What doubling the grid really means

From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

” imagine if someone said in the next 25 years and 11 months, we must twin every single freeway, highway, grid road, street and alleyway, across the entire country, at the same time. And along the way, we have to replace up to 89 per cent of the existing infrastructure, as well, because it is no longer considered adequate “

Recently my daughter called me while on her way back from a Costco run in Regina, heading home to Weyburn.

She noted that it appears they are twinning the highway between Regina and Weyburn. Indeed, they are, I explained. And several years later, they’ll probably get it all the way to Weyburn. Maybe by the time I retire, if I live that long, they’ll get as far as Estevan.

Indeed, those timelines are likely pretty close to reality, if the twinning of Highway 16, from Saskatoon to Lloydminster, was any indication. I used to drive from Saskatoon to North Battleford to get the newspaper I was working for printed, with road construction for much of that. And it took several more years to complete the Battlefords to Lloydminster portion. I was fortunate enough to be present at the ceremony for that. It was significant enough that Premier Lorne Calvert came out.

Twinning a major highway is a substantial undertaking. Historically, Saskatchewan could usually only afford to work on three separate areas at a time, typically doing 20 kilometres per year in each stretch. That was all the provincial finances could handle.

By adding an additional two lanes, you are effectively doubling the capacity of that major piece of infrastructure. It’s not easy, not cheap, and not fast.

Now imagine if someone said in the next 25 years and 11 months, we must twin every single freeway, highway, grid road, street and alleyway, across the entire country, at the same time. And along the way, we have to replace up to 89 per cent of the existing infrastructure, as well, because it is no longer considered adequate.

You’d probably think they were living in a dreamland, or quite possibly stark raving mad.

And yet this is precisely what the federal government is proposing, nay, demanding, of Canadians from St. Johns to Victoria to Tuktoyaktuk.

In order to save the world from anthropogenic (manmade climate change) and attain a “Net Zero by 2050” economy, we must increase the size of the electrical grid by a factor of 2.5x. And for Saskatchewan and Alberta, who on any given day get up to 88 and 94 per cent of their power, respectively, from fossil fuels, they must also replace that existing gas and coal power generation with non-emitting sources, at the same time as they’re building out the truly massive expansion.

The first reference I saw of the federal Liberal government’s intentions of this was in the 2023 budget, which noted expanding the electrical grid by a factor of 2.2 to 3.4 times. By August, when they released the proposed Clean Electricity Regulations, the government seemed to settle on a factor of 2.5 times for the high demand scenario.

So in the highway twinning example, that would be adding three lanes, not two, to every two lane highway, grid road, street and alleyway. For an existing four lane highway, you would need to add six lanes. For a six lane freeway like Ontario’s 401, you’d need to add an additional nine lanes, finding the right of way space, concrete, rebar, gravel, and asphalt for all of this. Again, all at the same time, in 25 years and 11 months.

There are several thrusts that the federal government is pushing. First, by 2035, they want to totally eliminate gasoline and diesel from new light vehicle sales. There’s currently only eight retail hydrogen fueling stations listed by the federal government and Shell in the entire country. There could be more, but they’re not listed. Realistically this means battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs). But nearly all of those EVs will require charging at home each night (and especially during winter, pre-conditioning those batteries, keeping them warm).

So every residence in the country will require 30 amp chargers for cars, and 80 amp chargers for pickups.

But the government is also now moving away from fossil fuels for home, heating, too. This was indicative of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pause on the carbon tax for home heating oil (primarily used in Atlantic Canada, although I grew up in a house with that system). To do so, the feds are offering “free” installations of heat pumps (which are wholly inadequate at -30 temperatures, let alone the -44 seen in Alberta in mid-January). And those could be up to another 50 amps, per heat pump.

And that’s just residential, never mind commercial or industrial.

The Clean Electricity Regulations are meant to force fossil fuel power generation to go away. And since wind frequently drops to nothing, and the sun goes down every day, the only real alternative is massive expansion of nuclear power across Canada. We’re talking small modular reactors by the dozen in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and to a lesser extent, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

On Jan. 30, SaskPower announced a formalized agreement with General Electric-Hitachi for small modular reactors. But when I asked how many they plan on building, the CEO wouldn’t say. But he did speak of increasing the provincial grid from 5,400 megawatt now to 13,000 to 15,000 megawatts.

Hydro Quebec just released their plans to double their grid. Yet, perhaps miraculously, they’re not saying how many, if any, new dams will need to be built.

