EDMONTON, AB: The NDP government’s heavy handed court intervention in Alberta’s electricity market will scare away investment and drive up power prices, Wildrose Shadow Electricity and Renewables Minister Don MacIntyre said Monday.
“What we saw today was shocking – the NDP is asking the courts to turn back time. It is clear that the NDP didn’t bother to understand Alberta laws and regulations before they decided to jack up taxes on the electricity industry – and now Alberta consumers will suffer,” MacIntyre said. “Today’s announcement to take private companies to court over agreements signed at the turn of the century is extremely short sighted and will keep billions of dollars of necessary investment away from our province.
“The government’s plans to shut down coal generation will require major long term investments in other types of generation. This court action and the government’s lack of respect for contracts it signed will frighten away investors.
“Alberta’s government should be working on the side of working families who are struggling to make ends meet, but instead the NDP are distracted with frivolous legal challenges and an ideological agenda that is putting our economy and our electricity system at risk.
“We should be finding ways to make power bills more affordable, to restore the Alberta Advantage and bring investment back to this province, not push investment away,” MacIntyre said.