Power for the Public with Edgardo Sepulveda

Perspectives: A Canadian Journal of Political Economy and Social Democracy

Earlier this fall, The Alberta Federation of Labour released a new report entitled Power in the Public Interest: Re-regulation and increased public ownership in Alberta’s electricity sector. A headline from a press release of the report reads: “Albertans have overpaid $24 billion for electricity since 2001.” This is long before the interruptions and constraints caused by more recent inflation or long before any carbon taxes were implemented, but the report points to the province’s deregulated power generation as the culprit behind this price gouging.

This has become a huge problem in the province as Albertans, despite living in a so-called energy powerhouse, find their household affordability taking a major hit while the electricity grid has become prone to reliability issues and failure, especially during cold snaps. Not to mention the other infrastructure issues that plague Alberta’s cities, but the report details how, despite consuming 2% of all electricity demand between the interconnected grids of Canada and the United States, the province accounts for 35% of emergency alerts when blackouts are imminent or in progress.

Unique to Alberta, and the cause pointed to behind the lack of grid security, is deregulation and privatization have led to high costs and poor service. Where have we heard that one before?

Edgardo Sepulveda, a regulatory economist and consultant, is the author of this report from the AFL, spoke on the Perspectives Journal Podcast about what it will take to bring power back into the public interest in Alberta.
Notes:

• Power in the Public Interest Re-regulation and increased public ownership in Alberta’s electricity sector, Alberta Federation of Labour, by Edgardo Sepulveda, October 2024.
• Profits, Inflation and Survival in an Age of Emergencies: Why We Need a New Paradigm, 2024 Ellen Meiksins Wood Lecture, by Isabella Weber, May 2024.