But power-generating companies in the country's highest greenhouse gas-emitting province are more optimistic and say they are looking to eliminate or offset direct emissions well ahead of Alberta's target, even if they are not committing to Trudeau's either.
"I'm optimistic that we're going to get close for 2035," said Shana Boyd, Heartland's vice president of energy transition, which currently produces all of its electricity from burning natural gas. "It's going to require a lot of work and a lot of pieces to fall into place." Alberta requires an aggressive build-out of renewables, including battery storage to address the intermittency of wind and solar, to reach net-zero by 2035, TransAlta CEO John Kousinioris said."We can get close and I think the industry here is pretty determined to see decarbonization occur while balancing affordability and reliability," he said, adding that tens of billions of investment dollars are needed.