Alberta Energy Minister defends Deregulation

Banff - - The deregulation of electricity is here to stay, Alberta Energy Minister Murray Smith told an industry conference recently.

Smith contends that power supplies are up, prices are down and that the political rhetoric has dropped off.

"I've had zero questions on electricity from the New Democratic Party, who are always proud of standing up and saying Manitoba, that communist jurisdiction, had low-priced power. They don't have it any more," he said. "I think Edmonton, under the survey, says that it's about the fourth cheapest city in Canada."

Manitoba has the lowest electricity rates in the country.

But Smith also doesn't expect the controversy over deregulation to die off any time soon, because he says consumers don't tolerate changes in electricity prices.

"They view electricity as a necessary commodity," Smith said. "They view it as something that's an automatic. Light switch goes on, light switch goes off. There's no crisis. It's hooked up, I don't see any hook up, it just comes into my house. My shoes don't get any shinier if I pay more for it. My suit doesn't get any more expensive and so it's, in fact, a grudge purchase."

Since the government deregulated the electricity industry, it's been under attack for higher prices. It created an advisory committee to address the concerns and put a utilities consumer advocate in place.

Smith told the Indepedent Power Producers Society of Alberta that the government is commited to consulting with companies on how to improve deregulation.