Last May, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a national electricity strategy aimed at building Canadian energy independence, lowering costs to consumers, and reducing climate destabilizing emissions. “Canada’s electricity system is currently fragmented across provincial and territorial grids, costing us billions of dollars in outages, duplicative infrastructure, and wasted power,” Carney’s government explained at the time.
Building a more interconnected electrical system to bolster Canada’s energy sovereignty is long overdue. But has Carney undermined his own efforts by unleashing a gas-fired data centre boom in Alberta? It sure looks that way.
Consultations with provinces are only beginning and Ottawa has already emphasized a role for fossil fuels and upcoming cuts to clean energy regulations. In an apparent sop to Alberta, Carney conceded that implementing the strategy will, “require a willingness to use a wide range of energy – including natural gas. That’s why we intend to adjust clean electricity regulations to provide the flexibility needed to keep energy costs for all Canadian families reliable and affordable, while reducing emissions and building the clean energy system of the future.”
