The federal government is considering major updates to proposed regulations aimed at reducing emissions from electricity generation to net zero.
The government said the move came after months of consultation with Canadians and strong opposition from politicians in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
A draft version of the Clean Power Regulation was first released in August of last year. The regulation will serve as a set of rules to transition Canada’s electricity grid to net zero starting in 2035.
Environment and Climate Change Minister Stephen Guilbeault told CBC News the goal is always to strike the right balance when it comes to the first draft regulations.
But Ottawa will continue to accept comments from provinces and experts, he said, adding that the amendments were not only prompted by pushback from Alberta and Saskatchewan.
“The options we are proposing in today’s document cannot be said to be about the effect that one jurisdiction’s actions or comments will have on other jurisdictions,” he said.
“So, we held a webinar with over 500 people, we held 75 different bilateral meetings, and 18,000 submissions were submitted. So what we are announcing today, I It’s all the results we’ve heard, not just one specific company, individual, or even locality. ”
Last November, Alberta first invoked sovereign law over draft regulations. Alberta Premier Daniel Smith said the 2035 goal is unattainable.guilbeau There is also He cited 2035 as the deadline.
But previous draft regulations would have allowed large emissions from electricity generation into the 2040s and even into 2050 and beyond, as an exception.
But even with these provisions, Alberta had concerns.
Unlike most other parts of the country, Alberta gets most of its electricity from natural gas.Prominent Alberta economists like Andrew Leach and Blake Schaefer claimed Given Alberta’s unique makeup, Ottawa needs flexibility in developing electricity regulations.
Watch | Alberta invokes sovereign law to regulate net-zero power grid.
In January, federal Natural Resources and Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson also told CBC’s Aaron Wherry that he doesn’t question Alberta’s need to green its power grid, just the pace. He said he was thinking about it.
“We have a view that we can probably go faster. So we’ve really been understanding and looking at how we can address some of their specific concerns,” Wilkinson said at the time. Ta.
“Hopefully when we arrive, [finalizing the regulations]Albertans will understand that we have seriously reflected on some of the things they have raised. ”
The Saskatchewan government also announced in November that it would use the Saskatchewan First Act for the first time to create a tribunal to examine the economic impact of proposed regulations.
Alberta minister: “No meaningful amendments”
In a statement to CBC News on Friday afternoon, Alberta Minister of Environment and Protected Regions Rebecca Schulz said the update “doesn’t meaningfully fix Canada’s most destructive electricity regulations in decades.” ” he said.
”[Guilbeault] “The government is still pushing for emissions targets for 2035 that are not achievable or realistic. The federal government is still proposing something that violates the Canadian Constitution,” Schulz wrote.
“Electricity is clearly within the province’s jurisdiction.”
He also called for the strategy to be “completely repealed,” arguing that the federal government’s schedule jeopardizes the reliability and affordability of electricity in the state and that adjustments alone will not fix the strategy.
Saskatchewan Minister Dustin Duncan, who is responsible for Crown corporations including SaskPower, said in a statement to CBC News that the federal government’s announcement meant that “the proposed Clean Power Regulation is unaffordable, technologically and logistically difficult. He admitted that it was impossible to achieve.”
“No amount of tweaking or tweaking can adequately address the fundamental flaws in these regulations. Heaping additional federal regulations on an area that is the exclusive jurisdiction of states is neither helpful nor necessary. No,” Mr. Duncan wrote.
“We urge the federal government to recognize Saskatchewan’s plan to achieve net-zero electricity generation by 2050 in a way that builds and protects Saskatchewan’s economy while ensuring the continued viability of electricity. , we will continue to call for funding to come to the table that will support and keep our power grid and publicly-owned Crown Power company alive for generations to come.”
Lori Williams, a political analyst at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said it’s not accurate for Alberta’s ministers to say there hasn’t been meaningful change.
Williams viewed the remarks as a political part of the public negotiations, adding that what’s happening behind the scenes between governments may look very different.
“This is politics, and they’re trying to push for more compromises,” Williams said.
“In fact, they’re saying this is exclusively a state jurisdiction and the federal government has no role in this at all. I don’t know if that’s going to be an effective long-term strategy. .”
Considering new options
Working groups in Alberta and Ottawa have been meeting since September with the goal of finding an agreement on emissions reductions and energy development.
The City of Ottawa said it has been consulting with provincial and territorial governments, the Canadian Electricity Advisory Council, First Nations representatives, electricity suppliers, environmental groups and others over the past six months.
Based on these discussions, Ottawa said it is considering new options for clean electricity regulation.
The proposed changes would change several provisions that the state and utility companies initially objected to. These include removing intensity-based standards from greenhouse gas emissions limits;
This means power producers will no longer be forced to meet a single standard for carbon emissions per unit of energy. Instead, each generator will be assigned an annual emissions limit.
Companies with large numbers of generators will also be allowed to pool emissions from facilities operating within the same jurisdiction. Companies will also be allowed to purchase carbon offsets to compensate them for exceeding their allocated limits.
The government is also considering changes to the way new plants are brought in under regulations.
Under the previous system, operators were concerned about the requirement that all electricity generation must be renewable or have carbon reduction equipment by 2035. They argued that once the new rules take effect, projects already under construction could be put at a disadvantage and left stranded. .
The government is currently proposing a time-limited exemption from this rule for fossil fuel power plants that start operating by 2025. A spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada said there may be some “room for change” in the start date.
Industries that generate their own electricity and provide excess power to the grid would also be affected by the proposal. Previously, all electricity generated was subject to regulation.
The proposed changes only affect power that is fed back to the grid. No electricity is generated or used on-site.
Finally, small generators producing less than 25 megawatts remain exempt. However, if new units in the same facility collectively produce more than that amount, regulations must be followed.
Confident in climate change targets: Guilbeault
Jason Dion, senior research director at the Canadian Climate Institute, said in a statement that the design change is a “welcome change” that will give grid operators more flexibility.Dion It was part of of the Government’s Electricity Advisory Committee.
“Completing the regulations as soon as possible will give grid operators policy certainty and help with planning and investment,” said Dion, whose organization focuses on climate change policy research.
Asked in an interview with CBC News whether the changes would affect Canada’s future climate change targets, Guilbeault said analysis of what is being proposed is still ongoing.
“There are a number of options on the table. We won’t necessarily adopt all of them, but we certainly want to hear from the public on all of them,” he said.
“We are confident that once we finalize the regulations, we will move much closer to our original goal, and that this very important regulation will help Canada meet its 2030 goal on the path to becoming a net-zero country in 2050.” Sure.”
Andrew Leach, an energy and environmental economist and professor at the University of Alberta, said he believes Ottawa has responded to concerns from Saskatchewan and Alberta, as well as power producers and experts in the field. .
”[Those people were saying]”Wait a minute.” Electricity is an industry that needs to supply the same demand at every moment, and is subject to several constraints. [regulations] It could undermine that,” Leach said.
“We just didn’t have the flexibility that we needed there. So we’re seeing the federal government respond to that, which I think is great.”
The government is continuing to collect opinions on the new regulations until March 15 and plans to publish the final regulations later this year.
