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Wind, solar power nearly leave Alberta without electricity as temperature drops below -40 – LifeSite

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EDMONTON, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) –– Amid a cold snap in Western Canada that saw temperatures in some regions drop to nearly minus 50 degrees Celsius (58 degrees Fahrenheit) over the weekend, the power grid in Alberta neared collapse due to inadequate production from renewable sources such as solar and wind.

On Saturday in the early evening, Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith pleaded with citizens to “unplug” their electric vehicles and conserve energy in other ways to avoid brownouts after the province’s Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) declared a grid alert. All the province’s natural gas generators were working overtime, with no contribution from wind or solar.  

“We are calling on all Albertans to reduce their electric demand immediately to essentials only,” said Smith in a statement. “Delay charging electric vehicles.” 

In response to the situation, the neighboring province of Saskatchewan, which was also facing the same cold snap, announced it would be providing Alberta with electricity to stabilize the grid.

Many, including Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, noted that the incident served as a stark reminder of the potential dangers of a looming federal mandate calling for an eventual end to oil and gas power production in favor of less reliable wind and solar power.

“SaskPower is providing 153 MW of electricity to AB this evening to assist them through this shortage. That power will be coming from natural gas and coal-fired plants, the ones the Trudeau government is telling us to shut down (which we won’t),” wrote Moe on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.  

Smith quickly thanked Moe for helping to keep the power on in her province, however many were quick to blast extreme green policies from the federal government of Trudeau, which looks to phase out coal entirely and severely limit natural gas power generation. 

“Thank goodness for fossil fuels as our ‘green’ energy producing nothing. Thank you for your help, neighbour,” wrote X user Kirk Lubimov in reply to Moe’s post.  

Even some legacy media types called out the Trudeau government’s plan to eliminate gas-fired power generation as “dangerous.”  

“The fed govt wants 2bring in the so-called Clean Electricity Regulation that would make it a criminal offence 4 any energy company 2run a natural gas plant more than 40 days a year at a time when wind turbines are not turning and the sun provides little power. So dangerous,” posted journalist Licia Corbella.  

Alberta’s Minister of Affordability and Utilities Nathan Neudorf said that when it comes to power generation, he “can’t make” plans “based on wishes and fairy dust.” 

“I have to make plans based on the realities we have in Alberta,” he added.  

Others thanked the fact that for now, at least, coal and natural gas power generation are still online.  

“So glad the NDP shut down Coal Production. (Sarcasm) This just proves Green Energy doesn’t work in Alberta. It wasn’t Solar Panels and Wind Turbines heating my home. It’s Oil and Gas. It must be protected at all costs,” posted one X user.

Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MP Leslyn Lewis said Alberta’s power grid alert shows how Trudeau’s green agenda, which looks to ban sales of new gas-powered cars starting in 2035, is “unrealistic.”  

“On Saturday, Albertans were told to delay charging electric vehicles to reduce stress on the power grid,” posted Lewis on X.

“This is further evidence Canada lacks the infrastructure to force the sale of only ZEVs by 2030. This goal is unrealistic & will be costly to Canadian wallets & autonomy.” 

The total demand on Alberta’s power grid, which produces electricity from natural gas-fired generators with some coal power, was sitting at 12,000 megawatts on Saturday, and it was projected that Alberta was looking at facing a 100 to 200 MW shortage. 

Alberta has wind and solar generation; however, these generators were 100 percent offline due to the extreme cold temperatures. Alberta used to have more coal power plants, but most of them were phased out under extreme green policies from the former NDP Alberta government, with the blessing of the federal government of Trudeau.  

The Trudeau government is trying to force net-zero regulations on all Canadian provinces, notably on electricity generation, as early as 2035. His government has also refused to extend a carbon tax exemption on heating fuels to all provinces, allowing only Atlantic provinces, this benefit.   

Trudeau government going full-on in attacks against Canada’s oil and gas sector  

Since taking office in 2015, the federal government under Trudeau has pushed a radical environmental agenda like the agendas being pushed the World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset” and the United Nations “Sustainable Development Goals.” 

Late last year, the Trudeau government forged ahead with many policies that if they come to full fruition will destroy Canada’s oil and gas industry, which provides jobs to thousands and is important in Alberta and Saskatchewan and helps keep homes warm.  

At COP28 held late last year, Trudeau’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault unveiled a plan to slash oil and gas emissions by 35 percent to 38 percent below 2019 levels. He claimed that it is important to reach “carbon neutrality in Canada by 2050.” 

He then, at COP28 as well, announced a new Liberal federal government climate policy that aims to incentivize beef cattle ranchers to reduce how much gas their cows emit by giving them feed additives. 

Smith blasted Guilbeault as a “menace” for going after her province and the oil and gas industry in general and vowed to fight him with every tool available to her government. 

The reduction and eventual elimination of the use of so-called “fossil fuels” and a transition to unreliable “green” energy has also been pushed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) – the globalist group behind the socialist “Great Reset” agenda – an organization in which Trudeau and some of his cabinet are involved. 

A June 2017 peer-reviewed study by two scientists and a veteran statistician confirmed that most of the recent global warming data have been “fabricated by climate scientists to make it look more frightening.” 

After the Trudeau government pledged to mandate that all new cars and trucks by 2035 be electric, which would in effect ban the sale of new gasoline- or diesel-only powered vehicles after that year, Smith made it crystal clear that she intends to fight with “everything” at her disposal the “unconstitutional” mandate. 

Smith last year also warned the federal government under Trudeau to “watch” her over how she will shield her province from economic damage and high fuel prices after the feds announced Guilbeault’s plan to cut oil and gas production by a third by 2030 via an “emissions” reduction scheme. 

There have been two recent court rulings that have dealt a blow to Trudeau’s environmental laws. 

The most recent was the Federal Court of Canada on November 16 overturned the Trudeau government’s ban on single-use plastic, calling it “unreasonable and unconstitutional.” 

The second ruling comes after Canada’s Supreme Court recently sided in favor of provincial autonomy when it comes to natural resources. The Supreme Court recently ruled that Trudeau’s law, C-69, dubbed the “no-more pipelines” bill, is “mostly unconstitutional.” This was a huge win for Alberta and Saskatchewan, which challenged the law in court. The decision returned authority over the pipelines to provincial governments, meaning oil and gas projects headed up by the provinces should be allowed to proceed without federal intrusion. 

The Trudeau government, however, seems insistent on defying the recent rulings by pushing forward with its various regulations. 

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