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OTTAWA — The federal government has pushed its target to achieve a net-zero electricity grid to 2050.
The government had previously aimed to fully decarbonize electricity grids by 2035.
But some provinces, namely Alberta and Saskatchewan, said that was simply not doable.
The final clean electricity regulations published today also projected a lower reduction of greenhouse gas emissions than had previously been forecast.
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Committing to a net-zero electricity grid is an easy move for six of the provinces, which are already more than 90 per cent of the way there.
Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick still rely on coal and natural gas to supply between 30 per cent and 85 per cent of their power.
In May 2023, Premier Scott Moe announced that Saskatchewan would work toward a 2050 target date to get the province to net zero, instead of 2023.
A few months later, the province asked Ottawa to delay the clean energy targets. At the time, former minister for SaskPower Dustin Duncan called them “unaffordable, unconstitutional, technologically and logistically unattainable.”
The Government of Saskatchewan argued that the federal framework constituted jurisdictional overreach and Duncan said the regulations would “jeopardize the reliability of Saskatchewan’s power grid” and increase rates to unaffordable levels.
In response, the federal government said it was willing to work with Saskatchewan on the finer details, but that the 2035 goals should be feasible.
— with files from Alec Salloum and Larissa Kurz, Regina Leader-Post
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