u/testuser765765

I often see the narrative on social media that Smith and the UCP completely ruined Alberta’s green energy boom. But when you look at the actual rules brought in after the moratorium, a lot of them sound like basic, common-sense planning on paper.

And the government's rationale for the moratorium itself seemed legit as rural municipalities and landowners were panicking about losing prime farmland, getting stuck with future cleanup liabilities, spoiling viewscapes, and general grid stability. Putting in rules to address those concerns before unregulated growth got out of control seems reasonable to me. And a 7-month moratorium to collect concerns, analyze grid physics, and draft new regulations is actually decent governmental speed compared to say the ongoing years-long uncertainty around the federal Clean Electricity Regulations (CER). Has the renewables industry just been overreacting?

The new negative price floor and the fact that the grid operator can now shut off a plant during peak congestion without compensation also seem like rational approaches based on grid stability, no? It's just getting "spiky" renewables to pay for their own externalities and grid integration costs, instead of sticking everyday ratepayers with the bill.

Besides, can't the industry just adapt by adding storage systems like BESS? Given the federal Clean Technology ITC offers up to a 30% subsidy for renewable energy equipment, those hybrid setups should still be competitive for general power generation, even under AB's new rules, and even though AB has CER in temporary abeyance after the MoU Implementation Agreement.

So did the government actually "destroy" the sector, or did they just force a booming industry to mature and play by fair, unvarnished market rules?

I see the narrative constantly on Canadian subreddits like this that Smith and the UCP completely ruined Alberta’s green energy boom. But when you look at the actual rules brought in after the moratorium, a lot of them sound like basic, common-sense planning on paper.

And the government's rationale for the moratorium itself seemed legit as rural municipalities and landowners were panicking about losing prime farmland, getting stuck with future cleanup liabilities, spoiling viewscapes, and general grid stability. Putting in rules to address those concerns before unregulated growth got out of control seems reasonable to me. Has the renewables industry just been overreacting?

The new negative price floor and the fact that the grid operator can now shut off solar farms during peak midday congestion without compensation also seem like rational approaches based on grid stability, no? It's just getting "spiky" renewables to pay for their own externalities and grid integration costs, instead of sticking everyday ratepayers with the bill.

Besides, can't the industry just adapt by adding storage systems like BESS? Given the federal Clean Technology ITC offers up to a 30% subsidy for renewable energy equipment, those hybrid setups should still be competitive for general power generation, even under AB's new rules, and even though AB has CER in abeyance after the MoU Implementation Agreement.

So did the government actually "destroy" the sector, or did they just force a booming industry to mature and play by fair, unvarnished market rules?