WATCH ABOVE: Hammered by high electricity prices, some Albertans say it's hard to keep up. Statistics show Albertans are paying some of the highest electricity rates across the country, and some Edmontonians have it the roughest. Provincial affairs reporter Saif Kaisar has the details – Aug 22, 2023The new measures are aimed at the practice of “economic withholding,” a strategy regularly used by power generators in Alberta’s unique-to-Canada free-market electricity system.
“Our government is committed to Alberta’s unique and investor-driven energy-only market. However, the market’s rules were designed 25 years ago, and some are no longer optimal for the system today,” said Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf in a news release.‘Sephora kids’: Tweens’ obsession with prestige skin care raises alarm bellsThe new rules will limit the offer price of natural gas generating units owned by large providers, if net revenues cross a predefined threshold.
“If a lot of Albertans were very concerned about rolling brownouts mid-winter, this would actually make that potential crisis more likely to happen.” The changes announced Monday are just the start of what could be a series of significant changes to Alberta’s electricity market. The rules that govern the province’s current system were designed at a time when the bulk of Alberta’s power needs came from coal, and don’t necessarily work for a system that is now driven by natural gas and renewables.