A city official says the net-zero electricity grid timelines moving doesn't change much for Medicine Hat. File Photo/CHAT News

By Eli J. Ridder

ENERGY

Net-zero electricity grid target delay offers little reprieve for Medicine Hat, official says

Dec 18, 2024 | 2:52 PM

A Medicine Hat’s energy official said Wednesday the federal government delaying its net-zero electricity grid goal by 15 years doesn’t change the city’s need to diversify its portfolio to meet incoming regulations.

While the ruling Liberals have pushed back their aim to fully decarbonize electricity grids to 2050 from its initial date of 2035, there are still clean energy rules over the next quarter-century that will impact the city.

The strict 0.06 tons per megawatt hour target is below Medicine Hat’s current output, said energy marketing and business analysis director Travis Tuchscherer.

“Our natural gas facilities are typically in the range of 0.4 to 0.5 tons per megawatt hour, so there still will be significant changes required for our generation fleet to meet the 2035 emissions target,” Tuchscherer told CHAT News.

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In a change that brings some reprieve, the new regulations extend the lifespan of two of Medicine Hat’s newest power generation plants to 25 years, he explained.

“That will allow our Units 16 and 17 to be unaffected by these regulations for an extra five years,” Tuchscherer said, with the first unit able to operate until 2043 and the second until 2047.

The final version of the Clean Energy Regulations revealed Tuesday by the federal government is just one factor impacting Medicine Hat’s self-owned electricity and natural gas generation and distribution businesses amid a time of transition.

Medicine Hat’s city leadership has recently kicked off a process to determine the future of its energy company that could define the next century for the Gas City.

In a key presentation of the city’s business strategy in the face of a national energy transition, the city’s managing director in charge of energy Rochelle Pancoast said Medicine Hat has a certain window of time to sort out its future.

Carbon capture, hydrogen sources, small nuclear reactors and renewables such as solar and wind are all part of the city’s considerations, according to Tuchscherer.

Meanwhile, the Alberta government is working on a major restructuring of its energy market and the rules that bind it.

Tuchscherer, who has recently spent six weeks in Calgary where the province is working on the new rules, said the Alberta government wants to have the new regulations locked in by the end of 2025 with implementation by January 2027.

“They’re still being determined so it’s hard to say exactly what the outlook is for those rules, but we are definitely keeping a close eye and attending those stakeholder sessions,” he said.

In Ottawa, the federal government is set up to change hands at some point in the next 10 months with the Conservatives riding high in the polls ready to take over and cut clean energy regulations.

Alberta and Saskatchewan have spoken out against the federal clean energy targets, saying they are not achievable.

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.

Committing to a net-zero electricity grid is an easier move for six of the provinces, which are already more than 90 per cent of the way there.