It’s clear the UCP doesn’t have the best interests of Albertans at heart
By Lethbridge Herald on April 25, 2025.
Editor,
In Lethbridge-East MLA Nathan Neudorf’s April 15 Herald column, he tries to blame a decade-old NDP government for the rising transmission costs on your power bill. If this sounds absurd, let me assure you: it is.
Mr. Neudorf claims that the need for new transmission lines was caused by the NDP’s “coal phase-out and renewable projects.” In truth, the coal plants were mostly (other than the oldest units that were slated for retirement anyway) converted to more efficient natural gas power plants, using the same existing lines. And the NDP’s renewable energy program required all successful power projects to connect to existing transmission capacity on the grid, so none of these caused a single new line to be built.
The truth about the UCP’s record on electricity diverges wildly from Mr. Neudorf’s talking points.
Mr. Neudorf and the UCP have been in power for six years now, during which they have allowed dozens of new power plants to build anywhere in Alberta on the promise that the power lines would be built for them on the ratepayers’ dime. Now they’re pulling the rug out from those investors by refusing to build those promised lines — with the result that power consumers could be on the hook to pay for the lost market access that those good-faith investors will endure.
If you think this government can just ignore the claims of those investors who have put billions of dollars into new energy operations in Alberta, I’ve got news for you. Mr. Neudorf’s main excuse for allowing Northback to build the Grassy Mountain mine (threatening our drinking water and farms) is that the UCP had told them to come build their mine. So, according to Mr. Neudorf, Northback could now sue the government if they refuse to give Northback the right to take down one of our mountains.
No, the UCP is clearly not acting in our interest, neither on coal mining nor on electricity policy. Case in point: if you’re stuck on the UCP’s new “rate of last resort” power option, you’re now paying more than double what you would be if the UCP had left the previous RRO alone.
It seems like the UCP don’t know what they’re doing. But maybe they know all too well what they’re doing, and we’re the rubes paying for it. Let’s stop being their rubes. Given the ongoing CorruptCare scandal and the UCP’s refusal to allow a public inquiry into their secret sweetheart health care privatization deals, it’s pretty clear that common sense ethics are in short supply, so I shouldn’t be surprised.
Bill Harker
Lethbridge
11-10
the letter is beyond refute. the ucp steps up, big time, for big corp and select party insiders. the ucp consistently undermines the likes of sustainability and a healthy environment that should be passed on to those we love; they forsake a compassion based outlook and approaches – that are the hallmark of being a canadian – so as to ensure maximum gain for rogue mining actors; they consistently undermine public health so as pass a good buck along to private entities, ever at our collective expense and loss; and, of course, they have left property holders/farmers, municipalities alone to seek payments not made by the bad mining actors; and, they have allowed those bad mining actors to scoot away into the oily sunset free from having to clean up their messes, which leaves us all on the hook for the clean up and environmental fall out costs, which will come in at many hundreds of billions of dollars.
those bad ndp, right?
I can remember Klein telling us that knew him that we would never see a cheap electricity bill again in Alberta he was so proud of how he had fooled the people into believing deregulation would make them so much cheaper.
One of the former conservative MLAs said to me that “it was the dirtiest trick Klein could have played on the Alberta people this will cost us billions and just imagine what it will do to healthcare and education costs. Schools and hospitals use a lot of electricity”.
It was shortly after that, that a man at one of his fund raising dinners with a population of 80 to 85 % seniors overheard him telling one of his MLAs that he could tell these senior idiots anything he wanted to and they would believe him.
Now you know why my father had labeled him “That Sleazy Bastard “ even before he ever got elected and his mother Flo told my mother he wouldn’t be able to run this province properly. He certainly didn’t we are in financial ruin because of him and Norway and Alaska aren’t.
I remember Ralph Klein and Steve West claiming that power prices would immediately go down after electricity deregulation happened. We know how that went, didn’t we? How could they make power prices go down, when Alberta had the cheapest power prices in North America, before electricity deregulation happened? Economic witholding was another thing the UCP did, which cost us big time.
indeed. moreover, we can barely save a dime by trying to use less energy, as the brunt of our billing is a bevvy of fixed fees. one of the greatest disappointments of the ndp years is that they did not return to us ownership of our energy.
It cannot be done I was told by lawyers, yet I felt the same way you did.
that is bad news – has anyone explained why that is the case, not being able to take back control over our energy?
The Ralph Klein I had known since I was 17 years old was all about pulling pranks on people and he was so proud of having ignorant seniors to do it to and he certainly did.
