TransAlta signs Alberta data centre deal with CPP Investments and Brookfield.
Strengthening Saskatchewan’s Grid: Harrison releases plan for electrical transmission upgrades
The NDP take on recent SaskPower announcements and the impact on power bills
On the topic of Alberta succession:
Herb Pinder: Uncertainty begets opportunity
Should Saskatchewan buy the CANDU reactor when it comes to building large-scale nuclear in this province? Carl Marcotte Senior Vice-President, Marketing & Business Development at CANDU Energy, part of AtkinsRealis, makes the pitch. Building large reactors will only be the largest, most expensive decision made by this province for generations.
Pipeline Online Podcast Ep. 29: Carl Marcotte, CANDU Energy
I’m hoping to get Westinghouse on in a future episode, as the main competitor.
Related: Cameco CEO on whirlwind Washington trip for talks on reactor deal
Also – Jim Warren: Critical questions about the Alberta-Ottawa pipeline MOU remain unanswered
Enbridge unfazed by prospect of more Venezuelan oil headed to Gulf Coast
TC Energy sets growth sights on U.S. data centre boom
Things have been looking really bleak for southwest Saskatchewan’s oilpatch. If this were a medical drama, this would be where the doctor puts the paddles on the dying patient’s chest, yells, “Clear!” and shocks the patient.
We might have just seen a little blip on the heart monitor with this land sale.
Whew! Southwest Saskatchewan sees more interest in this land sale than in all of 2025 combined
And yes, it is that bad. Most oilfield services in that region have either shut down or are barely hanging on. I spent an hour yesterday talking to the owner of several businesses in that area.
Weekend Watch: Is Canada Wasting Its Energy Advantage? | Doomberg on Oil, LNG, and the Pipeline Future
There’s some pretty good discussion about Saskatchewan at the 30 minute mark.
Also, from Canadian Press: Carney says Qatar will make ‘significant’ investments in Canada’s major projects.
At least Carney isn’t dressing up in local dress like Trudeau did in India. Take that for what you will.
Here’s what Carney, Moe, Beck and Ford posted about meeting with Chinese President Xi and the resulting trade deal
Backgrounder on the deal.
Also, Kaase Gbakon: Venezuela by the Numbers: What 60 Years of Energy Data Reveal About Its Future
BREAKING: Coal injunction tossed; court says governments get to make environmental policy. In other words, the coal injunction is dead it its tracks. @SaskPower can rejuvenate its coal fleet. The decision is a rebuke of the trend of judge-made law and activist courts, clearly noting the supremacy of the legislative branch in making policy.
This is a huge decision on many points – not just on coal, but on putting activist judges in their place. It will be cited for a long time to come.
The pendulum just may be swinging back to sanity.
Also: NDP criticizes impending SaskPower rate hikes, minister responds
Saskatchewan saw zero wind power for 17 hours over two days.
Hilariously, a Saskatchewan doctor commented on Facebook re this story, “Are you able to share the data for a day where we had good wind production too, for comparison sake?”
I responded, “Doctor, when you look at a patient, do you say, “Let’s look at a day when he’s breathing, because on this day for 12 hours he wasn’t breathing?”
Related:
NDP calls SaskPower rate hike “fiscal trainwreck,” Minister calls it “modest” compared to the alternative.
… during the press conference after nabbing Venezuela’s Maduro.
This is a HUGE problem for Canada, as every barrel of oil Venezuela adds would most likely displace a barrel Canada produces. How do I know? Because Canadian oil replaced Venezuelan production over the last two decades.
Brian Zinchuk: Trump’s takeover of Venezuela means Canada needs those west coast pipelines ASAP
Don’t believe me? Here’s Adam Pankratz in the National Post.
Adam Pankratz: Venezuelan oil could put Canada out of business
If sabotage of the energy industry doesn’t end now, we face impoverishment
I swear I wrote my own column a day before I saw his. They’re almost word for word in some parts.
