Ever want to see the other team’s playbook? Project of the Century (report link)– the most comprehensive discussion of energy transition we’ve seen to date, was published by the Public Policy Forum. It’s principally about doubling the electrical grid, or more, but doing so without increasing fossil fuel emissions. The dollar figure is up to $1.7 trillion – with a ‘t’ – mostly from federal taxpayer dollars.
Here’s the story on it: https://pipelineonline.ca/project-of-the-century-the-most-comprehensive-discussion-of-energy-transition-weve-seen-to-date/
This is the closest I’ve seen to what the federal Liberal government is trying to accomplish with the “energy transition.” Some of Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson’s speech and discussion in Regina and Kipling at the end of June was almost word for word from this paper, before the paper was published.
This has huge implications for Saskatchewan and Alberta. Part of the interview focuses on how net zero by 2035 is impossible.
I spoke to the CEO and one of the authors on July 26. Here’s the in-depth interview. I’ll next be posting an analysis by Jim Warren on this, then likely one of my own.
Editor’s note: Pipeline Online has requested permission from the Public Policy Forum to publish the entire Project of the Century report, in serial form. That permission has not yet been granted, despite the Public Policy Forum’s webpage copyright notice stating, “The Public Policy Forum encourages interested parties to use, in whole or in part, its publications, data, images and other content to further dialogue on public policy in Canada. We require that the PPF is properly cited and acknowledged. In all instances, the PPF would like to be notified of the use of its publications and data.”
They won’t give me a straight answer as to why they won’t let me publish it, when that is clearly their policy. Wonder why that is?
Update Aug. 8, 2023, 10:30 a.m. Since Pipeline Online made the above request, Public Policy Forum has updated its copyright notice. It now states, “Copyright – The Public Policy Forum retains copyright of our publications. For permission to publish a report excerpt, please contact us at: ppforum@ppforum.ca“
I say go ahead and publish it…
They say the same thing, (encourages interested parties to use, in whole or in part,)
Just follow their instructions and be sure it’s (properly cited and acknowledged.)
Oh and don’t bother informing them of usage..the PPF would like to be notified of the use of its publications and data.”
they don’t “Demand It”
Looks to me like they’re granting blanket approval to print the report in whole or in part.
Which I pointed out to both their coms person and CEO. Still no.
Brian, you have informed them of your intent …. which is what they asked for. The permission to reprint/use their document has already been given (as both William and Arty have noted). You do not need further permission as you ARE an “interested party”.
I imagine if you simply praised them to no end and embraced PM Trudeau and all the #Libranos stand for, you’d have your answer in an hour.
If you’ve got a soul though, results may vary.
Also, I haven’t read what the federal gov’t has planned for their transition (just the full of crap regular headlines in the MSM) beyond reading through this report linked to by one of SDA’s many commenters a few months ago. If those with the money to transition to all electrical sources for movement of goods & people and heating your house are to be cited, it may be worthwhile asking how they’ll get the electricity to your house, or business, or anywhere, because aluminium wire transits at about 60% the rate of copper, and copper mines are likely impossible to have approved in Canada these days, never mind asking out loud, “who would invest money in Canada for this project?” and where exactly is that giant slug of CU buried so we can start mining it?
I’m well out of my depth on electrical transmission, but I do understand what $50/ CU means to their economic models.
https://cdn.ihsmarkit.com/www/prot/pdf/0722/Future-of-Copper.pdf
I did scroll through the report to near the end of Chapter 2 (It’s difficult reading for me..) where Roy Romonow’s bright idea of folding SaskPower into Manitoba Hydro and SaskTel with whatever Manitoba’s phone company was called. Simply point out Manitoba Hydro’s $40 billion debt and that 40% of Manitoba Hydro billings go to service that debt to see how bad of an idea that was. (at least the NDP is consistent with their bad ideas?). I didn’t see how the recent rise of interest rates in Canada has affected this debt servicing, but when folks say “AB should separate with Sask. and Manitoba” the first thing I think of is “yes we in AB/Sask. should separate”, but Manitoba has a monumental debt problem on its hands that they need to actually deal with first, and not kick it down the lane for another 50 years, like any one of those Toronto million dollar mortgages are currently doing. I don’t want to be part of Manitoba’s spiral into the western version of a Maritime province. They’re hooped and their austerity measures don’t figure in my life.
I may feel differently about the transition if those responsible for it, were on the hook for this when it failed, as well as their Liberal/NDP children, and possibly the generation after them. You think I’m being ridiculous? Newfoundland is still paying for their error of signing the Churchill Falls contract with Quebec, and it’s been 2 generations….
and still, people are buying ocean front property with 40 year mortgages?
I picked up on the Manitoba Hydro/SaskPower MTS/SaskTel reference as well. One of my columnists was apparently involved with that when it was first discussed, and he was shocked, to put it mildly, that it was in this report, as it was a closely held discussion at the time and few people knew of it. I can’t speak to Manitoba Hydro’s debt. I’m not familiar with it. But from another standpoint, imagine if that deal had gone through. A lot of SaskPower’s issues with greenhouse gas emissions would have been resolved by simply using more power from Manitoba. Instead of them supplying Minnesota, maybe that power would have come to Saskatchewan? That would have had a tremendous impact. And MTS/Bell is absolutely horrible when it comes to cellular service. We have a cabin in Manitoba, and in almost every small town in Manitoba I’ve been to that is not on Highway 16 or 1, you can barely make a cell call on main street. Our cabin has next to no coverage. But I can stand in almost any pasture in southern Saskatchewan and get three bars. Hell, there’s a cell tower south of Torquay that has maybe 100 people living it its range, but it’s there. And it works. So If MTS had the coverage SaskTel provides, maybe Manitoba would have become better off, too?
