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Perched on the edge of a turquoise-colored Lake Erie, the Nanticoke, Ont., coal plant that was once Canada’s largest polluter sits idle, surrounded by rolling hills dotted with wind turbines and solar-panelled barn roofs.

A few thousand kilometres west, Alberta’s coal-fired generating stations and oilsands operations spew a third of the country’s carbon emissions, while a solar-power potential similar to northern Spain remains largely untapped.

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Alberta Premier Rachel Notley now wants to bridge the gap in energy policies between the two Canadian provinces. Notley is leaning on advisers from Ontario and the federal wing of her New Democratic Party to outline a shift in Alberta’s energy policy, according to people familiar with discussions who asked not to be identified because plans aren’t public. The shift includes phasing out coal plants and offering subsidies for solar and wind, the people said.

“Alberta is increasingly unusual in deriving such a high percentage of its electricity from coal,” said Rick Smith, executive director of the Broadbent Institute, an Ottawa-based policy think tank affiliated with Notley’s party. “There are so many cost-effective alternatives these days. You see the tangible, measurable results of this in the greater Toronto area, where the air is cleaner.'”