major oil and gas-producing province in May, has taken a confrontational approach to dealing with Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government in Ottawa. Federal plans to phase out emissions from the electricity grid and slash emissions from the oil and gas industry are an unconstitutional encroachment on the rights of provinces, Smith has said, threatening to defy federal legislation if necessary.
Canada’s environment minister, Steven Guilbeault, released draft regulations last week to make the country’s electricity systems net zero by 2035. The federal government has pledged $40 billion in new tax credits and other investments to incentivize provinces and territories to green their power grids. But that will be easier for some than others, and both Alberta and Saskatchewan have balked at the pace of the expected change.
The draft regulations would permit some natural gas power generation, but those plants would have to emit the equivalent of 30 metric tons of carbon dioxide per gigawatt-hour or less annually and could use carbon capture and storage systems to meet that standard.
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