The provincial government is looking at ways to address rising energy costs.
The Associate Minister of Natural Gas and Electricity, Dale Nally, says they’re planning to bring forward legislation on modernizing the electricity grid.
“When the NDP were in government, they spent $7.5 billion on transmission and that was at a time when our economy could not support it. So that $7.5 billion has to be paid back by the rate payer. We have brought fiscal restraint and in 2020 we spent only $100 million on transmission and in 2021 we spent $0.”
Nally was on the Trending 55 Hot Seat says a part of that legislation will focus on energy storage.
“Storage helps deal with the intermittency of renewable energy so it has some benefits on that side, but energy storage can also be a non-wires alternative for Albertans. If energy storage can be deployed cheaper than a wires solution to bring costs down for the ratepayer over the long term, then it will be a possible solution for electricity rate providers in the Province.”
Nally adds that the short-term rebates that were announced recently “come at a needed time for Albertans.”
We talked to Nally on the Trending 55 Hot Seat, that discussion can be found below.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom
