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Natural gas is a viable option

You mention the cost of $60 to $85 per megawatt hour to justify wind power construction, and $200 to $300 for solar power.

Dear editor,

In your Feb. 4 editorial, you mention the cost of $60 to $85 per megawatt hour to justify wind power construction, and $200 to $300 for solar power.

These seem high, but first we need you to tell us the cost presently for a megawatt-hour produced by coal, and by natural gas. Then we could make a meaningful comparison.

I’m not a fan of using our natural gas to make plastic bags and plastic consumer products, when millions of us in Alberta need it to run our furnaces. Compared to coal and wood, natural gas in an efficient furnace is a cheap way to keep us alive in the nine month long heating season.

I am retired for nearly five years now and am on a fixed income. When my tax or fixed cost (utilities, insurance) rate goes up, that’s money that I can’t use to participate in the local economy.

Phil Nash, Wetaskiwin.