Highwood MLA Wayne Anderson is no fan of the Alberta NDP's plans to possibly legislate themselves out of 16 year old electrical contract agreement's with providers.

The Province, already in litigation with power providers who have opted out of their contracts, may now bring in new laws that would retroactively not allow the power companies to withdraw from those contracts.

Anderson, like many business leaders, has been left shaking his head.

"For them to do this at this time just tells me that they obviously have no idea what they're doing when it comes to managing businesses. Nor did they read the contracts and look at the terms and conditions of the contracts before they implemented their concept of a carbon tax."

Power companies like Enmax, TransCanada Corp, and Capital Power Corp used a clause in the contracts they signed back in 2000 that allowed them to pull out of the Power Purchase Arrangement's or PPA's if a change in law makes the agreement's unprofitable, or "more unprofitable."

The companies say this year's increase to the Province's carbon tax on large greenhouse gas emitters would increase their costs making them "more unprofitable."

Many business leaders, and even Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who calls the move "absolutely nuts," say if the NDP actually do change the contracts through legislation, it will send a message that Alberta is closed for business.

Anderson says what company would want to invest in Alberta under one set of rules, not knowing if those rules would change on the whims of the Government?

He says the NDP are costing the Province billions of dollars in lost revenue that's now going to other Provinces.