By: Nick Clark
Your comments are welcome following this blog. You can also find out more about how we're playing our part in building a fossil-free Alberta here Green Alberta Energy.
We are walking our talk for climate change in Alberta.
Consumers are being encouraged to help Climate Change by a number of electricity retailers in Alberta who are cutting their profits. The retailers are in partnership with GreenAlbertaEnergy.ca, an initiative of the Utility Network.
It’s official on January 1st 2016. Retail electricity prices are being reduced and consumers will receive a low guaranteed fixed rate to the end of 2017. At the same time, consumers are being asked to make a commitment to purchase a minimum 15% green energy in an effort to help green the grid.
This is a step in the right direction.
Alberta’s inner cabinet, premier and ministers are faced with similarly difficult decisions. They undoubtedly will have a hard time figuring out how Alberta can achieve all it has promised on Climate Change without gutting our economy. To add to the dilemma, during the week before Christmas, our province was hit with a downgrading of our credit rating by New York’s Standard and Poor’s.
This is a wake-up call.
Maybe our Premier Rachel Notley needs to take a breather and reconsider some of the lofty, aggressive and idealistic plans in favour of softer and more affordable solutions. It is time to hunker down, manage policy decisions wisely, and think out of the box.
And while the government is wrestling with the cost of Climate Change initiatives, the oil and gas sector will see 100,000 job losses by the end of this year. Everyone knows how fragile our economy is today and, sadly, we all tend to know someone who has been laid off during the current downturn.
Our recommendation: Take simple and small steps along the path of Climate Change. Our government must focus on achieving a balance between doing what is right for the environment -- and doing what we can actually afford.
Consumers in the province have been told that the planned tax on carbon emissions of $20 per tonne will increase to $30 per tonne in January 2018. Said the Premier: “This is expected to generate billions of dollars annually.” But consumers need to wake up and appreciate this is a tax on industry. It is a tax that will filter down in terms of higher costs, higher retail prices…and the money will ultimately come out of the consumer’s pockets to impact their disposable income. It is not free money that will magically appear. It is a tax masked under the heading of cost of “Climate Change” initiatives which will end up on consumers’ monthly utility bills in terms of higher monthly expenses.
What can an individual energy consumer do? Tell your MLA to be careful and consider the alternatives.
We must tread cautiously on making massive changes to our way of life that could possibly destroy our economy. Yet, regardless how you tumble the numbers, we still need to do what’s possible; we would be fools to argue in favour of doing nothing. The risk of doing nothing and potential negative impact on future generations is far too great to ignore.
Our plan with GreenAlbertaEnergy is twofold. The price reduction is consumer friendly and it gives Albertans an affordable option to consider.
The goal is simple: Reduce the retail price of electricity and ask consumers to voluntarily participate in buying a minimum of 15% green. Even when you add the two plans together, consumers will still see it is possible to lower their actual energy bill below what they are paying today. Of course, we hope they will green more than 15%. For the average residential consumer, the 15% number actually only represents about 5 cents per day.
Here’s what we’re doing with GreenAlbertaEnergy.ca.
It is time for our MLAs to “Walk their talk.”
We are walking our talk for climate change in Alberta.
Consumers are being encouraged to help Climate Change by a number of electricity retailers in Alberta who are cutting their profits. The retailers are in partnership with GreenAlbertaEnergy.ca, an initiative of the Utility Network.
It’s official on January 1st 2016. Retail electricity prices are being reduced and consumers will receive a low guaranteed fixed rate to the end of 2017. At the same time, consumers are being asked to make a commitment to purchase a minimum 15% green energy in an effort to help green the grid.
This is a step in the right direction.
Alberta’s inner cabinet, premier and ministers are faced with similarly difficult decisions. They undoubtedly will have a hard time figuring out how Alberta can achieve all it has promised on Climate Change without gutting our economy. To add to the dilemma, during the week before Christmas, our province was hit with a downgrading of our credit rating by New York’s Standard and Poor’s.
This is a wake-up call.
Maybe our Premier Rachel Notley needs to take a breather and reconsider some of the lofty, aggressive and idealistic plans in favour of softer and more affordable solutions. It is time to hunker down, manage policy decisions wisely, and think out of the box.
And while the government is wrestling with the cost of Climate Change initiatives, the oil and gas sector will see 100,000 job losses by the end of this year. Everyone knows how fragile our economy is today and, sadly, we all tend to know someone who has been laid off during the current downturn.
Our recommendation: Take simple and small steps along the path of Climate Change. Our government must focus on achieving a balance between doing what is right for the environment -- and doing what we can actually afford.
"It’s official in Alberta on January 1. Retail electricity prices reduced for consumers to receive a low guaranteed fixed rate to the end of 2017. "
We all have a Carbon Footprint
Alberta represents about one-third of Canada’s CO2 emissions and accounts for about one-half of 1% of the total global CO2 added to the atmosphere. Still, the province plans on increasing the carbon tax on industries as part of a global footprint solution. But, what does this mean?Consumers in the province have been told that the planned tax on carbon emissions of $20 per tonne will increase to $30 per tonne in January 2018. Said the Premier: “This is expected to generate billions of dollars annually.” But consumers need to wake up and appreciate this is a tax on industry. It is a tax that will filter down in terms of higher costs, higher retail prices…and the money will ultimately come out of the consumer’s pockets to impact their disposable income. It is not free money that will magically appear. It is a tax masked under the heading of cost of “Climate Change” initiatives which will end up on consumers’ monthly utility bills in terms of higher monthly expenses.
What can an individual energy consumer do? Tell your MLA to be careful and consider the alternatives.
We must tread cautiously on making massive changes to our way of life that could possibly destroy our economy. Yet, regardless how you tumble the numbers, we still need to do what’s possible; we would be fools to argue in favour of doing nothing. The risk of doing nothing and potential negative impact on future generations is far too great to ignore.
Our plan with GreenAlbertaEnergy is twofold. The price reduction is consumer friendly and it gives Albertans an affordable option to consider.
The goal is simple: Reduce the retail price of electricity and ask consumers to voluntarily participate in buying a minimum of 15% green. Even when you add the two plans together, consumers will still see it is possible to lower their actual energy bill below what they are paying today. Of course, we hope they will green more than 15%. For the average residential consumer, the 15% number actually only represents about 5 cents per day.
Here’s what we’re doing with GreenAlbertaEnergy.ca.
- Building an Energy Trust Fund, which is being re-invested to support Solar Micro Generators;
- Encouraging energy customers to take a sensible stance and green what they can afford, without breaking the bank;
- Partnering with over a dozen smaller retailers in Alberta, who are offering consumers total flexibility in selecting any percentage of the energy they individually consume on a monthly basis;
- Offering a green rate that is lower than being offered by the investor-owned utilities.
It is time for our MLAs to “Walk their talk.”