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Alberta Electric System Operator president and CEO David Erickson said he did not expect the changes to the market would cause prices consumers pay for power to rise “any more than they would have otherwise increased under the energy only market.”

To offset the decline in coal-fired power, which comprises 51 per cent of Alberta’s total electricity, the province needs companies to build new generating stations that can consistently produce a total of 8,000 megawatts by 2030. The province is also looking for companies to invest in new renewable power projects in the province over the same time period.

Currently low power prices have made it difficult for the province to attract new investors to Alberta’s over-supplied market.

Capital Power Corp. president and CEO Brian Vaasjo and TransAlta Corp. president and CEO Dawn Farrell shared the stage with the government during the announcement and expressed their support of the new market structure.

“We will remain the largest generation investor here in Alberta,” Farrell said.

The new market structure is more complicated than the existing system but, Vaasjo said, “We’re pleased the government is taking the time to do it right.”

Alberta’s market is unique in Canada because the province does not own a Crown corporation – like Hydro One in Ontario or SaskPower in Saskatchewan, for example – to produce power for consumers.

The market is instead comprised of publicly traded companies that build power plants based on the futures market for electricity in the province, and get paid in the spot market for the power they produce.