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“These are estimates of indirect costs, but what they show is they are relatively minor in the Alberta economy,” Environment Minister Shannon Phillips said Tuesday.

She said such costs should decline over time as organizations begin taking steps to reduce fossil fuel consumption and take advantage of energy efficiency benefits.

“A price on carbon is intended to drive both of those things.”

However, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean said his party believes the NDP government is dramatically low-balling the levy’s impact on already cash-strapped Alberta households.

Photo by Larry Wong / POSTMEDIA

“Our calculations indicate that it’s more around the $1,000 mark per family, but it’s good to see the government is finally acknowledging there are indirect costs,” Jean said. “The cost of everything will go up.”

He said the government has failed to provide any sort of analysis of the carbon tax’s impact on Alberta’s economy at a time of high unemployment and low oil prices.

In addition to indirect costs, households will also pay the carbon tax directly when they fill their own gas tanks and heat their homes.

For a typical family with two children, that’s expected to add up to $338 extra in 2017 and $508 in 2018.

However, the government has vowed to provide rebates ranging rom $100 to $540 to low- and middle-income households to offset the levy. Two-thirds of provincial households will receive at least a partial rebate.

The carbon tax is considered the centrepiece of the Notley government’s controversial Climate Leadership Plan, which calls for a variety of new taxes, standards and investments to tackle growing greenhouse gas emissions.