We recently wrote about the UCP’s surprise moratorium on new renewable energy developments.

There are more developments since then.

‘AUC and AESO asked for it – after we told them we were doing it’

Firstly, Smith misrepresented the reasons for the moratorium, claiming that the only reason they did it was because the Alberta Utilities Commission and the Alberta Electric System Operator asked them to do it, referencing two letters dated July 21, 2023.

But upon scrutiny, journalists and other analysts noted that (a) neither letter actually requests a moratorium and (b) the AESO letter – digitally signed on July 20, 2023 – indicates that AESO had been advised of a “government directed six-month temporary pause”.

In other words, when the letters came in on July 21, 2023, the moratorium decision had already been made – and the government wanted to get letters from these institutions to justify the decision they’d made for their own reasons.

Furthermore, as Andrew Leach points out, the letters show that the decision was made at least two weeks before it was announced – and in the mean time, the government conducted no consultations with industry, instead announcing it suddenly in a way that completely broadsided stakeholders.

“It’s Six Months.”

Secondly, when asked about the effect on the employees of companies working on new renewable energy projects caught by the moratorium, and whether these employees are just supposed to “pause their life for six months and just sit at home”, Smith’s response was to dismiss the concern by saying “It’s six months.”

That will be of small consolation to those Alberta employees who find themselves without an income for those months, particularly at a time when costs of housing, food, and borrowing are all surging.

It will be of particularly small consolation to the ones whose employers decide to pursue their projects in jurisdictions with less regulatory risk instead.

For contrast, consider that the COVID shutdowns that Smith and her supporters have consistently railed against were much less than six months: For most businesses that were actually shut down at all, the longest period was approximately three months or less – from late March to early June 2020. And that, which itself was a response to a real emergency, came with a suite of Provincial and Federal subsidies and supports for affected businesses and employees.

Finally, it bears noting that, in fact, it’s just a hair under seven months – from August 3 to February 29. So “It’s six months” doesn’t even have the virtue of being true.