This doubling of the grid (actually 2.5x, but that’s not easy to say), means we’re going to need not only additional generation, but transmission lines, distribution lines, back alley pedestals, and wiring to every home, business and factory in the country. Where the materials come from? The contractors and workers? Will Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) be universally trampled on by eminent domain orders, for the good of the planet? Or will it be a continuation of Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything Syndrome (BANANAS)?

A very real example is the Trans Mountain Pipeline. The original was built in something like 16 months, from scratching dirt to oil flowing. The expansion is taking a hell of a lot longer. Work started in 2018, and it is still not done. Any change in the plan had to go back to the Canadian Energy Regulator. Some First Nations fought it every step of the way.

Now do this for every single piece of existing power infrastructure. Wrap your head around that for a minute.

This supposed energy transition, from fossil fuels to electric everything, does not work if you cannot build out the electrical infrastructure, everywhere, and essentially all at in the next 25 years and 11 months. Either the timelines need to be stretched to a generational scale, or more realistically, the whole concept needs to be entirely rethought.

As Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has said more than once, “We will not attempt the impossible when it comes to power production.”

Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online, and occasional contributor to the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. He can be reached at [email protected].

Related Topics:#BrianZinchuk #DoublingTheGrid #ElectricalGrid #FrontierCentreForPublicPolicy #PipelineOnline feature

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READ IT HERE – Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding – From the Prime Minister’s Office

Alberta

IEA peak-oil reversal gives Alberta long-term leverage

Published on November 28, 2025

Todayville

This article supplied by Troy Media.

By Rashid Husain Syed

The peak-oil narrative has collapsed, and the IEA’s U-turn marks a major strategic win for Alberta

After years of confidently predicting that global oil demand was on the verge of collapsing, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has now reversed course—a stunning retreat that shatters the peak-oil narrative and rewrites the outlook for oil-producing regions such as Alberta.

For years, analysts warned that an oil glut was coming. Suddenly, the tide has turned. The Paris-based IEA, the world’s most influential energy forecasting body, is stepping back from its long-held view that peak oil demand is just around the corner.

The IEA reversal is a strategic boost for Alberta and a political complication for Ottawa, which now has to reconcile its climate commitments with a global outlook that no longer supports a rapid decline in fossil fuel use or the doomsday narrative Ottawa has relied on to advance its climate agenda.

Alberta’s economy remains tied to long-term global demand for reliable, conventional energy. The province produces roughly 80 per cent of Canada’s oil and depends on resource revenues to fund a significant share of its provincial budget. The sector also plays a central role in the national economy, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and contributing close to 10 per cent of Canada’s GDP when related industries are included.

That reality stands in sharp contrast to Ottawa. Prime Minister Mark Carney has long championed net-zero timelines, ESG frameworks and tighter climate policy, and has repeatedly signalled that expanding long-term oil production is not part of his economic vision. The new IEA outlook bolsters Alberta’s position far more than it aligns with his government’s preferred direction.

Globally, the shift is even clearer. The IEA’s latest World Energy Outlook, released on Nov. 12, makes the reversal unmistakable. Under existing policies and regulations, global demand for oil and natural gas will continue to rise well past this decade and could keep climbing until 2050. Demand reaches 105 million barrels per day in 2035 and 113 million barrels per day in 2050, up from 100 million barrels per day last year, a direct contradiction of years of claims that the world was on the cusp of phasing out fossil fuels.

A key factor is the slowing pace of electric vehicle adoption, driven by weakening policy support outside China and Europe. The IEA now expects the share of electric vehicles in global car sales to plateau after 2035. In many countries, subsidies are being reduced, purchase incentives are ending and charging-infrastructure goals are slipping. Without coercive policy intervention, electric vehicle adoption will not accelerate fast enough to meaningfully cut oil demand.

The IEA’s own outlook now shows it wasn’t merely off in its forecasts; it repeatedly projected that oil demand was in rapid decline, despite evidence to the contrary. Just last year, IEA executive director Fatih Birol told the Financial Times that we were witnessing “the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era.” The new outlook directly contradicts that claim.

The political landscape also matters. U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to the White House shifted global expectations. The United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement, reversed Biden-era climate measures and embraced an expansion of domestic oil and gas production. As the world’s largest economy and the IEA’s largest contributor, the U.S. carries significant weight, and other countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom, have taken steps to shore up energy security by keeping existing fossil-fuel capacity online while navigating their longer-term transition plans.

