Report: Albertans have been overpaying for decades on their electricity bills.

According to a recent research, Albertans were forced to pay billions extra for their electricity after the province deregulated electricity generating in 2001.
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Power in the Public Interest (opens in a new tab), a report released by the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), "lays bare the failures of the current system."

According to AFL president Gil McGowan, "the shift to deregulated electricity generation was an ideological leap of faith."

"Returning to a regulated system is the opposite of that – it's a return to the tried, tested, and true."


"Since the province deregulated power generation in 2001, Alberta's electricity consumer price index increased by an average of 1.8 per cent per year higher than that of Canada as a whole, or double the difference prior to deregulation," the Alberta "AFL said."

In comparison to other Canadian provinces, Alberta spends $24 billion more on energy.

Additionally, power "needs to be treated differently" as a commodity, according to the AFL.

"Regulated markets don't allow companies to exercise their market power at the expense of consumers, like what occurred with the price spikes in Alberta in 2021-2023 that was facilitated by Alberta's energy-only market," claimed the organization.

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There is "way more volatility" in Alberta, according to McGowan, but recent provincial government assistance initiatives have led to lower costs.

"We used to be regulated, we used to have predictable prices, and they were lower," McGowan stated.

Prices have decreased since the government's move has preserved the deregulated electricity market now, but they'll most likely be up once more soon."

He claims that in order to eliminate price gouging and guarantee dependability, Alberta must re-regulate electricity generation.

In order to regain control of the province's electricity system and remove a small number of private corporations that now own 54% of the province's power generating, the AFL also recommends the establishment of a Crown corporation, Alberta electricity.

"This is about expediting our shift to renewable energy, guaranteeing a stable system, and creating decent jobs—not just about lowering costs. We have the right to demand better as citizens and employees," he stated.

The province reacts
According to Alberta's minister of utilities and affordability, a UCP government would not implement a change in regulations.

"He says That would drive away investors and cost Alberta taxpayers billions of dollars.

He declared, "We are proud that Alberta is the only province that has no debt from power generation projects, which allows public funds to be used directly to support Albertans."

"Our grid can and frequently does provide the lowest cost of electricity available, but we still have work to do to ensure its stability."

In the middle, somewhere
The reality concerning our electricity bills, according to experts, probably lies somewhere in the middle of what the minister says and what the AFL report says.

Albertans, particularly those who have been on floating rates and exposed to that, have every reason to be outraged because the last three years have been extremely harsh.
volatility," said Blake Shaffer, an associate professor at the University of Calgary.

It was supply, not the provincial administration, that caused prices to decline. However, I wouldn't hold them responsible for price increases either.

According to Shaffer, the termination of power purchase agreements in 2021 was the problem.

"Power was reverted to a few companies or power plant control, and there was a tightening of concentration, which simply resulted in an increase in offer prices," he told CTV News.

Naturally, however, the remedy for high prices is high prices, and that's exactly what we witnessed in Alberta's open market: a deluge of new investment. We've reached a stage when we have an excess of electricity.

Shaffer thinks that everything culminates in an A strange evening.

"We would begin to say maybe we're benefitting on the energy front if we were to redo that same analysis, incorporating all of 2024 and 2025, and maybe even 2026 and 2027."





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