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The Alberta government says it will take out a loan worth hundreds of millions of dollars to help cover losses from cancelled electricity contracts.

The province said Wednesday it hasn’t calculated exactly how high the loan will climb, though one power analyst said it will likely surpass $500 million.

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Energy Minister Margaret McCuaig-Boyd said the government has drafted legislation to reduce the financial impact for consumers.

“It would have been a pretty big spike on bills,” McCuaig-Boyd said Wednesday.

Consumers are expected to pay an additional charge on their monthly bills, beginning next year, to help pay off the loan by 2030.

Next year, the monthly charge is estimated at an average of 67 cents per household, though the rate depends on energy use and could change over the following 13 years.

An oilsands plant that uses 50 megawatts of power would pay an estimated $24,000 a month.

Gary Reynolds, an Alberta power analyst, said the extra charge “isn’t huge,” adding it could have been worse, given the scale of losses facing the province.