The dispute between the Alberta government and the federal government over clean electricity regulations is escalating as the Premier of the province, Danielle Smith, yesterday proposed activating the Alberta Sovereignty Act for the first time on this issue.

The Premier of the United Conservative Party (UCP) in Edmonton said that the federal government’s plan would jeopardize the reliability of Alberta's electricity grid, which heavily depends on natural gas, and would lead to massive increases in electricity bills for the province's residents.

The federal government had announced a few months ago its intention to adopt the electricity regulations project under which all electricity produced in Canada must be carbon neutral by 2035.

The federal regulations project allows electricity generation using natural gas, the main source of electricity in Alberta, but under certain conditions, including compensating for 95% of emissions.

This will be the first time the Alberta Sovereignty Act is activated since its adoption a year ago. Through this step, the Alberta government wants to avoid subjecting its public sector employees to federal regulations that propose establishing a carbon-neutral electricity grid by 2035.

"Alberta will have to pay the bulk of the expenses necessary to achieve these ridiculous goals, and consumers and businesses will see a sharp increase in their bills," said the Premier of Alberta.

In addition to affirming that these new federal regulations conflict with her province's interests, Smith accuses Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government in Ottawa of interfering in areas of Alberta’s powers as a Canadian province.

The Alberta government argues that these electricity regulations are unconstitutional because only provinces can legislate in the field of electricity according to Section 92A of the Canadian Constitution.

"We developed (the Alberta Sovereignty Act) to protect the province from federal interference, and we are using it now because the consequences of this particular interference will be extremely serious," said Smith.

Rachel Notley, leader of the New Democratic Party, which forms the official opposition in the Alberta Legislative Assembly in Edmonton (archive).

The Premier of the United Conservative Party also affirmed her intention to study the idea of establishing a state-owned energy generation entity in Alberta.

However, she clarified that she does not want to nationalize power plants in her province, but rather wants a potential government entity to compete with private sector electricity suppliers to increase the grid's production capacity.

Smith confirmed that she is studying this possibility "reluctantly." "We want the private sector players to provide a larger basic supply (of electricity). We want the private sector to enter natural gas production and nuclear production. But if they do not do that, we will have to intervene," Smith said.

The leader of Alberta’s New Democratic Party (Alberta's NDP), Rachel Notley, said that activating the Sovereignty Act is a "spotlight-grabbing" step but "illegal."

Notley added that her left-leaning party, which forms the official opposition in the Legislative Assembly in Edmonton, will vote against Smith’s proposal to activate the Alberta Sovereignty Act, considering that this law is "illegitimate in many respects" and "most likely unconstitutional."