Alberta can issue grid alerts when electricity demand threatens to outstrip supply — i.e. there’s risk of a blackout. This can happen for a number of reasons.

A warming planet, with warmer summer months, can have you reaching for the AC remote. Our phones need charging and fridges need to stay plugged in. Add to the grid the data centres Alberta wants to build so we can ask our AI agent of choice to respond to our emails. The list goes on and on.

And as much as the province would like to say it’s because of renewable energy projects, the data tells a different story. Prairies reporter Drew Anderson breaks it down in our latest video.

Want to make sure you don’t miss our latest work? Subscribe to our channel on YouTube and follow us on TikTok.

Video source notes

Corresponding time stamp	Source
00:27	Alberta sets new record for peak electricity use
00:28	Alberta sets all-time record for power consumption
00:52	Alberta’s electricity grid is complicated
01:12	A very involved provincial government
02:34	Data from the grid operator (Alberta Electric System Operator)
02:43	Surge of renewables started around 2020
02:55	Monthly event logs from the grid operator
03:14	Alberta Premier Danielle Smith blaming grid alerts on renewables
03:17	Unplanned outages at natural gas facilities
03:25	Renewable energy share climbed to 22 per cent in 2025
04:50	Alberta’s new plan for its electricity market punishes renewables
05:11	Pipeline agreement between Ottawa and Alberta
05:34	Alberta’s seven-month moratorium on renewable energy projects
05:38	Stiffer energy regulations in the province
05:41	New rules under the restructured energy market
05:50	Alberta’s push for data centres
06:00	Alberta introduces new plan to incentivize data centres to power themselves

Thanks for watching!

Threats to the electricity grid, explained

From $25 an hour to $4,995: salaries on either side of the climate crisis

Ontario is returning to the office. What does that mean for traffic and emissions?