Last Updated:Friday - 09/24/2010

Make way for alternate energy

Earlier this month, the Pembina Institute of Drayton Valley published a report aimed at helping Alberta overcome its current crisis wrought by the deregulation of electricity. A Smart Electricity Policy for Alberta calls for a combination of conserving energy, improving energy efficiency and greater use of low-impact renewable energy.

The report is a well thought-out response to the deregulation crisis which, if enacted, could help the province ensure long-term sustainable energy supplies with less pollution and lower costs than the multi-billion dollar rebates the government gave to consumers to mitigate the effect of skyrocketing power prices.

Alberta is overly reliant on coal to provide electricity. Currently, coal-fired generators provide more than 80 per cent of the province's power supply. When new coal-fired supplies that are currently planned come on stream, that percentage will jump still higher. Coal is currently the cheapest source of electricity; that likely will no longer be the case when the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases takes effect.

One must question the wisdom of Alberta's direction. Coal is a major pollutant and a non-renewable form of energy. Canada has a commitment under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases being pumped into the atmosphere. Alberta's blind reliance on coal will make it much more difficult for Canada to achieve its objective.

A more responsible approach would be to require electrical companies to provide a much higher percentage of power supplies from renewable sources such as wind, solar and biomass. Ten American states that have deregulated their electrical industries are requiring utilities to provide at least 30 per cent of their production in the form of low-impact energy forms within the next decade. In Alberta, such forms currently make up only two per cent of the grid.

As well, the Pembina Institute notes, "Nearly every state in the U.S. that has restructured its electricity markets has established a specific mechanism to encourage energy efficiency." Further, provincial governments in British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia and the Yukon have mandated utilities to provide programs to improve energy efficiency.

The Alberta government has traditionally taken a dim view of alternate energy stemming back to 1979 when the province's energy minister brushed aside two provincially-funded reports on alternate energy by saying, "It would look a little silly if we come up with a technological breakthrough (in solar power) which reduced the value of our hydrocarbon resources."

This head-in-the-sand attitude of the past has now cost the Alberta government billions of dollars in energy rebates, rebates that still do nothing to address the underlying problem of a lack of diverse sources of electrical power.

When are we going to learn in this province? When are we going to learn that the bounty that flows from today's energy revenues should be put to use to make Alberta a world leader in renewable energy? Such use of our current prosperity will help provide Alberta with an economic future and the world with an ecological future.

The province has gone far in eliminating the fiscal debt that would have been a burden to future generations. It should be equally oriented to the future as it ponders the best way to meet the province's growing electricity needs.

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