The IEA also warns that the world is likely to miss its goal of limiting temperature increases to 1.5 °C over pre-industrial levels. During the Biden years, the IAE maintained that reaching net-zero by mid-century required ending investment in new oil, gas and coal projects. That stance has now faded. Its updated position concedes that demand will not fall quickly enough to meet those targets.

Investment banks are also adjusting. A Bloomberg report citing Goldman Sachs analysts projects global oil demand could rise to 113 million barrels per day by 2040, compared with 103.5 million barrels per day in 2024, Irina Slav wrote for Oilprice.com. Goldman cites slow progress on net-zero policies, infrastructure challenges for wind and solar and weaker electric vehicle adoption.

“We do not assume major breakthroughs in low-carbon technology,” Sachs’ analysts wrote. “Even for peaking road oil demand, we expect a long plateau after 2030.” That implies a stable, not shrinking, market for oil.

OPEC, long insisting that peak demand is nowhere in sight, feels vindicated. “We hope … we have passed the peak in the misguided notion of ‘peak oil’,” the organization said last Wednesday after the outlook’s release.

Oil is set to remain at the centre of global energy demand for years to come, and for Alberta, Canada’s energy capital, the IEA’s course correction offers renewed certainty in a world that had been prematurely writing off its future.

Toronto-based Rashid Husain Syed is a highly regarded analyst specializing in energy and politics, particularly in the Middle East. In addition to his contributions to local and international newspapers, Rashid frequently lends his expertise as a speaker at global conferences. Organizations such as the Department of Energy in Washington and the International Energy Agency in Paris have sought his insights on global energy matters.

Troy Media empowers Canadian community news outlets by providing independent, insightful analysis and commentary. Our mission is to support local media in helping Canadians stay informed and engaged by delivering reliable content that strengthens community connections and deepens understanding across the country.

Alberta

READ IT HERE – Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding – From the Prime Minister’s Office

Published on November 28, 2025

Todayville

From Energy Now

Prime Minister of Canada

Calgary, Alberta

PREFACE

At this pivotal global moment, Canada and Alberta, working closely with Indigenous Peoples and industry, must work together cooperatively, and within their respective jurisdictions, to foster the conditions necessary for infrastructure, including pipelines, rail, power generation, a strong and integrated transmission grid, ports and other means that will unlock and grow natural resource production and transportation in Western Canada. As a result, Canada will be able to reach its international export goals and develop new technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI), and, through innovation and intergovernmental cooperation, be a source of clean energy to lower global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

WHEREAS

Canada and Alberta remain committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050;
Alberta and Canada will work together to achieve the shared objective of establishing Canada as a global energy superpower, unlocking the growth potential of Western Canada’s oil and gas (including liquified natural gas (LNG)), renewable energy, critical minerals, and other resources that the world needs;
Alberta and Canada recognize their obligations to consult with, and where appropriate accommodate, Indigenous Peoples; and
Canada and Alberta are committed to respecting Aboriginal and Treaty rights, engaging in early, consistent, and meaningful consultation with Indigenous Peoples, in a manner that promotes reconciliation, and respects the rights and cultures of Indigenous Peoples while advancing economic opportunities through Indigenous ownership and partnerships.

THE OBJECTIVES

The Governments of Canada and Alberta are focused on achieving the following objectives and have developed the following clear actions towards this goal:

Increasing production of Alberta oil and gas to reach Canada’s export and national security goals, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs, while simultaneously reaching carbon neutrality by, in part, reducing the emissions intensity of Canadian heavy oil production to best in class in terms of the average for heavy oil by 2050.
Increasing electrical generation for consumer and industrial use on Alberta’s electricity grid, including meeting the needs of AI data centres, while simultaneously reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions for the electricity sector by 2050.
Creating electricity and energy policies that address consumer affordability, electricity grid stability, economic competitiveness and long-term competitive certainty, that attract Canadian and foreign sources of private sector capital investment.
Reducing layers of regulatory overlap and simplifying regulatory systems to ensure a maximum 2-year timeframe for permitting and approvals with the goal of shorter project approval timelines where feasible.
Providing meaningful opportunity for Indigenous rightsholders to participate in consultation processes and economic opportunities through Indigenous ownership, partnerships and benefits.

