On December 18th, 2024, the final version of the Clean Electricity Regulations was released, and it declared that the net-zero timeline has been pushed back to 2050 from the earlier projected timeline of 2035, and it prompted Alberta to promise a court challenge from the province.
The former goal was to achieve net-zero in the national electricity grid by 2035, but it is now promising deeper emissions reductions in the energy sector after 2050. Ottawa did announce the change a day before the final Clean Electricity Regulations were out a day earlier. This move came after Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario vocally opposed the draft regulations and argued that the set goals were unachievable in the previously set time frames, especially for those provinces that need more work to align more with clean electricity.
- The former goal of net-zero has been pushed back from 2035 to 2050.
- The projected reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 193 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, from 342 million tonnes, has been stated.
- The new regulations will allow provinces and territories more time to align with cleaner electricity.
- These regulations can save consumers across the country money spent on energy bills, according to the Federal government.
Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault acknowledged that the timeline was difficult and it would cost Canadians a high amount if they didn’t change the differences to 2050, from a technical point of view. This final regulations guide provides more time for provinces and territories to comply with them, and non-emitting sources of electricity, such as hydroelectricity, solar, wind, and nuclear, should have no problems with falling into the regulations, but natural gas plants will have to meet specific criteria.
An example of this further would be emissions from natural gas power plants operating in emergency conditions brought on by extreme weather would not count under the rules, as that is something that cannot be helped. Plants that exceed their emissions limits will be allowed to use greenhouse gas offset credits.
What does this mean for Canadians, and how does it impact Canada? The changes mean that Canada’s electricity sector will continue to generate more pollution than what was initially forecast between 2024 and up to 2050, but that being said, federal officials from Environment and Climate Change Canada have stated that the final regulations achieve even deeper emissions reductions after 2050, more than anticipated initially. In 2022, Canada’s electricity sector had 85% non-emitting sources, thanks to the mostly hydroelectric and nuclear sources that run the majority of Ontario alone. Coal-fired electricity was phased out in Ontario in 2014 and in Alberta in 2024.
Heat pumps and electric transportation can sadly not run with access to more power, which has been on the rise over the last few years and is expected to skyrocket, meaning that provinces may continue to use natural gas generation instead of changing more eagerly to cleaner fuel sources. These new regulations also scale back the amount of projected reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 193 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, from 342 million tonnes, which is a 44% adjustment.
These regulations are intended to keep power prices and pollution levels down, while still heading in the right direction of cleaner energy, air, and environment. Including prices for consumers, as everyone needs heat, power, and water.
Exempting emissions from natural gas power plants operating in extreme weather conditions is part of that change, along with the previously mentioned emissions limit that would be allowed to go over and offset with greenhouse gas credits. The new regulations also more than double the allowable maximum level of emissions from some large generation plants, along with the pooling of emissions from multiple facilities as one.
The Alberta government has said that it fully intends to follow through with its previous pledge to challenge the regulations in court once they come into law, as Premier Danielle Smith has stated that the new regulations timeline is welcome but has continued to assert that they stray too far into provincial jurisdiction.
