This week, our guest is Mike Law, former president and CEO of the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO). Mike now leads MGL Advisory Services Ltd. and advises several companies, including Energy Alberta, where he is head of power system integration. Energy Alberta is proposing a nuclear generating station in northern Alberta&#x27;s Peace River region. The podcast touches on a long list of Canadian electricity policy initiatives, including the federal government’s Nuclear Energy Strategy (June 22) and the Electricity Strategy (May 14). Other policies that are impacting investment and growth forecasts include the Alberta-Canada MOU, the Clean Electricity Regulations (CER), and – specific to Alberta – the new Data Centre Regulation and the Restructured Energy Market (REM). Topics covered include Canada’s need for new electricity generation to meet growing demand, including from AI data centres; how the CER is creating uncertainty for investment in new natural gas generation; and how Alberta’s REM adds another layer of uncertainty. The discussion also covers Canada’s new nuclear strategy and the plan to build 10 new reactors, including how it compares with the U.S. push toward a similar target. Finally, Mike outlines Energy Alberta’s large-scale Peace River nuclear project, including timelines, regulatory requirements, costs, and stakeholder engagement. Content referenced in this podcast: Nuclear Energy Strategy for Canada (June 29, 2026) Powering Canada Strong: A National Strategy for an Electrified Canadian Economy (May 14, 2026) Energy Futures: BC Hydro Turns Back to Natural Gas to Help Fill Electricity Gap (June 1, 2026) Alberta Data Centre Regulation (June 9, 2026) CBC: Power plant proposed for area northeast of Edmonton inches closer to becoming reality (June 24, 2026) Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/ Check us out on social media: X (Twitter): @arcenergyinst LinkedIn: @ARC Energy Research Institute Subscribe to ARC Energy Ideas Podcast Apple Podcasts Amazon Music Spotify

Canadian Electricity and the New Nuclear Strategy

ARC ENERGY IDEAS

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** ARC ENERGY IDEAS

## Participants

- **Jackie Forrest** (ARC Energy Research Institute)
- **Peter Turtsakian** (ARC Energy Research Institute)
- **Mike Law** (Energy Alberta)

## Transcript

The information and opinions presented in this ARC ENERGY IDEAS podcast are provided for informational purposes only and are subject to the disclaimer link in the show notes. This is the ARC ENERGY IDEAS podcast with Peter Turtsakian and Jackie Forrest, exploring trends that influence the energy business. Welcome to the ARC ENERGY IDEAS podcast. I'm Jackie Forrest. And I'm Peter Turtsakian. Welcome back. Good morning. Well, at least it's morning for us. It is Monday, June 29th.

This is the week that we lead up to Canada Day. It's the week that we lead up to the Stampede in Calgary. And, well, it's still not the lead up to summer, it seems here. But I look at the forecast and it looks like the rain is going to sort of fade away over the week. And certainly next week looks pretty darn good. Let's take a quick check of the temperature of the Straits of Hormuz as we do. The temperature, as indicated by the price of oil, is in the U.S. $70 range for WTI.

It's trending down by the end of the year and into next year into the $65 range. So at least for now, things have cooled down. This story is far from over, in my opinion. There's more to come and the ramifications of this incident are going to be far-reaching. But as I think we said last time, we're sort of fatigued talking about the subject and we sort of want to move on. So, Jackie, I'd like to talk about electricity and nuclear power. Yeah, and there's been lots of news around that in Canada.

So I just want to give some highlights of some of the recent announcements from the Canadian government. June 22nd, the government of Canada launches a nuclear energy strategy. And I'm just going to give some highlights in terms of the pillars of that. One is grow inside of Canada our nuclear generation and use the modern can-do design. So that's the Canadian-owned proprietary nuclear technology. Oh yeah, that goes back 50, 60 years. Yeah, we were real leaders back then.

The idea is could we reinvest some money in a modern can-do design? And the gold have 10 new reactors by the 2040s, either under construction or under development. And also they want us to participate with these small modular reactors, like the one going into Ontario right now with Ontario Power Generation, but also develop the fuel needed for those units. So the can-do, what's unique about it, it doesn't need enriched uranium. And so we can actually process and create the fuel here in Canada.

But these SMRs, like the one in Ontario, we don't have the ability to create the fuel. So can we develop that whole fuel system? They also want to export the can-do technology to other countries. Of the existing fleet, 17 are in Canada, but there is actually nine operating abroad. So can we get more of our technology out into the ...

Canadian Electricity and the New Nuclear Strategy

Transcript

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Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
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Canadian Electricity and the New Nuclear Strategy

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.