THE PROJECTS

Construction of one or more private sector constructed and financed pipelines, with Indigenous Peoples co-ownership and economic benefits, with at least one million barrels a day of low emission Alberta bitumen with a route that increases export access to Asian markets as a priority. The application for this pipeline project will be ready to submit to the Major Projects Office on or before July 1, 2026. It is agreed this new pipeline would be in addition to the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline for an additional 300,000 to 400,000 barrels per day destined for Asian markets.
Construction and financing of the world’s largest carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) project (Pathways) for the purpose of making Alberta oil among the lowest carbon intensity produced barrels of oil in the world.
Construction of thousands of megawatts of AI computing power, with a large portion dedicated to sovereign cloud for Canada and its allies.
Construction of large transmission interties with British Columbia and Saskatchewan to strengthen the ability of the western power markets to supply low carbon power to oil, LNG, critical minerals, agricultural, data centres and CCUS industries in support of their sustainability goals.

THE COMMITMENTS

Alberta commits to:

Act as proponent for advancing the development of a bitumen pipeline to Asian markets, that offers the opportunity for Indigenous co-ownership and other forms of economic benefits, for designation and authorization under the Building Canada Act.
In consultation with Indigenous leadership, utilize the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation (AIOC) to help backstop Indigenous co-ownership of the bitumen pipeline project and, if appropriate, Pathways.
Extend the Alberta Carbon Capture Incentive Program (ACCIP) to support Pathways.
Foster the development of sequestration permitting, worker training, and the capability for Alberta exports of CCUS-related products and services.
On or before July 1, 2026, implement a policy framework to incentivize large investments in data centre development, including incentives for Canadian sovereign computing.
On or before January 1, 2027, collaborate with Canada to develop a nuclear generation strategy to build and operate competitive nuclear power generation that can serve the Alberta and inter-connected markets by 2050.
Collaborate with Canada to significantly increase the inter-tie transfer capability between the western provinces (with consideration to the northern regions) to build the low carbon generation and transmission grid that supports the growth of low intensity heavy oil, LNG, critical minerals, agriculture, data centres and CCUS industries for export growth and domestic use.
Collaborate with B.C. to ensure British Columbians share substantial economic and financial benefits of the proposed pipeline.

Canada commits to:

In consideration for the mutual commitments agreed to in this MOU, Canada will not implement the Oil and Gas Emissions Cap, which has not yet been put into effect.
Acknowledge Alberta’s approach to regulating heavy electricity generation emitters through Alberta’s Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program for Alberta to provide long-term certainty and time needed by industry and innovators to develop the needed CCUS, direct air capture, nuclear infrastructure and other emissions technologies necessary to achieving a net-zero power grid by 2050.
Suspend immediately the Clean Electricity Regulations (CER) in Alberta pending a new carbon pricing agreement, which includes the electricity sector, administered through Alberta’s TIER program to be negotiated by the parties on or before April 1, 2026. Upon completion of the new carbon pricing agreement and factoring all other measures to the satisfaction of both parties, Canada will place the CER in Alberta in abeyance.
Declare that an Alberta bitumen pipeline to Asian markets as a priority, that offers opportunities for Indigenous co-ownership and economic benefits, is a project of national interest and can be referred to the Major Projects Office for consideration of designation under the Building Canada Act.
Collaborate with Alberta to provide a clear and efficient approval process for the Alberta bitumen pipeline under the Building Canada Act.
In consultation with Indigenous leadership, utilize Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Corporation to help backstop Indigenous co-ownership of the bitumen pipeline project and, if appropriate, Pathways.
If an Alberta bitumen pipeline is ultimately approved under the Building Canada Act and provides opportunities for Indigenous co-ownership and shared economic benefits, Canada confirms that it will enable the export of bitumen from a strategic deep-water port to Asian markets, including if necessary through an appropriate adjustment to the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act.
Extend federal ITCs and other policy supports to encourage large scale CCUS investments, including Pathways and enhanced oil recovery in order to provide the certainty needed to attract large additional sources of domestic and foreign capital.
Work collaboratively with Alberta to design policy supports that enable deployment of nuclear technology, CCUS and energy storage to enable decarbonization of the electricity system, while ensuring its reliability and affordability.
As outlined in Budget 2025, propose amendments to the Competition Act to remove some of the “greenwashing” provisions that are creating investment uncertainty.
Undertake to conduct good faith consultations with Alberta on the development and implementation of federal regulatory or policy measures that might impact Alberta industry and the shared goal of making Canada a global energy superpower.

