As we finish off election season with the federal and municipal elections behind us, I thought I should continue down the path of celebrating what is going well. There is much to celebrate in Alberta’s natural gas and electricity sectors — two areas that are vital to our province’s future.
Associate Minister of Natural Gas and Electricity, Dale Nally, is a first-term MLA. The learning curve here is akin to drinking water through a fire hose. The complexities of our natural gas and electricity markets — getting products to market, the enduring environmental issues, and ensuring everyday Albertans get a fair deal — cannot be overstated. Then, mix in waves of new technologies disrupting the traditional markets as we know them — renewable power, battery storage, carbon capture, and hydrogen — it is a lot to ask of a new MLA.
So, let’s see how he is doing and let the numbers do the talking.
Let’s start with the $2 billion in announced renewable electricity generation since 2019, something many experts attribute to Alberta’s energy-only electricity market. In total, $5 billion in generation projects have been announced since Nally took office, a vote of confidence in our openly competitive electricity market.
Nally has also found himself working closely with Invest Alberta to reach a formidable, yet increasingly realistic, goal of attracting $30 billion in new petrochemical investment before the term is up.
If you missed it, Dow’s proposed project will put a huge dent in that goal with announced plans to more than triple its ethylene and polyethylene capacity at the Fort Saskatchewan site. It will be the world’s first net-zero ethylene cracker and plastics facility, and as Nally has said, “It has the potential to be one of the single biggest private-sector investments in the province's history.”
With every new announcement comes a promise of well-paying jobs for everyday Albertans, and it’s tough to keep up with the list of smaller, yet significant, proposed investments. Hot on the heels of the Dow news was news from Calgary’s TC Energy, with plans to build a network of hydrogen re-fueling stations across North America.
We also saw an announced project from Air Products, the largest hydrogen producer, to build a $1.3-billion blue-hydrogen facility in Alberta. Suncor and ATCO have also partnered on an announced $3-billion hydrogen project. Energy monoliths Petronas Energy Canada Ltd. and Japan’s Itochu Corp., as well as Shell and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp., have also unveiled respective plans to build hydrogen-carrying blue-ammonia plants for exports to Japan.
Nally has a simple goal: to ensure Alberta is the North American centre of excellence for producing clean hydrogen. The above-mentioned announcements show the global demand will support this goal.
As energy-watchers eagerly await the release of Alberta’s Hydrogen Roadmap (due in November), one can expect more leadership from Nally in developing this sector.
We should also acknowledge Sturgeon County Mayor Alanna Hnatiw’s leadership and Alberta’s Industrial Heartland Association’s work, which will be front-and-centre in the Hydrogen Roadmap with a plan to develop more regional hydrogen hubs across the province. The roadmap will offer a comprehensive strategy to grow local hydrogen demand and attract investment for global exports.
What does this mean to St. Albert, Sturgeon County, and all of Alberta? Mortgage-paying jobs for construction workers, tradespeople and engineers; hospital- and school-building tax and royalty revenues; and elevating Alberta’s brand as a responsible supplier of clean-energy products.
There are big things happening right on our doorstep, and the hard work St. Albert resident-turned associate minister Nally has put into this file will pay dividends as Alberta transforms its economy.
John Liston is the vice-president of Alberta Enterprise Group and a St. Albert resident active in our business and charity communities.
