Energy
COMMENTARY: Let’s Hear From Real “Experts” When it Comes Our Critical Electrical Systems – Not Bureaucrats, Academics, Activists and Partisan Politicians
From EnergyNow.ca
By Deidra Garyk
We need to redefine who is an “expert”
Experts cannot only include bureaucrats, politicians, academics, activists, and white-collar corporate elites. We must include the people who do the work to keep society functioning, such as electricians, utility system operators, and oilfield and construction workers.
Who is given the mic (or the pen) is given the power to influence perceptions, sometimes resulting in demands for unworkable plans.
The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) issued an emergency alert Saturday, January 13 asking Albertans to immediately reduce their electricity use or risk rotating outages. The extreme cold across the West caused an increase in demand and a restriction of imports, and that resulted in the worst-case scenario.
Albertans did what Albertans do – they pulled together and shut down unnecessary usage, averting a crisis.
Alberta is a modern, energy-rich province, the envy of the world, in many ways. How did this crisis happen?
Reporting afterwards on the alert, Calgary newstalk radio QR 770 interviewed an “expert” – a multi-degreed economics and law professor at an Alberta university and part-time climate activist. He said several words and asked a similar question, but otherwise contributed little of substance because he does not have adequate expertise to identify practicable solutions.
I would like to know why QR 770 did not interview a utility system expert to explain what happened and why. AESO made experts available to media to answer questions. The role of the media is to inform the public, and that is best accomplished by interviewing a broad cross-section of people with real-world knowledge.
The Official Opposition in Alberta put out a statement trying to capitalize on the situation, as any political party would. Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Nagwan Al-Guneid demanded immediate action be taken by the governing UCP while praising renewables for getting the province through the alert, and simultaneously forgetting it was her government that mandated all coal fired power plants be shut down by 2030. They even paid three power plant operators $1.36 billion to shut down their plants early.
Wind and solar renewables did not get Alberta through the most critical time – the coldest, darkest hours – of the electricity crisis and the data shows it. The assertion was at best missing context, and at worst disinformation for ideological gain.
Again, we need to redefine who is an “expert”.
There is a place for opposition parties, academics, corporate leaders, and even activists. However, they have an obligation to be serious and come to the discussion table in good faith. Otherwise, we have people with severe climate anxiety and a decade of “climate-induced insomnia” demanding that Canada build net zero hospitals powered by wind and solar to decarbonize and climate-proof the health care system.
The table must be expanded and seats added to include the people working closest to the source. Therefore, it would be beneficial for media organizations to interview the “invisible” people who work thanklessly to keep the systems running so much so that we take them for granted. We could all benefit from better understanding how the world works and how things are made.
I want to hear from electrical engineers, electricians, pipeline operators, oilfield workers, energy marketers, utility system operators, and anyone else who works to keep the electricity system functioning without fail.
They too must come to the discussion in good faith, ready to participate in complex but meaningful problem-solving discussions as their input is essential.
The reason the grid nearly failed and caused rolling blackouts is multi-faceted – extreme cold, taking coal plants offline early, not adding sufficient reliable power generation, renewables not producing during peak demand, increased population, increased business activity, and burdensome federal regulations, to name a few. It will take a truly diverse group of experts to build the grid that is able to withstand the most adverse weather to consistently deliver power during the coldest and deadliest times.
Over the weekend there were pleas on social media to get adults in the room to address the electricity grid crisis. We will not get adults in the room to create prudent energy policy for real people until we redefine who is an “expert”. This weekend proved that we need to do that soon.
About Deidra Garyk
Deidra Garyk has been working in the Canadian energy industry for almost 20 years. She is currently the Manager, ESG & Sustainability at an oilfield service company. Prior to that, she worked in roles of varying seniority at exploration and production companies in joint venture contracts where she was responsible for working collaboratively with stakeholders to negotiate access to pipelines, compressors, plants, and batteries.
Outside of her professional commitments, Deidra is an energy advocate and thought leader who researches, writes, and speaks about energy policy and advocacy to promote balanced, honest, fact-based conversations.
Connect with Deidra on Linkedin
Visit her website: DEIDRA GARYK: Canadian Energy Advocate
Business
Premiers fight to lower gas taxes as Trudeau hikes pump costs
From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
By Jay Goldberg
Thirty-nine hundred dollars – that’s how much the typical two-car Ontario family is spending on gas taxes at the pump this year.
You read that right. That’s not the overall fuel bill. That’s just taxes.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau keeps increasing your gas bill, while Premier Doug Ford is lowering it.
Ford’s latest gas tax cut extension is music to taxpayers’ ears. Ford’s 6.4 cent per litre gas tax cut, temporarily introduced in July 2022, is here to stay until at least next June.
Because of the cut, a two-car family has saved more than $1,000 so far. And that’s welcome news for Ontario taxpayers, because Trudeau is planning yet another carbon tax hike next April.
Trudeau has raised the overall tax burden at the pumps every April for the past five years. Next spring, he plans to raise gas taxes by another three cents per litre, bringing the overall gas tax burden for Ontarians to almost 60 cents per litre.
While Trudeau keeps hiking costs for taxpayers at the pumps, premiers of all stripes have been stepping up to the plate to blunt the impact of his punitive carbon tax.
