Alberta Premier Danielle Smith rules out natural gas Crown corporation

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith stated that her government is unlikely to establish a new Crown corporation to develop natural gas pipelines within the province. This decision follows a leaked report to the provincial cabinet that recommended creating such corporations to expand natural gas transmission lines to meet the energy demands of oil production and artificial intelligence data centers.

Smith noted that while dozens of companies have expressed concerns regarding natural gas access, the government aims to foster more competition in a market she described as having a “monopoly” held by TC Energy. She indicated that there appears to be sufficient private-sector interest to proceed with infrastructure development without direct public-sector intervention.