Canada unlikely to launch Crown corporation for natural gas pipelines, Smith says

Premier Danielle Smith said Saturday it is unlikely her government will launch a new Crown corporation to build natural gas pipelines in Alberta, pushing back against a leaked cabinet report that recommended the province create such entities to spur new transmission infrastructure.

The leaked report to Smith's cabinet recommended the province move forward with legislation and create Crown corporations to build new natural gas transmission lines, with the stated purpose of meeting demand from oil production and artificial intelligence data centres. Smith told her provincewide radio call-in program that her government has heard from dozens of companies fearing they might not have access to enough natural gas.

Smith said TC Energy holds a "monopoly" over Alberta's natural gas market and that her government wants to see more competition. She said the province is looking at ways to get "shovels in the ground" on new infrastructure. However, Smith said there is enough private-sector interest to make public-sector intervention unnecessary.

"Having limited natural gas supply is what will see Albertans' bills go up," Smith said, brushing off concerns that government intervention could push up energy prices. The province is instead betting on private companies to expand capacity without direct public investment.