Who Wants To Freeze In The Dark?

Alberta needs more power.

On Saturday, the coldest night Albertans have experienced in decades, a critical emergency alert was issued by the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) - cautioning Albertans about potential rotating power outages due to high power demand, and urging them to reduce their electricity usage.

Albertans stepped up, and shortly after the alert was issued, “200 megawatts (MW) of demand dropped off the system,” according to AESO.

Saskatchewan also stepped up, with Premier Scott Moe posting to social media platform X that “SaskPower is providing 153 MW of electricity to AB this evening to assist them through this shortage.”

The emergency alert exposed a critical challenge with the federal government’s drive to cleaner electricity - the unreliability of generating capacity from renewable sources during deep cold spells.

We knew this would happen.

And it could happen in the rest of Canada, too.

That's why we started a petition last summer to stop Ottawa’s ideological drive to decarbonize the energy industry.

Their policies are shutting down reliable, affordable electricity sources such as coal and natural gas, while favouring unreliable sources like wind and solar.

This isn’t practical.

One of the reasons Alberta was short on electricity during the cold snap is that solar and wind electricity generation flatlined - effectively producing no electricity when Albertans needed it most.

We could have ten times the solar and wind capacity, but in the evening, if there's no wind, ten times zero is still zero.

Yet the federal government pushes forward with its disastrous climate change agenda, evidently undeterred by the impact their policies are having on electricity generation.

Last summer, federal Liberal Environment and Climate Change Minister, Steven Guilbeault, released the draft Clean Electricity Regulations (CER) - which are going to make electricity incredibly expensive and incredibly unreliable.

Additionally, they increase the risk of rolling blackouts in extreme cold weather events by limiting coal and natural gas electricity production - reliable baseload power generation methods that keep the lights on and our houses warm.

The draft Clean Electricity Regulations also happen to be unconstitutional as they regulate electricity generation - which is the sole jurisdiction of the provinces according to the Constitution. 

We know that reliable electricity is needed to keep the lights on.

After all, who wants to freeze in the dark?

We need more power, not less.

We need to stand firm in our resolve, and tell the federal government to back off on their disastrous net-zero 2035 electricity regulations.

That’s why we’re asking you to join our campaign, sign our petition, and tell the federal government to back off, stop infringing on provincial rights, and Stop the Clean Electricity Regulations!

If you don’t want to freeze in the dark, sign our petition here:

Regards,

Josh Andrus
Executive Director
Project Confederation