Now they are paying for it and aren’t smart enough to understand why Alaska and Norway aren’t.
Agreed! And not to forget….”the UCP government removed the price cap on electricity in 2019 and the current government is now trying to lower electricity prices three years too late.”
There is also the matter of the province (AB Conservative government) deregulated electricity generation in 2001, forcing Albertans to pay $billions more for their power. Alberta? The province of advantage? Not so much….
And, the UCP bumbles on…..will Alberta folks keep voting for this, obvious, ineptness? Do not be fooled or be hoodwinked by these UCP clowns.
Dad was a Power Plant Engineer and everything he said would happen has happened to Albertans and he didn’t live long enough to see it but the other electrical engineers I have know where furious with what he did. We were the only province dumb enough to do it until Ontario followed him.
Same old same old NDP rhetoric! Take your blinders off, check the facts, see that the UCP is leading and fighting for Alberta at every vantage point. You and your brood of NDP proponents should heed by the vintage term “ lead, follow or get the H…. Out of the way”
Mr. Neudorf is doing a stellar job in Lethbridge East, has anyone heard or seen the fellow from Lethbridge West?
If you read the rest of the paper you would see Myashiro had just given his first speech in Edmonton. Try and keep up Harold. The term’ lead follow or get the hell out of the way’ is typical bully talk from crusty righties like yourself. Way to bring everybody together! SMH.
“Same old same old”. Thus spoke the oracle of poorly researched, utterly biased scripted responses. If anyone wears blinders it is HP. His assertion that Alberta is being supported at every advantage point means what exactly?
From a national standpoint, Smith’s is one of two outliers (the other being Blanchett) – No interest in the national landscape.
From an environmental standpoint, the landscape is threatened yet again.
No seeming rush to dismantle inter provincial trading barriers (talk yes, but little else).
Dwindling support for marginalised groups.
The list goes on and on….
Your oft used quote (minus a naughty word* (“hell”) actually supports the use of Alberta’s opposition objecting to environmentally sensitive projects , caring for marginalised people, advocating for more renewables and refuses to blame all ills on Trudeau as you HP and like minded people aspire to do. The NDP does not and will not get out of the way and will never follow the dictates of a MAGA like movement and leads by example (most of the time)
(* Is Hell a nasty word in your home HP which cannot be spelt out in public forums for fear of reprisal?)
The NDP will surely lose in Alberta, but those following their ideals will never get out of the way or bow at the altar of a demigod whose only interest is appeasing big oil , those with money and with little regard to the nation we call home.
Yes Harold all the NDP’ers are so confident in their all encompassing national agenda that they are switching to be a liberal. You know the same ones who dissed Harper for being just an economist and are now drooling in insufferable delight over “Carney the economist”. Haha.
um, carney is a good bit more than an economist. that said, i am also wary that being of high finance the game of lining the pockets of the wealthiest will continue unabated…as it did under harper, as it did under mulroney…and as it did under chretien, martin, justin….
at least with the ndp one might consider that a good measure of our tax dollars finds its way back to the regular folk.
Similarly, the Conservatives were lauding Harper’s Master’s degree in economics (which he didn’t apply in Esso’s mailroom), but sneer at a Ph.D. who has been a leader in central banking for decades. Hard to know what these folks really want.
Apparently you haven’t known anyone in the industry who knows what a disaster it’s been and should shut up a bout it unless you have something intelligent to say all the conservative MLAs I knew were furious with him for doing. But being a Reform Party ass- kisser apparently you don’t care, right?
Even Peter Lougheed era MLAs have said that electricity deregulation was a stupid thing to do. They were right.
Boy were they ever furious with Klein for screwing Albertans that way. Klein thought it was hilarious and of course wealthy American Warren Buffet knew how profitable it would be so got involved with it.
What is really interesting is that the premier has been on a trade mission to Japan and S. Korea for the last week and this narrow sheet and others, CH, EJ, and all of the so called unbiased MSM tube media have not mentioned the fact that this trip is “looking out for all Albertans”. More trade, more money for those pet socialist projects. The dummies stay dummies.
This:
“Danielle Smith skips out on Corrupt Care questions, skedaddles off to Japan and Korea….an excellent time and place to avoid inconvenient questions about dodgy health care contracts….”
http://www.albertapolitcs.ca
start a straw poll vote
the + symbol below if you want Alberta to remain in Canada
the – symbol below if you want Alberta to Separate and you want Alberta to become a state of the USA.
Of course to separate is exactly what these Reformers want it will give them an excuse to force privatization of healthcare and education down our throats which has always been their mandate since Preston Manning created them.