Alberta to challenge constitutionality of Clean Electricity Regulations

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the province will challenge the constitutionality of the federal net-zero regulations.

Alberta will be asking a court to decide whether the federal government has the jurisdiction to enact regulations for the purpose of creating a net-zero electricity grid by 2050.

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In Edmonton Thursday morning, Premier Danielle Smith and her Justice Minister Mickey Amery announced they would be referring the constitutionality of Canada’s Clean Electricity Regulations to the Court of Appeal of Alberta.

The Clean Electricity Regulations were finalized in December 2024 and will cut nearly 181 megatonnes of cumulative carbon emissions from the grid by 2050, according to the federal government.

Ottawa originally intended to make its target an emissions-neutral grid by 2035, but abandoned the goal with pushback from some provinces – including Alberta – and industry members.

Smith on Thursday said the new target is still unachievable and is already discouraging investment in natural gas power generation, which accounts for 75 per cent of power generation in her province.

Additionally, she said the Alberta Electric System Operator’s own analysis found the regulations would make the electricity system 100 times less reliable and raise electricity prices by 35 per cent.

In court, Alberta will argue the regulations intrude on the province’s jurisdiction over the development, conservation and management of electricity-generating sites and facilities.

“Why would we punish our industry? Why would we risk blackouts? Why would we risk grid instability for an unachievable target? Why not work with us to try to find (the) best available technology without these punitive measures?” Smith said.

Before the election, abandoning the regulations was among nine demands Smith made to Canada’s next federal government.

She said she was taking the issue to court now because she had not seen any sign that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government was willing to hear Alberta out, including during its consultation with the provinces last year.

“We are simply not going to allow the federal government, based on ideology, to violate the Constitution and put our people at risk of being in blackout during the dead of winter or the heat of summer.”

There is no timeline for the case yet.

With files from Reuters and The Canadian Press