Saturday evening’s emergency alert from the province of Alberta, warning of rotating power outages because of pressure on the electrical grid caused by the extreme cold, underlines just how difficult the energy transition is going to be in the Prairie provinces, according to economist Andrew Leach.
It also demonstrates why more flexibility is needed in Ottawa’s Clean Energy Regulations to decarbonize the country’s electricity grids, he says.
The emergency alert was issued at 6:44 p.m. Saturday. Residents were asked to immediately reduce electricity use to essentials only. The Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) urged Albertans to turn off unnecessary lights, avoid cooking
