Alberta’s deregulated electricity grid is unique in Canada, with a market-based system that has helped spur the fastest deployment of low-cost renewables in the country. Now, the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) has been tasked with renewing this system with the goal of providing affordable and reliable net-zero electricity to Albertans by 2050. Meeting this goal will require new private sector investment in electricity generation at an unprecedented scale and speed.   

Several technological options are being explored to do this: natural-gas-fired generation with carbon capture, small modular nuclear reactors, wind, solar and energy storage. But an even bigger question remains: Is a market-based electricity system a dependable way to reach the province’s net-zero ambitions? How did this complex electricity grid come to be, and is it set up to make Alberta the tortoise or the hare in the national race to decarbonize grids?  

Join us for a debate on the potential and pitfalls of market systems to meet electricity affordability, reliability, and emissions goals.