Close X
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
ADVT 
National

As Alberta Shifts From Coal, Electricity Utility Warns Of Ontario-style Rate Hikes

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 18 Nov, 2015 11:04 AM
    CALGARY — Change is coming to Alberta's electricity sector, but industry watchers are divided on how it will affect rates for consumers already hit hard by the enduring global oil price slump.
     
    Pointing to Ontario, TransAlta chief executive Dawn Farrell recently raised the spectre of rate hikes while pushing for the Calgary-based utility's proposed plan to transition away from coal-fired power plants.
     
    There is a "real risk to consumers, including Alberta businesses, of price spikes and volatility" as the province moves away from coal-fired generation and adds more renewable energy, she wrote in an opinion piece that ran in two Alberta newspapers.
     
    In Ontario, she pointed out, electricity prices have climbed roughly 50 per cent over the past five years compared to 10 per cent in Alberta in the same period.
     
    That's "largely due to an aggressive program to retire coal generation and subsidize rapid renewable energy growth," she wrote.
     
    But Ben Thibault, director of the Pembina Institute's electricity program, says Alberta shouldn't see Ontario-style spikes because renewable power costs have come down significantly since Ontario started transitioning, and there are also more options when it comes to supplies.
     
    "There's some qualitative reasons that I think we're in different circumstances," Thibault said.
     
    Alberta's privatized power market will also help allocate investments to the best generating options, he said.
     
    "We have a market in place in Alberta that will find the cheapest alternative generating sources, so I think this transition can be done in a way that is a more measured approach," said Thibault.
     
    Whether Ontario's price spikes have been caused entirely by its transition away from coal-fired power plants is also subject to debate.
     
    Tom Adams, an independent energy consultant, has been highly critical of Ontario's transition and blames the rate hikes on the coal phase-out.
     
    "Almost everything points back to the 'off coal' decision of 2003," said Adams.
     
    He added that early cost estimates on the transition away from coal were wildly inaccurate, including one put forth by the Ontario Clean Air Alliance that pegged the cost to transition at $1.86 a month, or about the cost of "a cup of coffee and a doughnut."
     
    "This proved to be so ridiculously understated that it would be comical if it hadn't become such a grave issue (in Ontario)," said Adams. "Electricity prices are soaring in Ontario; they are going to continue increasing for the next several years, according to official forecasts."
     
    The Ontario Energy Board has hiked prices twice this year, adding about 4.6 per cent to the average household bill in April and another 3.4 per cent in October.
     
    But it blamed the costs from nuclear and hydro-electric power plants for 40 to 50 per cent of the rate increase. Renewable energy made up about a third of the rate increase.
     
    Thibault said Ontario has suffered for setting fixed rates for renewable energy that were far too high, but he said lessons have been learned and Ontario has since tweaked its methods.
     
    Alberta's NDP government is set to unveil its power transition plan before the Paris climate change conference starting Nov. 30.
     
    In September, Premier Rachel Notley committed to phasing out coal use in the province as quickly as is reasonable "without imposing unnecessary price shocks on consumers."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    UNHCR Says Syrian Refugees Will Be Processed In Canada, Welcomes Commitment

    Syrian refugees being brought to Canada by the Liberal government will only be given temporary residency permits until their cases have been fully processed in Canada, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee says.

    UNHCR Says Syrian Refugees Will Be Processed In Canada, Welcomes Commitment

    RCMP Stymied In Probe Of Parliament Hill Shooter's Winchester Rifle

    RCMP Stymied In Probe Of Parliament Hill Shooter's Winchester Rifle
    The RCMP believes it has "come to a dead end" in its probe of where Parliament Hill shooter Michael Zehaf Bibeau got his gun — one of the most vexing questions about the events of Oct. 22, 2014.

    RCMP Stymied In Probe Of Parliament Hill Shooter's Winchester Rifle

    Ottawa Says Montreal Can Dump 8 Billion Litres Of Sewage Into River If Conditions Met

    Ottawa Says Montreal Can Dump 8 Billion Litres Of Sewage Into River If Conditions Met
    The city must also upgrade its monitoring of the river's water quality before, during and after the discharge and give that data to the Environment Department.

    Ottawa Says Montreal Can Dump 8 Billion Litres Of Sewage Into River If Conditions Met

    US To Ask Canada, UK To Extradite Officials In Cancer Drug Smuggling Case

    US To Ask Canada, UK To Extradite Officials In Cancer Drug Smuggling Case
    Only the one U.S.-based defendant of the 14 named has appeared in two previous court hearings in the case.

    US To Ask Canada, UK To Extradite Officials In Cancer Drug Smuggling Case

    PM Says Bombardier Must Make A Business Case If It Wants Federal Aid

    Trudeau was responding to questions at a closed-door Canadian Labour Congress gathering in Ottawa — the first time a sitting prime minister has addressed the country's biggest labour body in more than 50 years.

    PM Says Bombardier Must Make A Business Case If It Wants Federal Aid

    Federal Health Minister Speaks With Ontario Minister On Health Accord, Refugees

    Federal Health Minister Speaks With Ontario Minister On Health Accord, Refugees
    OTTAWA — Ontario's health minister says he is hopeful the new federal government's approach to the health file will mean a "new era."

    Federal Health Minister Speaks With Ontario Minister On Health Accord, Refugees