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The provincial government has ripped up two years of work by the arm’s-length body that oversees Alberta’s electricity market, announcing late Wednesday it’s killing plans to change the province’s power market. 

The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) has been working to overhaul Alberta’s electricity market since 2017, after it concluded in a 2016 study the province should switch to a capacity market to ensure the lights stay on. 

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After the NDP instructed it to make the change, AESO worked with stakeholders to develop and finalize a capacity market design which would “work efficiently and effectively with the energy and ancillary services markets and will be consistent with the lower-carbon electricity system of the future.” 

The new government took less than three months to change tack. 

The UCP promised during the election it would consult on the energy-only vs. capacity market question and report back within 90 days.