Lower electricity prices appear on the way for Albertans — no matter what reforms win out
CBC
There's been a lot of talk recently around ongoing reforms to Alberta's electricity market. Just this week, Alberta's minister of affordability and utilities, Nathan Neudorf, spoke about some of them during an event at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce
They include the province's moratorium on renewable energy, but also a provincial review into the electricity market and a look into the practice known as economic withholding.
Speaking to reporters after that event on Tuesday, Neudorf said it was likely that all of them would conclude before the end of February 2024.
The amount of thermal generation coming online was "creating the basis" for a prediction that prices are set to go down, according to Neudorf.
The province is also working with the City of Calgary on its local access fee, he said.
"So, we are looking at all of those things. I am very confident we will not only be able to stabilize [costs] but bring it down to historical prices of less than 10 cents a kilowatt hour, as well as the all-in cost to the ratepayer being at a much more affordable level," Neudorf said.
Albertans haven't been shy in expressing their frustration when it comes to how much their electricity bills have gone up this year. For those paying the fluctuating regulated rate option (RRO), prices peaked this summer at nearly 32 cents per kilowatt hour before gradually declining to end the year.
And though Neudorf and the provincial government are promising new initiatives to be put into practice after the various ongoing studies conclude, that 10 cents per kilowatt hour figure has long been on the radar for those who study electricity markets, such as Blake Shaffer, a University of Calgary economist.
"When I heard comments about, 'I'm confident we will be able to stabilize and bring down [prices] to 10 cents a kilowatt hour,' that is known. That is set to occur," Shaffer said.
That's because of forward prices, prices agreed to in advance for future electricity delivery.
Shaffer used an analogy here: it would be like knowing Halley's Comet is about to pass by Earth, then stepping outside, clapping your hands and saying, "Aha!" as it does so.
"As though you were somehow causal in somehow bringing that here.
"Power prices, starting in March, are going to be getting down into near the 10 cent level, and their forecasts are remaining that low for the next two to three years," Shaffer said.
"This isn't me doing forecasting, this is the forward markets."
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
The 32-year-old man who died at the Windsor jail last month is being remembered as a great man who always wanted to help those who needed it.
In one week, Patrick Cully will find out whether his five-year-old daughter Scarlet will be able to continue the life-changing therapy she's relied on for more than a year — or if long waitlists and a lack of funding will halt her progress.
As Conestoga College faces layoffs and program suspensions, the union leaders representing its employees say the toll on the workers is mounting.
Hoping to drive more people downtown and breathe more life into the area, the City of Summerside is now going over a number of recommendations on how to revitalize its downtown and waterfront.
Yukon First Nations are calling on the territorial government to repeal amendments it made in May to mining regulations.
Wanda Resmer says she didn't see the news coming.
Residents along the Toronto West Railpath are frustrated with what they say is a lack of transparency from Metrolinx on end dates for nearby construction projects, their city councillor says.
As officials try to make sense of an alleged multi-year fraud engineered so several people could personally profit from money meant to be spent on keeping London's hospitals running, CBC News dug into the people accused in the scheme.
U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to slap a 35 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods as the two countries have been engaged in negotiations to reach some sort of trade agreement.
Nova Scotia's minister of education and early childhood development says the province will need more "help" from Ottawa to achieve $10-a-day child care by March 2026.
For years now, business has slowed down between April and November at Doiron Sports Excellence on the west side of Saint John because of the rehabilitation work on Harbour Bridge.
A wildfire has entered the northern Saskatchewan community of Beauval, the village's mayor says.
Hugs, tears, and signs with slogans in protest of domestic abuse filled the steps of the Kelowna Law Courts building on Thursday, ahead of James Plover's first appearance in court on a charge of second-degree murder.