Article content

The cancellation of contracts to buy coal-fired electricity announced by TransCanada and AltaGas this week could be seen as proof that market signals work.

They follow a similar move by Enmax last December, when the city-owned utility said it would stop buying power from ATCO’s Battle River power station, which is also fuelled by coal.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Yedlin: TransCanada, AltaGas moves signal demise of coal-fired electricity Back to video

In all cases, the power purchase agreements (PPAs) return to the provincial Balancing Pool, which has the right to retain, re-sell or terminate the contracts.

This raises questions about how well the PPA contracts were written and whether these latest moves signal that the end of coal-fired power is closer than many believe it to be.

JP Morgan’s declaration Tuesday that it won’t finance new coal mines around the world and would no longer support the development of coal-fired power plants in the developed world, seems to support that conclusion.

It joins other financial institutions, including Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo who’ve made similar moves. While this is no doubt part of a broader, risk management exercise given how coal-fired facilities have become the ugly stepsister of the electricity world with an uncertain operating horizon, the lack of available financing should hasten the end of coal-fired electricity.