New Alberta energy market design will lead to ‘higher power prices and less wind and solar’

Alberta’s grid operator has unveiled its long-awaited energy market reforms, a new framework for the province’s electricity market that is designed to improve reliability and affordability and pull in fresh private investment for more power generation, transmission and storage.

But Canadian clean energy advocates have said AESO’s restructured energy market (REM) plan, in development for two years, “misses the mark” on modernizing Alberta’s electricity network — and will lead instead to higher-price gas-fired power in the future and fewer new lower-cost wind and solar plants in the province.

“Our new market design represents a significant milestone in Alberta’s electricity sector,” said Aaron Engen, AESO’s CEO, launching the REM online. “It reflects our shared commitment to a reliable, af