Alberta Electric System Operator

Alberta electricity policy changed in 1996, with the province restructuring its electricity market away from traditional regulation to a market-based system. The market now includes a host of buyers and sellers, and an increasingly diverse infrastructure.

By 2020, Alberta had 900 wind turbines, which represented approximately 40% of Canada's total at that time. In 2006, wind power provided less than 8% of Alberta's total power generation. AESO had said wind power was not reliable enough because wind doesn't blow consistently. When it drops off, coal and natural gas plants have to take up the slack to avoid power shortages." At that time, Alberta didn't have "enough transmission lines to connect new wind turbines to its power grid."

By 2021, most of the power generators in Alberta used natural gas as the province transitioned away from coal.

AESO announced an all-time record peak electricity demand of 12,187 megawatts was reached on 19 December 2022 during an extended spell of extreme cold. A grid alert was announced when Keephills 3 power plant west of Edmonton experienced an unplanned outage. In Calgary overnight wind chills of −10 combined with −25 °C temperature. On 3 January 2022, AESO reported a record high electricity demand of 11,939 megawatts during an extreme cold spell.

In 2016, under then-Premier Notley, the provincial government had set a target of transitioning away from power generation dependent on fossil fuels by using renewables. The goal was to replace 30% of all electricity generation in the province with renewables by 2030.

By December 2022, Alberta had made progress towards reaching the 30% by 2030 target ahead of schedule. According to AESO, in 2017, 59% of Alberta's electricity generators were still using coal; renewables only accounted for 10%. By late 2022, the 18% of the province's electricity came from renewables, many coal-powered plants had converted to natural gas, and it was anticipated that coal generation would be completely phased out by 2023.