EDMONTON, AB: The NDP government has laid a web of different stories surrounding when exactly they first learned about a specific clause in the province’s Power Purchasing Arrangements (PPAs) with electricity companies, and that web is starting to unravel, the Wildrose Official Opposition said.
, documents clearly show that in November 2015 a briefing was prepared outlining the potential impacts on Alberta’s coal powered companies as a result of the NDP government’s climate change policies. Though heavily redacted, the documents explicitly mentions PPAs.
Another FOIP from December 2015 clearly outlines the Assistant Deputy of Minister of Electricity briefing the Deputy Minister of Executive Council on the potential PPA termination by Enmax due to the NDP government’s climate change plan.
“It is disappointing to see the facts laid out in documents that directly contradict what the Deputy Premier has been saying this week about PPAs,” Wildrose Leader Brian Jean said. “The NDP government owes it to the people of Alberta to come clean about when they learned about the exit clause built into these arrangements and why they went ahead with a policy decision that will raise the cost of electricity for every Albertan.”
Interviews with Alberta’s electricity companies clearly demonstrate that the NDP government is in a losing battle and wasting taxpayer dollars with their current lawsuit.
“The longer the NDP government continues down the road of changing their story and being less than truthful about the facts surrounding PPAs, the more taxpayer dollars will be wasted on this mess,” Wildrose Shadow Electricity and Renewables Minister Don MacIntyre said. “The NDP government appears to not realize the direct impact their actions are having on taxpayer dollars, and on everyday Albertans’ bottom lines when it comes to their power bills.”