Alberta electricity & gas market update – April 2026

Electricity market overview

April’s average AESO spot price fell 18% MoM from March’s settle of $33.70/MWh, and declined 18% YoY from April 2025’s $33.69/MWh.

Average AESO Pool Price: $27.61/MWh

Monthly Price Range

• Peak hourly price: $833.51/MWh, recorded on April 16th
• Minimum hourly price: $0.00MWh
• Demand Highlights: Monthly peak demand at 11,306 MW

Key drivers of market volatility

• The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) has reported a massive surge in connection requests from large-scale data centers, with over 1,200 MW of new load recently greenlit for the first phase of integration.
• April 2026 saw the third annual Energy Storage Alberta Summit, where industry leaders confirmed that battery assets are no longer just “experimental” but are now essential market participants.
• Despite the successful launch of the Genesee Repowering project (which saw the final transition of major units to high-efficiency natural gas) April remains a high-stakes month for grid reliability.

Natural gas (AECO) market overview

Average AECO Price: $1.57/GJ

AECO gas prices remain low at $1.44/GJ for the near term (May–June 2026). However, the forward curve points to a gradual recovery, with prices expected to rise around ~$2.64/GJ by 2029 as demand fundamentals tighten.

Forward curve indicators

• ~$2.35/GJ – 2027 Futures
• ~$2.53/GJ – 2028 Futures
• ~$2.64/GJ – 2029 Futures

Market insights & trends

• Gas fleet outages constrained supply. Daily average gas availability factor was approximately 68–69% throughout April, contributing to roughly 4,400–4,500 MW of outages in the province. The province saw limited importing capability during April 17th as both BC and Montana interties were offline for planned maintenance.

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