“A lot of SaskPower’s issues with greenhouse gas emissions would have been resolved by simply using more power from Manitoba.”
This is a major part of the problem on our side of the fence – we have unwittingly accepted the other sides terms and framing of the debate (for them there is no debate). Instead of rejecting outright the often ridiculous and disastrous policies of the green/left, our thinking is colored by appeasement and incrementalism leading us to their goals, only slower. Even Danielle Smith can’t bring herself to fully reject “net zero”, but rather floats a more “achievable” time line.
There will be no just transition – nor will there be an electrified utopia. There will be rationing and control of hydrocarbons, food, travel, speech though.
Look to the WEF for the comprehensive plan that is trying to be achieved.
The rest is just theatre for the rubes.
I know PPF. They are located in the building where I used to work. It’s one of hundreds of so-called think tanks littering Ottawa for the past several decades. They will have nothing new or surprising in their stuff. At the most, it will be just the floating of assorted trial balloons to see which ones fly and which ones draw the antiaircraft fire.
This is how Ottawa works. The government uses an assortment of think tanks and associations to release policy proposals and to then see what sort of criticism they draw and from whom. This is just the PMO sorting out potential policies for any upcoming election to see if it’s useful for a campaign.
So, the cost will be about $111,000 per Canadian household. It’ll be fine.
It will be fine because most of it won’t actually happen. This is just about floating trial balloons, not about actually doing anything.
As usual, they go through and cherry pick evidence that they like, that produce grand claims about how much money families will save.
Savings that somehow, never materialize.
According to one of the things they use to back up their claims (https://climateinstitute.ca/new-analysis-finds-most-canadian-households-will-save-money-in-switch-to-electricity/) the “average canadian household” will save 12% by 2050 by switching to full electric
There are roughly 15 million households in Canada per stats canada, which means that the cost per household to just do the amount of required electrification is on the order of $113k based on their static estimate of costs (doesn’t include typical government overruns, bad budgeting, and interest costs).
So if we take that $113k number, divide it by 30years (2020 to 2050 per the study) we get $3766.67 per year, how much per year would your energy costs have to be to reach that savings of 12%?
And that $1.7 trillion number doesn’t include the costs to purchase the household equipment if you don’t have it (stove, heat pump, electric vehicle and charger, etc)
That’s only a little more than $300 a month higher electric bills. Is that too much to pay to make the billionaires behind the global warming hoax even richer?
Savings like these?
“About those electric stove “savings.” Nevermind”
https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2023/08/07/about-those-electric-stove-savings-nevermind-n569614
“It turns out that the “big savings” you will see if you switch from a gas stove to an electric stove will work out to a whopping nine cents per month. You should probably start planning that European vacation immediately. (Fox News)”
JD. If the cost of energy rises by 5 or 10x of today’s price, the equation will work out just as they say. You will be able to save 12% but your monthly bill will be in the thousands. This is how their minds work.
We must now live in fantasy do we?
Supposing you buy all of their bullshit about the climate crisis. Their proposed solutions ignore the fact that the only way to wean the whole world off hydrocarbons is for somebody to come up with an alternative source of energy that is at least as cheap, reliable and portable as hydrocarbons. Then everybody in the world does it automatically and without coersion, without having to “bear the burden” of transition.
Instead they want to sacrifice the entire west on the altar of Gaya.
When your government proudly declares war upon you?
Believe them.
The clueless and useless have been elected to office and risen to the top of near every bureau.
Committee Speak is everywhere these days.
And those doing this babbling have no clue..seriously no clue what they are talking about.
There is a reason our Progressive Comrades have to be issued talking points,they really are this stupid.
Every tax payer should be forced to listen in to a series of committee meetings,then the logical solution will be obvious..
An Axe might come to mind.
Fire 50% today.
Then another 50% every six months until they are all gone.
That “help” ain’t no help at all.
The current plan is to turn all that functions to shit..
They are “Fixing it”.
If a process works,your “government help” will fix it until it doesn’t.
Their solution to homelessness is to make us all homeless.
And the “Greater Good of Society” is strictly for a society which most of us are excluded..
And the reason so many Canadians are without homes or hope?
Government rule and regulation.
Thanks to these regulations,SAFETY FIRST, no normal citizen can afford to build .
Or even produce those building materials.
And thanks to the governments “help” for renters,landlords are vanishing.
It can cost you your home,renting to bad tenants, so why risk it?
And if you did scrimp and save to buy a rental home??Now you get “Capital Gained” when you sell it as you abandon all hope of breaking even …
Rule and regulation.
Always for your own good.
Always for the betterment of society.
And always contrary to human nature.
Creating perverse incentives and punishing the practical.
Yup,the expert but idiot faction have pages of plans,white papers,study groups and brain trusts.
All dedicated to telling you that they,know better than you.
About every thing.
When their actions prove them fools and bandits,utterly ignorant of human nature.
Tolerance and forbearance are not agreement and acceptance..
But ask any Liberal,they know so much that just ain’t so.
Switch to electricity that they cannot produce. Idiots.