Alberta Premier Ralph Klein has announced plans to create an external committee to advise government on longer-term issues surrounding electrical deregulation.
Meanwhile, the provincial government is developing a consumer rebate strategy to aid Albertans when North American natural gas prices are higher than anticipated, Klein said.
The advisory committee on electricity will provide policy recommendations and analysis. A diverse group of stakeholders will be invited to participate, including the Industrial Power Consumers and Co-generators Association of Alberta; the Independent Power Society of Alberta; the Consumers Association of Alberta; power companies; rural electrification associations; the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association; the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties; the Environmental Resource Centre; and other business and community organizations.
Leonard Bolger, co-chair of the Alberta Energy Research Institute, has agreed to chair the advisory council. “Our primary concern will be to help ensure a reliable, ample and competitively priced supply of electrical energy for Albertans,’” said Bolger.
Under the gas rebate strategy, a portion of higher-than-expected natural gas royalty revenues to government would be returned directly as rebates to provincial consumers at times when the consumer price hits a certain level, said Klein.
Government will work on the details of the program in the coming weeks, with a detailed announcement to come in late spring, he said.