Pipeline Online Podcast Ep. 24: Premier Scott Moe Year End
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe joins the Pipeline Online Podcast in his annual year-end interview. The discussion digs into the coal decision, Saskatchewan’s move into nuclear, carbon capture, interties to Alberta’s grid, and the Alberta-Canada MOU. The multilateral well program, oil production goals, Saskatchewan’s new energy and resources minister, lithium and hydrogen are also discussed.
Hydrogen in SK Part 1: How the quest for helium led to MAX Power drilling for Hydrogen
For those who are keeping track, just some of the elements Saskatchewan already produces are CxHx (*hydrocarbons), KCl, U, AU, He and soon Li and Cu (we might already have some copper production, but I’m not sure.)
RM of Weyburn public hearing into Seven Stars wind project hears 6 supporters, 3 opponents.
No lynchings took place at this time.
Brian Zinchuk: All out of CN towers to climb and economies to ruin, Guilbeault walks the plank
If he had continued down his radical path, and was given the power to do it, as Trudeau had done, we could have lost the country. We still might.
Pump it underground. Seriously. Compressed air batteries could be done in Saskatchewan.
Jim Warren: COP30—where worlds collide, climate alarmists wring their hands and nothing goes right
Eby says B.C. is at a ‘pivot point’ as he promises future based on natural resources
So it looks like a minor pipeline expansion of the Enbridge Mainline is in the works:
Enbridge has no plans to apply for national interest project as it tackles expansions.
And one of the companies that feeds those pipelines is Canadian Natural Resources:
Canadian Natural president awaiting more detail on Ottawa’s climate plans
And here’s a nice little video showing life on a drilling rig.
All of a sudden Carney’s talking a pipeline to the BC coast. Carney tells business crowd a new pipeline project is ‘going to happen’
Correction: it does mention “pipeline” once in reference to the Pathways Project, but not to the West Coast.
Ask me how many times it mentioned “climate” or “gender”
Also:
Brian Zinchuk on Evan Bray Show: Federal budget 2025 and nuclear power generation
This is one of the most significant announcements in years.
This plan, if followed, will dramatically reshape Saskatchewan. Nuclear may not be cheap or easy, but it is also transformative in many ways. And as many participants and executives during the conference noted these power stations could last up to 100 years, this really is a case of planting trees so one’s grandchildren can play in the shade.
That plan, in its entirety, is reproduced here on Pipeline Online.
That’s just a part of the in-depth coverage of the conference’s events provided by Pipeline Online. Check out, for instance, the opening question Pipeline Online posed during the scrum portion, and then look at the question asked by other media at 44:51, when another reporter asked, “Can you clarify what you mean of nuclear power sources? Does that mean a nuclear power plant in Saskatchewan?”
“Yes, that’s what we’re talking about here,” Harrison responded.
Remember, she was standing there for 45 minutes, listening to over half an hour of press conference and then 10 minutes of questions to then ask if all this meant a nuclear power plant in Saskatchewan?
You might notice me in the middle of the pack, doing a face-palm.
Where would you prefer to get your energy news?
Federal $2B contribution to Ontario nuclear project has major implications for Saskatchewan
Everything energy in the Saskatchewan Speech from the Throne
So it turns out Alberta often gives away power for free when there’s lots of wind, and pays through the nose when there’s no wind. Unfortunately for the last year the only intertie connecting Alberta and Saskatchewan grids has been down. In the coming days it should be back, and Saskatchewan will again have the opportunity to make bank off Alberta’s interesting buy high, sell low strategy.
Just in case you were wondering…
If your turkey relied on wind power this Thanksgiving in Alberta, you’d be eating baloney sandwiches
Also:
Energy Realities Podcast: China v. America on Rare Earth and Critical Energy Minerals
Dr. Tammy Nemeth says, “In the end, who is the beneficiary of not allowing the West to build up its supply chains? It’s China.”
Maybe Saskatchewan needs to get moving on that whole rare earths thing. Lithium, too. Gotta power those iPhones.