Danielle Smith warned about 'net-zero' 2035. Alberta power grid's woes showed up early
Danielle Smith warned about 'net-zero' 2035. Alberta power grid's woes showed up early
This transition had been known to be nessecary for decades, and known to Alberta that Trudeau would act on it since Trudeau won government in 2015. Alberta squandered its time and money and wants us to beleive its the victim now. Poor persecuted Alberta.
This is the same premier that declared a moratorium on new grid scale solar and wind farms. Alberta has some of the most optimal conditions in Canada for solar power and we can’t build it, because….
This is why we need to stop the fear-mongering about nuclear power
While the CANDU heavy-water plants that power half of Ontario have proven themselves safe, they're slow and expensive to build (and not cheap to operate, either). If Alberta started building one right now, it would be years before they would see any benefit. Hard to make that work in the current political climate.
Other plant types are, by my understanding, less safe, less proven, or continually five years in the future.
Politicians are punished if proactive and praised (and re-elected) if reactive.
Look at the Carbon tax now. When the equator is a no-mans-land and tornadoes are the norm, Carbon tax will seem like a "why didn't you do it back then" idea.
The new plants are smaller, safer and quicker to build, aren't they?
The energy shortage was partially caused by natural gas plants failing in cold weather. I hope the new natural gas plant they have coming online this year is more resilient to find weather.
It's been reported alternatively as "undergoing scheduled maintenance", "undergoing unscheduled maintenance", or "system failure due to cold". Scheduled maintenance is BS, no one schedules that for peak seasonal demand times. Who knows about the other two.
With the market setup in Alberta, those plants going down caused a spike in electricity spot prices. Generators can make a windfall profit in tight supply times. Residences without contracts will see their price go to something like 32¢/kWh. With the way the Alberta market rules are set up now, there are no penalties for generators voluntarily shutting down in order to bump prices. It's basically the same market manipulation that Enron was pulling twenty years ago.
Alberta has the highest provincial electricity costs, on average 25¢/kWh, Saskatchewan is second at 20¢/kWh, with the others trailing off from there. Manitoba is something like 10.8¢/kWh and Quebec is cheapest at 8¢/kWh. (typical costs for first 1000kWh including distribution and other fees)
It's been reported alternatively as "undergoing scheduled maintenance", "undergoing unscheduled maintenance", or "system failure due to cold". Scheduled maintenance is BS, no one schedules that for peak seasonal demand times.
When you look at the massive profits that energy producers made in Texas a few years ago... and don't forget all the free government money they got afterward to "fix" the problem... you can sure as shit bet on them taking notes of the exact most profitable moments for them the schedule "maintenance".
they used the phrase "freeze in the dark" again, eh? Man they know how to hold on to a grudge for well over a generation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Energy_Program#Legacy_and_Western_alienation
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In white text on black boards, messages that were both visually and rhetorically stark flanked Premier Danielle Smith last fall as she launched a big advertising campaign against Ottawa's clean electricity regulations.
Cabinet ministers played up the fact wind and solar power didn't come through in last weekend's deep freeze, and when Smith returns from vacation next week she might take some more whacks at that UCP whipping post.
Inflammatory rhetoric on either the pro or con side of net zero can fuel headlines and stoke political bases, but it won't power Alberta's energy-hungry homes and cities, now or in the future.
The province had already begun work on a potential redesign of its regulated private market system when the cold snap rattled its grid more than similarly shivering Saskatchewan and British Columbia, which could both export some extra juice to Alberta.
He noted that the direct risk of this happening will be greatly diminished later this year when several massive gas plants come online, largely to replace the soon-to-be-eliminated (and much dirtier) coal-powered generators.
That could come with help from the new natural gas plants, but also the wind turbines and solar panels that produce in much greater abundance during longer days and gustier warm months.
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