Dave from Alberta, again our Northern neighbours. Before we embark on another day of fighting for the end of our Alberta Government’s black ops blackout advertising operation to ruin hockey broadcasts across the nation, a little background. Unlike Dave from Canmore, I have done stuff. I was the Utilities Consumer Advocate for several years before the Office was neutered. I’m an economist with 30+ years experience in electricity. I am not an engineer, but I’ve had a lot of them work for me. Some were pretty smart. The problems we have here stem all the way back to deregulation. During the late 1990s, financial virtualization was all the rage. It led us to a bad market design. Which was made worse by the PC Government in 2012, when they changed the rules to allow Economic Withholding. If you understand OPEC, you understand economic withholding. Hold back some product to drive the price WAY UP for the rest of your sales. Our producers do this by pricing some product at the cap $1/kW.h driving up prices for the power they do sell The NDP made an attempt to reform the market, but failed to finish. They did stop EW for a few years. When the UCP took over, they let it right back in. Some people think Jason Kenney is really smart. The people like Jeff who are paying 32 cents per kW.h probably don’t think so. Anyway, since January 1, 2021 four companies have been allowed to drive up the price FIVE TIMES HIGHER And blackouts? Smith was complaining that we had ten “emergencies” last year. If you wonder how that was caused by future Federal regulations, you are not alone. The very things that the ads warn about - blackouts and quadruple prices - have already been visited on Alberta electricity consumers. Help us stop the psychological abuse that comes with being a sentient being in this hillbilly heaven. Don’t believe a word Smith says on electricity. She knows what the real problem is. She even said it - once - right after the election. It’s economic withholding and bad market design. It’s not Trudeau. It’s not gas. It’s definitely not coal. It’s a callous and disgusting strategy to let four companies hold us all hostage. And fuck, it makes me angry. Time to repost something I had taken down after the election. Thanks for helping us get the focus back on their incompetence by trashing these shitty ads, you absolute beauties. Dave from St Albert #BlackoutTheAds Appropriate (foul) language ahead.