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This is a good piece & I agree w/ its premise: that more & better interprovincial grid integration can help decarbonize Canadian electricity more cost effectively.
But it’s not a novel concept (nor was it when I wrote about it in ’16) https://www.canadianbusiness.com/blogs-and-comment/interprovincial-power-grids/) 1/
#bcpoli #cdnpoli https://twitter.com/bcshaffer/status/1341391423816417280
But it’s not a novel concept (nor was it when I wrote about it in ’16) https://www.canadianbusiness.com/blogs-and-comment/interprovincial-power-grids/) 1/
#bcpoli #cdnpoli https://twitter.com/bcshaffer/status/1341391423816417280
To their credit, the federal gov’t has been trying to encourage this, e.g. convening & funding the Regional Electricity Cooperation and Strategic Infrastructure Initiative (RECSI), which delivered (in 2018) a report on opps in western Canada https://www.aeso.ca/assets/Uploads/RECSI-Western-Final-GE-Report-v05.pdf 2/
Here’s a handy summary prepped for policy makers: https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/energy/clean/RECSI_WR-SPM_eng.pdf It includes a handy table of transmission opps, GHG abatement & net annual change in cost. Since the start of RECSI the Feds were clear that they’d pony up $ to help pay. But that hasn’t proven enough 3/
to overcome inter-provincial politicking between AB & BC —> Exhibit A: Alberta suspends electricity talks with B.C. over pipeline fight https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/alberta-bc-trudeau-trans-mountain-pipeline/article37816144/ Alberta got its pipeline, but progress on power lines still seems to be stalled out.
Why is that? One reason is that 4/
Why is that? One reason is that 4/
the AB gov’t is pretty keen on natural gas-fired power. https://www.facebook.com/kenneyjasont/posts/glad-to-see-the-cascade-900-mw-combined-cycle-natural-gas-fired-power-plant-will/10158565039032641/
Why is that? It creates demand for gas, & natural gas production means royalties for gov’t coffers. Which forestalls the conversation AB needs to have but keeps punting https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-alberta-needs-to-get-real-about-its-fiscal-challenge/ 5/
Why is that? It creates demand for gas, & natural gas production means royalties for gov’t coffers. Which forestalls the conversation AB needs to have but keeps punting https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-alberta-needs-to-get-real-about-its-fiscal-challenge/ 5/
Now, an escalating price on carbon pollution will no doubt impact prospects for natural gas-fired power in AB, but still—how likely is it that the scenario laid out by @BrettDolter @riversNic @GK_Fellows https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3742136 in which Site C makes economic sense? That’s the 6/
Q that @jjhorgan & the BC gov’t need to grapple with in the coming weeks. I hope that process includes serious conversations with AB & the Feds, because as @bcshaffer & @MarkJaccard laid out, there is a big decarbonization opp at stake. But also big risks to BC ratepayers. 7/
BC might look at Muskrat Falls & the help the Feds have offered that beleagured dam & the ratepayers it will impact https://ipolitics.ca/2020/12/23/the-unfolding-muskrat-falls-fiasco-ottawa-offers-nl-debt-relief/ & how that support is (presumably) tied to the Atlantic Loop transmission plan.
I’m uncertain whether it’s a useful proxy or not, but 8/
I’m uncertain whether it’s a useful proxy or not, but 8/
the biggest outstanding challenge, in my view, will be Jason Kenney. As a true partisan & fossil fuel champion it’s hard to imagine he’ll be inclined to cooperate with Ottawa & Victoria on this (even if it is in AB’s long-term interest).
We’ll know soon enough whether Site C 9/
We’ll know soon enough whether Site C 9/
is going to proceed. If it does, I suspect we’ll have to wait quite a bit longer to see whether AB, BC and the Feds can forge the best-case outcome of better grid integration & lower pollution while minimizing costs to ratepayers. 10/10
