New Canadian clean electricity rules would allow some use of fossil fuels
OTTAWA, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Canada announced long-awaited draft clean electricity regulations on Thursday that are designed to create a net-zero emissions power grid by 2035, and said some continued use of fossil fuels would be allowed.
The environment ministry said the rules - which do not prescribe the use of any particular technology - would cut over 340 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution between 2040 and 2050 and only result in small increases in average residential electricity rates.
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The federal Liberal government has promised Canada will reach overall net-zero emissions by 2050 and says electrifying the grid will be the backbone of that decarbonization push by providing clean power for transportation, buildings and industry.
The draft regulations are due to be published later on Thursday. A series of consultations will now take place and the finalised rules are due to come into force on Jan. 1, 2025.
Around 84% of Canada's electricity already comes from non-emitting sources, but four of the 10 provinces still rely on fossil fuels for much of their power generation.
The conservative oil-producing province of Alberta is firmly opposed to the regulations, calling them unrealistic. Last week Alberta paused approvals of new renewable electricity generation projects over one megawatt.
In a statement, the federal environment ministry said the draft rules include "flexibilities to avoid stranding large capital assets", adding that "one such flexibility allows for an ongoing, though limited, role for some fossil-fuel generation past 2035". It did not give details.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says a 75-day comment period will start once the regulations are published.
The government, using undiscounted 2022 constant dollars, said national average residential electricity rates would only rise 0.4% by 2035, 1.9% by 2040, and 0.9% by 2050.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa; additional reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; editing by Jonathan Oatis)