Smith's Government Scraps Plan for Natural Gas Pipeline Crown Corporation

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her government is unlikely to create a Crown corporation to build out natural gas pipelines in the province.

The decision comes after a leaked report recommended legislation and Crown corporations to support new natural gas transmission lines for oil production and artificial intelligence data centers.

Smith pointed out that TC Energy has a monopoly over the natural gas market in Alberta, leading to concerns from dozens of companies about accessing enough natural gas.

The government wants to see more competition and is exploring ways to bring new infrastructure projects online, but Smith believes private sector interest is sufficient to meet demand without public intervention.