Alberta premier says net zero power grid by 2035 is unachievable

In her first media scrum after being re-elected as Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith at the Global Energy Show in Calgary talked about carbon neutrality and achieving a net zero power grid by 2035, which she says is unachievable.

But at least a couple of CEOs also attending the event disagree.

“I think it’s achievable, for sure. Is it going to be easy? Is it going to be possible? There’s going to be some challenges,” Kevin Krausert, CEO and co-founder of Avatar Innovations said to CityNews.

“Just because it’s not easy doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Alberta has a history of taking on really difficult challenges and coming out on top. I think rather than trying to slow down our transition to net zero, we should be looking for ways to accelerate it,” added Greengate Power president and CEO Dan Balaban.

But Smith says she’ll go as far as she needs to to protect Alberta’s interests in the face of energy transition and would not rule out the use of the Sovereignty Act if needed.

“Well, we have to fight it with every power we have. The constitution’s pretty clear — Alberta has the right to develop it’s resources in it’s own way and because I’ve set an emissions reduction target that’s in line with the federal target of 2050 — then I believe the Supreme Court will side with us, but we have to fight it out and I’m prepared to defend our jurisdiction.

Premier Smith says federal Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Dominic LeBlanc, and Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson will be coming to Alberta next week to discuss the energy transition further.