Alberta is down right now, but we’re not out.
We still can’t move our bitumen, oil or natural gas to market as easily as we would like.
We are at odds with the federal government and British Columbia on key files. Unemployment is far too high, and debt continues to mount. But we also know that the right economic policies, free market competition and strong leadership will carry us through. They always have.
Rural Albertans know about that through hard experience.
While urban areas in Alberta have had electricity since the 1890s, rural Alberta had to wait another 60 years for electricity because Alberta’s largest electricity companies refused to bring us service.
In the late 1940s rural Albertans finally got tired of waiting and took matters into their own hands.
The provincial government provided the legislation and rural Albertans banded together to form Rural Electrification Associations (REAs). Eventually, over 400 REAs delivered almost all the electricity to Alberta farm and ranch families.
It’s a much different story today, as two large corporations control approximately 95 per cent of Alberta’s rural electricity distribution and they continue to gobble up the remaining REAs with each passing year.
As the United Conservative Party (UCP) noted in its 2019 election platform, Alberta Strong and Free, the reforms to Alberta’s electricity system brought in by Premier Klein in the late 1990s and early 2000s contributed to a surge in investment in the sector and competition exploded in both electricity generation and retail.
More and more players entered the field putting downward pressure on electricity rates, encouraging innovation and giving consumers the kind of choice that those in other provinces could only dream of.
But it is not so in rural electricity distribution.
The legislation and regulations that govern rural electricity distribution in Alberta continue to facilitate and even encourage the concentration of ownership among two players, which is certainly not in the interests of rural Albertans.
It is also not in the spirit of the UCP platform commitment to a “market-based” system. Market based suggests more competition. Instead, what we have is something approaching a monopoly.
As Alberta’s largest remaining rural electrification co-operative, EQUS is concerned about this for several reasons.
First, we know that the distribution charges on a rural electricity bill are often the single biggest portion of the average family’s power bill.
Because we face our corporate competitors head on, we play an important role in putting downward pressure on distribution charges. The big companies have an incentive to increase profits for their shareholders. Our incentive is to meet the expectations of our members, who want the lowest possible power bill.
We also feel a keen responsibility to the rural communities we operate in. We know that the reliability and cost of electricty is a critical factor in attracting new business and investment.
Unfortunately, a lack of investment is why too many small rural centres are getting smaller. That should concern us all.
Young people growing up in rural Alberta shouldn’t have to move away to find opportunity.
Rural Alberta makes up 18 per cent of the provincial population and is the heartland for bitumen, oil and gas, agricultural and forestry production, which provides great opportunities for rural Albertans as primary producers, but too often the value-added and electricity-intensive jobs are in urban areas.
If rural Alberta is to attract agri-food, midstream oil and gas or hi-tech investment, rural power bills will need to be competitive.
Competition also encourages innovation. We know better than anyone that rural Albertans have an independent streak and don’t want to be under the thumb of big corporations.
That’s why our members are showing so much interest in ideas like generating their own electricity, whether that energy comes from increasingly efficient solar panels, biodigesters, or wind.
That kind of innovation is not necessarily in the interests of our competitors, but we believe it’s vital to meeting the needs of rural Albertans now and into the future.
As the new Alberta government considers next steps on electricity, we hope they consider new ways to enhance competition in rural electricity distribution.
Rural Alberta has contributed tremendously to Alberta’s prosperity, without always enjoying all the fruits of our labour. Ensuring competition in every aspect of Alberta’s electricity market will be critical to the flourishing of rural Alberta.
EQUS CEO Patricia Bourne,
Innisfail
