Powering Alberta’s Next Century
Studio.Energy is examining the issues around building SMRs in Alberta. The series explores the potential benefits and commercial challenges to building meaningful nuclear power capacity in a part of Canada that today relies heavily on natural gas and renewables. To inform this analysis, Studio.Energy held interviews with 20 leaders and experts from across the nuclear value chain — the people instrumental in designing the fabric of electricity infrastructure development and energy policy. To encourage candid feedback on this topic, interviews were conducted on a confidential, unattributable basis.
1 of 6IssueAug 10, 2026The Power We Take For Granted
Electricity is the product nobody thinks about, until a frigid night pushes the power grid to its limits. With Alberta’s electricity demand projected to grow 177% by 2050, the province faces a generational question: is it time for nuclear? This series explores whether SMRs belong in Alberta’s mix, drawing on candid interviews with 20 nuclear experts. It begins by examining what constitutes a resilient electricity system.
2 of 6IssueAug 12, 2026Electricity Generation 101
Every electron delivered to a wall plug looks identical, yet the electricity behind each one is not. This issue traces electricity from its discovery in nature through the conversion systems that turn coal, gas, water, wind, sunlight, and uranium into power. How electricity is generated upstream determines if power is reliable, affordable, safe, and clean. As demand accelerates, power systems must hold those standards into the next century.
3 of 6IssueAug 12, 2026A Glimpse into Alberta’s Market Design and Dynamics
Alberta is Canada’s merchant-market island: private capital builds the power plants, hourly prices signal what gets generated, and no Crown corporation stands behind the socket. But the merchant hand has never worked alone. Policy directives have influenced price signals and steered investment for decades. The market has accommodated change before to meet the moment. This issue examines how a nuclear-specific framework can coexist with Alberta’s energy-only market philosophy, and what it means for Alberta's electricity generation.
4 of 6IssueAug 14, 2026Why Nuclear Gets Priced Out on Paper
Nuclear’s central challenge is economics. But getting priced out on paper is not the same as being uncompetitive. Traditional financial metrics treat every MWh as identical, and many focus on near-term investor returns over long-term societal benefit. No single formula can fully capture the benefits of a reliable, affordable, safe, and clean electricity grid that will produce power into the next century. This issue examines what common financial metrics measure, what they miss, and the reframing generational infrastructure projects deserve.
5 of 6IssueAug 14, 2026Case Study: How New Nuclear is Getting Financed
New nuclear projects rarely proceed on private capital and wholesale electricity revenues alone. This case study examines how the UK, Ontario, and Texas are financing new reactors (SMRs and large) through regulated returns, Crown anchors, and committed industrial customers. Each model answers the same question: who carries the risk while the plant is being built? No single model hands Alberta a direct template, but together they offer a starting point to shape a made-in-Alberta playbook.
6 of 6IssueAug 17, 2026A Made-in-Alberta Track for Nuclear
What would it take to build SMRs in Alberta? Studio.Energy interviewed 20 experts: proponents, skeptics, technology developers, electricity operators, financiers, economists, system operators, and more. Their insights, captured in this issue, confirmed that market forces alone will not deliver a nuclear entrant to the province and no imported financing model will translate directly. But a made-in-Alberta framework, built within the energy-only market and anchored by industrial demand and government support, can open the path.