Obviously, Ford has stepped up to the plate and has lowered gas taxes. But he’s not alone.
In Manitoba, NDP Premier Wab Kinew fully suspended the province’s 14 cent per litre gas tax for a year. And in Newfoundland, Liberal Premier Andrew Furey cut the gas tax by 8.05 cents per litre for nearly two-and-a-half years.
It’s a tale of two approaches: the Trudeau government keeps making life more expensive at the pumps, while premiers of all stripes are fighting to get costs down.
Families still have to get to work, get the kids to school and make it to hockey practice. And they can’t afford increasingly high gas taxes. Common sense premiers seem to get it, while Ottawa has its head in the clouds.
When Ford announced his gas tax cut extension, he took aim at the Liberal carbon tax mandated by the Trudeau government in Ottawa.
Ford noted the carbon tax is set to rise to 20.9 cents per litre next April, “bumping up the cost of everything once again and it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
“Our government will always fight against it,” Ford said.
But there’s some good news for taxpayers: reprieve may be on the horizon.
Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s promises to axe the carbon tax as soon as he takes office.
With a federal election scheduled for next fall, the federal carbon tax’s days may very well be numbered.
Scrapping the carbon tax would make a huge difference in the lives of everyday Canadians.
Right now, the carbon tax costs 17.6 cents per litre. For a family filling up two cars once a week, that’s nearly $24 a week in carbon taxes at the pump.
Scrapping the carbon tax could save families more than $1,200 a year at the pumps. Plus, there would be savings on the cost of home heating, food, and virtually everything else.
While the Trudeau government likes to argue that the carbon tax rebates make up for all these additional costs, the Parliamentary Budget Officer says it’s not so.
The PBO has shown that the typical Ontario family will lose nearly $400 this year due to the carbon tax, even after the rebates.
That’s why premiers like Ford, Kinew and Furey have stepped up to the plate.
Canadians pay far too much at the pumps in taxes. While Trudeau hikes the carbon tax year after year, provincial leaders like Ford are keeping costs down and delivering meaningful relief for struggling families.
Economy
Gas prices plummet in BC thanks to TMX pipeline expansion
From Resource Works
By more than doubling capacity and cutting down the costs, the benefits of the TMX expansion are keeping more money in consumer pockets.
Just months after the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) project was completed last year, Canadians, especially British Columbians, are experiencing the benefits promised by this once-maligned but invaluable piece of infrastructure. As prices fall when people gas up their cars, the effects are evident for all to see.
This drop in gasoline prices is a welcome new reality for consumers across B.C. and a long-overdue relief given the painful inflation of the past few years.
TMX has helped broaden Canadian oil’s access to world markets like never before, improve supply chains, and boost regional fuel supplies—all of which are helping keep money in the pockets of the middle class.
When TMX was approaching the finish line after the new year, it was praised for promising to ease long-standing capacity issues and help eliminate less efficient, pricier methods of shipping oil. By mid-May, TMX was completed and in full swing, with early data suggesting that gas prices in Vancouver were slackening compared to other cities in Canada.
Kent Fellows, an assistant professor of Economics and the Director of Graduate Programs for the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, noted that wholesale prices in Vancouver fell by roughly 28 cents per litre compared to the typically lower prices in Edmonton, thanks to the expanded capacity of TMX. Consequently, the actual price at the gas pump in the Lower Mainland fell too, providing relief to a part of Canada that traditionally suffers from high fuel costs.
In large part due to limited pipeline capacity, Vancouver’s gas prices have been higher than the rest of the country. From at least 2008 to this year, TMX’s capacity was unable to accommodate demand, leading to the generational issue of “apportionment,” which meant rationing pipeline space to manage excess demand.
Under the apportionment regime, customers received less fuel than they requested, which increased costs. With the expansion of TMX now complete, the pipeline’s capacity has more than doubled from 350,000 barrels per day to 890,000, effectively neutralizing the apportionment problem for now.
Since May, TMX has operated at 80 percent capacity, with no apportionment affecting customers or consumers.
Before the TMX expansion was completed, a litre of gas in Vancouver cost 45 cents more than a litre in Edmonton. By August, it was just 17 cents—a remarkable drop that underscores why it’s crucial to expand B.C.’s capacity to move energy sources like oil without the need for costly alternatives, allowing consumers to enjoy savings at the pump.
More than doubling TMX’s capacity has rapidly reshaped B.C.’s energy landscape. Despite tensions in the Middle East, per-litre gas prices in Vancouver have fallen from about $2.30 per litre to $1.54 this month. Even when there was a slight disruption in October, the price only rose to about $1.80, far below its earlier peaks.
As Kent Fellows noted, the only real change during this entire timeline has been the completion of the TMX expansion, and the benefits extend far beyond the province’s shores.
With TMX moving over 500,000 barrels more per day than it did previously, Canadian oil is now far more plentiful on the international market. Tankers routinely depart Burrard Inlet loaded with oil bound for destinations in South Korea and Japan.
In this uncertain world, where oil markets remain volatile, TMX serves as a stabilizing force for both Canada and the world. People in B.C. can rest easier with TMX acting as a barrier against sharp shifts in supply and demand.
For critics who argue that the $31 billion invested in the project is short-sighted, the benefits for everyday people are becoming increasingly evident in a province where families have endured high gas prices for years.
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