Energy Policy

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Our relationship with the oil and gas industry is vital. Alberta’s oil and gas resources belong to the people of Alberta, and we rely on the industry to develop those resources. The oil and gas industry is the backbone of Alberta’s economy. With that in mind we have consulted in detail with members of the oil and gas industry. We have offered proposals, we have asked for suggestions, and we have listened to their advice.

Our oil and gas policy is based on five fundamental principles.

  • That the health of the Alberta economy is inextricably tied to the health of the energy industry;
  • That the Alberta Liberals view the energy industry as a positive force in Alberta;
  • That the energy industry requires certainty, sustainability, consistency and effectiveness in regulation and policy;
  • That energy policy and royalty rates should be determined in consultation with the industry, be based in fact, and be competitive;
  • That a responsible government and the Alberta energy industry will work together to ensure good stewardship of the environment.

To see how these principles shape our policy, read Revitalizing Oil and Gas.

Energy Responses & Questions

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21 February 2012

Electricity Prices (February 21, 2012)

Dr. Taft: Mr. Speaker, Alberta’s PCs consistently and deliberately spread misinformation about electricity deregulation. For example, they say that residents in Quebec, B.C., Manitoba, and New Brunswick pay higher taxes to subsidize electricity when the truth is actually quite the opposite. The Crown-owned power companies in these provinces actually pay dividends to governments, that help push taxes down. To the Minister of Energy: why does he persist in misleading Albertans about the truth concerning electricity deregulation?

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15 February 2012

Electricity Prices (February 15, 2012)

Dr. Taft: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Well, it was already clear from the way the Premier avoids responding to most questions on electricity deregulation that she doesn’t know the file, and her attempt at a response in question period yesterday confirmed her ignorance. I expect she’s being fed this ignorance by the Minister of Energy. So to that minister: will he admit the truth, which is that regulating the price of electricity does not require the provincial government to take on any debt whatsoever?

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14 February 2012

Electricity Prices, Critical Transmission Review Committee Report (February 14, 2012)

Dr. Sherman: Mr. Speaker, happy Valentine’s Day. It’s great to see Madam Premier wearing Liberal red colours. Mr. Speaker, Albertans’ power bills are like a box of chocolates. They never know what they’re going to get. Yesterday the Minister of Energy told Albertans who want lower prices to pick up the phone and call 11 different providers, and if you’re on the regulated rate option, decrease your cost by 42 per cent. Instead of forcing Albertans to make dozens of calls for help after they’ve been gouged, why doesn’t the Premier just make the fixed-term contracts the default option?

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09 February 2012

Electricity Prices/Accommodation and Health Care for Seniors (February 9, 2012)

Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the Premier claimed deregulated electricity prices ensure “that industry is going to be able to afford to keep operating.” Well, when prices spiked last month to over 90 cents a kilowatt hour, companies like AltaSteel and Whitecourt’s Alberta Newsprint Company shut down production because they said, quote, it is completely uneconomical, unquote, to continue operating.

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31 January 2012

Statement: Sherman on pipelines

Yesterday interim federal Liberal leader Bob Rae suggested that he does not approve the construction of the Northern Gateway oil pipeline. Alberta Liberals respect Mr. Rae, but he is on the wrong side of this issue.

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19 January 2012

Cold snap reveals mismanagement of Alberta power grid

Calgary – Official Opposition Energy Critic Kent Hehr says this week’s bone-freezing temperatures will chill Albertans even further when they see their power bills spike a couple of months from now – and those higher bills come courtesy of the PCs and their mismanagement of the power grid.

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09 January 2012

Hehr stands up for Northern Gateway Pipeline

Alberta Liberals defend energy sector and expanded capacity to export markets

Edmonton - As hearings into the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline from the Alberta oilsands to the B.C. coast get under way, Official Opposition Deputy Leader Kent Hehr is expressing his support for the project and those like it. 

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08 December 2011

Protection of Personal Health Information/Recovery of Tight Gas and Tight Oil (December 7)

Dr. Taft: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. For the second time this week we’ve heard of a health professional, driven by passion and revenge, grossly violating the privacy of innocent people’s health records.

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