Canada and Alberta together will:

Canada and Alberta agree to engage with British Columbia immediately in a trilateral discussion on the pipeline project, and during the potential development and construction of the bitumen pipeline referred to in this MOU, and to further the economic interests of B.C. related to their own projects of interest that involve the Province of Alberta including interties. In addition, Canada will work with B.C. on other projects of national interest in their jurisdiction.
Canada and Alberta also agree to engage meaningfully with Indigenous Peoples in both Alberta and British Columbia on this project, with the involvement of the B.C. Government for engagement with B.C. First Nations.
Work collaboratively to design and commit to globally competitive, long-term carbon effective prices, carbon levy recycling protocols, and sector-specific stringency factors for large Alberta emitters in both the oil and gas and electricity sectors through Alberta’s TIER system. The TIER system will ramp up to a minimum effective credit price of $130/tonne. The parties will conclude an agreement on industrial carbon pricing on or before April 1, 2026.
Examples of issues to be addressed in the new agreement include the date for introduction of the effective price and the price increases over time.
This industrial carbon pricing agreement will include a financial mechanism to ensure both parties maintain their respective commitments over the long term to provide certainty to industry, and to achieve the intended emissions reductions.
Recognizing Alberta’s jurisdiction over the TIER system, Canada and Alberta agree to work co-operatively to ensure the Alberta carbon market functions reliably and provides a predictable basis for decision-making by industry and investors. This includes a shared undertaking that following the completion of this Memorandum of Understanding, the two governments will work co-operatively to ensure the application of Alberta’s carbon pricing system (including pricing and stringency) is adapted to the specific circumstances of the electricity sector, the oil and gas sector, and other large emitters such as fertilizer and cement sectors.
Enter into a methane equivalency agreement on or before April 1, 2026, with a 2035 target date and a 75% reduction target relative to 2014 emissions levels.
Work cooperatively with the Pathways partner companies to develop and enter into a tri-lateral MOU on or before April 1, 2026 for a multi-phased approach to delivering a set of emissions savings projects (the “Phase 1 Pathways Projects”), focused predominantly on carbon capture and storage, solvent-based replacements or other actions taken by Pathways that reduce emissions intensity. The Phase 1 Pathways Projects will be built and commence operations in a staged manner between 2027 and 2040 to achieve committed emissions reductions at date-certain intervals. Canada and Alberta agree this tri-lateral MOU and the approval and commencement of the initial Phase 1 Pathways Projects will be a precondition to the commencement of the approved bitumen pipeline referred to in this MOU.
Canada and Alberta agree that the approval, commencement and continued construction of the bitumen pipeline is a prerequisite to the Pathways project, including the extension of the Alberta ACCIP Program.
Canada and Alberta agree that the Pathways Project is also a prerequisite to the approval, commencement and continued construction of the bitumen pipeline, given that the two projects referred to in this MOU are mutually dependent.
Canada and Alberta agree that in order to hold all parties to account for all phases of the Pathways projects, the trilateral MOU with Pathways must include effective enforcement mechanisms to ensure the completion of all phases of the infrastructure and the associated emissions reductions by the Pathways companies as outlined in the MOU. Such mechanisms could include, but are not limited to, tax and regulatory measures.
Canada and Alberta agree to work collaboratively, including with other provinces where appropriate, to develop domestic carbon capture supply chains and Canadian steel and pipe production supply chains.
Negotiate a cooperation agreement on impact assessments on or before April 1, 2026, that reduces duplication through a single assessment process that respects federal and provincial jurisdictions.
Work cooperatively to streamline the regulatory processes among federal agencies, the Canadian Energy Regulator, the Alberta government and municipalities to achieve a maximum 2-year timeframe for approvals while targeting shorter approval timelines where feasible.
Work cooperatively with Indigenous parties in Alberta to consult and accommodate on the CO2 pipeline and capture and storage facilities related to Pathways.
Continue to work together to achieve the objectives set out in this MOU.
Establish a communications protocol whereas each party must agree to public communications of this MOU and its content prior to information being released.

IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE

Canada and Alberta will appoint an Implementation Committee responsible for delivering the following outcomes:

A carbon pricing equivalency agreement on or before April 1, 2026.
A methane equivalency agreement on or before April 1, 2026.
A tri-lateral MOU with the Pathways companies on or before April 1, 2026.
A cooperation agreement on impact assessments by on or before April 1, 2026.
Determining the means by which Alberta can submit its pipeline application to the Major Projects Office on or before July 1, 2026.
Acquiring feedback from the federal government for Alberta’s policy framework for AI data centres which is to be finalized by Alberta on or before July 1, 2026.
Collaborating with Alberta on the design of Alberta’s nuclear power generation strategy which is to be finalized by Alberta on or before January 1, 2027.