The former NDP government introduced the capacity system that was to go online in 2021 to ensure no electricity shortages as Alberta moves to replace coal-fired electricity with more natural gas-fired power and renewables like wind and solar.Capacity markets pay producers for spot prices but also to build up capacity, even if it isn’t needed.
That carried the risk that consumers would have to pay for excess capacity, so the NDP government capped prices at 6.8 cents per kilowatt per hour during the transition to 2021. Alberta’s existing energy-only market is composed of publicly traded companies that get paid in the spot market for the power they produce.
“We heard loudly and clearly that investors and Albertans want what works, and that is Alberta’s tried and true energy-only market, not the complex, planned capacity market,” Savage told the legislature Thursday as she introduced Bill 18. Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines.