Alberta's government says it is updating its electricity market rules in order to help lower consumers' utility bills. Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf is sworn into cabinet in Edmonton, Friday, June 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
EDMONTON – Alberta’s government says it is updating its electricity market rules in order to help lower consumers’ utility bills.
Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf says the UCP government is instituting two temporary measures around the practice of “economic withholding,” a strategy regularly used by power generators in the province’s deregulated free-market electricity system.
Economic withholding is when power producers deliberately hold back all or part of their electricity supply by offering it into the market at a high price, with the goal of increasing the overall pool price.
The practice is not illegal, but has been highly criticized recently as one of the factors that has contributed to soaring consumer power bills in the province.
The new rules will limit the offer price of natural gas generating units owned by large providers, if net revenues cross a predefined threshold. They will also require natural gas generating assets to be made available in certain circumstances such as extreme weather and other times of peak demand.
Neudorf says the changes will still allow generators to earn revenue while ensuring Albertans have access to affordable and reliable power.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2024.
