Alberta and the U.S. have been arguing over electricity — but a ‘win-win’ may be in sight

After months of complaints from Montana politicians and scrutiny from U.S. trade officials, Alberta’s utilities minister says he recently had a great chat with a Montana legislator who has been critical of the province’s approach to electricity.

And that legislator says he’s now confident there’s a resolution in the cards.

In early January, Alberta Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf travelled south of the border to Helena, Montana’s capital city, on a mission to strengthen cross-border energy partnerships.

But the minister’s itinerary, which included meetings with the local chamber of commerce and Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, irked Daniel Zolnikov, a Republican state senator from Billings who chairs a Montana legislative committee studying technology and energy.

In January, Zolnikov told CBC News it was “kind of a slight” to not meet with legislators, especially those who had been working on such issues for more than a decade.

“I’ve passed multiple transmission laws myself … for them just to say, OK, we’re going to meet with the governor’s office … I’d say that’s not a good way to start the conversation,” he said at the time.

Zolnikov expressed his view of the problem at the time: that Alberta’s electricity rules sometimes block Montana electricity from being sold into Alberta, hurting state power producers and discouraging cross-border transmission investment.

Alberta, for its part, has long rejected the claim that Montana is being treated unfairly.

Since that missed connection earlier this year, Neudorf and Zolnikov have spoken directly.

The Alberta minister said in that conversation, he emphasized how dramatically Alberta’s electricity market has changed in recent years.

“We had a great chat,” Neudorf said in an interview.

The province has added thousands of megawatts of renewable power in just a few years and fully phased out coal power in 2024. Alberta has also gone from being a net importer of electricity, buying power from jurisdictions like British Columbia and Montana, to a net exporter.

Neudorf argues that the challenges at hand are a consequence of that market evolution, something he said he spoke with Zolnikov about.

“Then, we point to things that we’re continuing to work on and solutions that we are trying to bring to bear,” he said. 

“Not least of which is … I just signed the agreement with Ontario and many other provinces and territories to strengthen Canada’s transmission and intertie connection.”

On Wednesday, provinces and territories announced a new partnership aimed at expanding transmission infrastructure.

Spearheaded by Ontario, the agreement includes the four western provinces, as well as New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

Strengthening Canada’s electricity network could help address cross-border issues like the one with Montana, in Neudorf’s view.

“Canadian governments, plural — provincial, territorial and federal — need to focus on strengthening Canada’s grid first,” he said.

“But in doing so, and achieving federal investment, frees up limited available dollars for us to invest in other places, like the potential to help invest and satisfy the need going into Montana as well.”

The minister also noted that the Alberta Electricity System Operator is currently undertaking a “huge procurement” of new services, including fast frequency response, which helps maintain stability when power supply fluctuates.

For his part, Zolnikov says his recent conversation with the Alberta minister was productive.

“The minister was great to talk to, and we realized there’s a lot in common,” Zolnikov said in an interview. “There’s a lot of good movement happening from the Canadian side of the border, that I think will, in time, resolve this issue.”

Zolnikov noted the province’s procurement process and the recent announcement on strengthening Canada’s grid as among the recent developments that gave him confidence a solution could be found to the issue.

“It’s an acknowledgement … to basically work on strengthening Canada’s grid. And that allows for your resources to flow where there’s needs, up and down, throughout your entire country, which is great for Canada and great for us,” he said. “So, this is a win-win for everybody.”

The senator also noted that the public attention around the dispute came as a surprise, adding he got the “most nasty grams of his life” after his interviews in Canada were aired.

“People thought that I don’t like Alberta, and then there were some Trump ones, and how bad we are. And it’s like, no, I’m a state legislator from Montana, right?” he said. 

“We’re culturally more similar to you than our West Coast neighbours of California and Washington. We’re not asking for a free pass from you. We just want to be able to trade equally.

“I think we both benefit with extra investment that goes between Alberta and Montana. So we can all win here.”

While relationships may be on the mend, analysts say there are underlying issues that will take time to resolve.

Tim Weis, senior director of industrial decarbonization with the Pembina Institute, says Alberta experienced a sudden surge in wind and solar development, and it will take time to adjust.

“Alberta’s been … effectively an electricity island for too long,” Weis said.

“I think the big picture is, when it comes to electricity, we’re going to need a lot more of it and we’re gonna need to be better connected.”