Alberta government proposing additional restrictions on wind and solar energy

EDMONTON – The Alberta government is proposing additional restrictions on wind and solar farms that conservationists think are more about limiting renewable energy than protecting the environment.

Last year the Alberta government imposed a seven-month moratorium on new renewable energy projects, after which Premier Danielle Smith announced her government would be taking an “agriculture first” approach to regulating renewable energy project locations.

That approach includes preventing renewable energy projects from being within 35 kilometres of “pristine viewscapes” and parks and protected areas, and a near total ban where soil conditions are prime for yielding crops.

“We need to ensure that we’re not sacrificing our future agricultural yields, or tourism dollars, or breathtaking viewscapes to rush renewables developments,” Smith said at the time.

Critics of the sudden moratorium and new renewable energy-only restrictions, such as Alberta Wildnerness Association conservationist Ruiping Luo, have said that the United Conservative government is being heavy-handed.

“It seems very clear that this is not about environmental protection,” said Luo.

Back in February Smith also said the government was planning to go beyond viewscapes and cropland and would consider imposing further restrictions related to Alberta’s native grassland areas and irrigated and irrigable land.

A first look at what those grassland and irrigated land restrictions could be was made available when the government asked some municipalities, industry officials, and landowners for input this summer.

According to a webinar used in that engagement process, Alberta is looking to prohibit wind and solar farms on irrigated land.

Land that could be irrigable could also be prohibited, though an analysis would be done before a decision is made.

That same webinar also shows Alberta is considering prohibiting renewable energy facilities from being erected on most grassland areas.

Luo, in a report last month, calculated that these new potential restrictions, on top of those announced by Smith earlier this year, could rule out almost 40 per cent of the province for renewable energy.

The viewscape buffer zone alone rules out close to 23 per cent of Alberta, Luo calculated.

For Luo and the Alberta Wilderness Association, protecting grassland and parks and even irrigated land is a good idea in theory, but she says the government’s restrictions won’t be effective unless applied across the entire energy industry.

“For a lot of these conditions, renewable energy isn’t the greatest threat,” Luo said.

For example, she said oil and gas extraction in Alberta’s southeast has a much more detrimental effect on Prairie grasslands than renewable energy projects like wind or solar farms.

“I think the restrictions start off from ideas that would be good and that would be beneficial environmentally, but the way they’re applied doesn’t make sense from a science perspective,” she said.

“We would especially agree with protecting native Prairie not just from renewable energy, but from all developments… because so much has been lost.”

Luo said she’s sent both her report and a letter to the Alberta government outlining her concerns about the new potential restrictions, but has yet to receive a response.

Jason Wang, a senior electricity analyst with the clean energy think tank the Pembina Institute agreed with Luo, and said if Alberta wants to protect grasslands and agriculture lands then restrictions like these would need to be applied across the energy sector, rather than solely on renewables.

“It feels very elementary to say, but these sectors aren’t being treated in the same way,” Wang said.

In August Wang and the Pembina Institute published a report analyzing the aftermath of the government’s seven-month moratorium, and found that 53 wind and solar projects were abandoned after the announcement.

Those projects, on paper, had a combined energy generation capacity of 8,600 megawatts, which would be enough to power every home in Alberta. However, there was no guarantee that every project would have been approved based on existing regulations by the Alberta Utilities Commission, the agency responsible for regulating the development of energy projects.

In an email, Ashley Stevenson, the press secretary for Alberta’s Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf, said that the renewable energy restrictions are designed with environmental protection in mind.

“These new rules ensure responsible land use, protecting the environment, Albertans’ property rights, Alberta’s beautiful landscapes, and the best agricultural industry in the world,” Stevenson said.

“Our government is focused on putting Albertans first, not industrial power projects.”

Stevenson said the government’s full suite of regulatory changes is still being developed, but the government is on track to have the policies finalized before the end of 2024.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Power line technicians from Nova Scotia are on the ground in Tampa, Florida, assisting in power restoration after Hurricanes Helene and Milton barreled across the state, leaving extensive damage and millions in the dark.

A crew of 35 people from Nova Scotia Power arrived in Tampa this weekend and began work Saturday to restore electricity to some of the impacted homes and businesses after Milton hit last week.

“On the ground, we’re seeing a lot of trees down and wires down… a lot of destruction,” Paul Breski, restoration lead for the province’s utility, said during a virtual media briefing Sunday.

Breski said crews are working 16-hour shifts dealing with downed trees and splicing lines to reconnect power.

The Nova Scotia crew joins hundreds of Canadian line workers who have travelled to the southern United States to help with restoration since Hurricane Helene hit in late September.

Breski said the impacts of Hurricane Milton in Tampa appear similar to what Nova Scotia experienced during post-tropical storm Fiona in 2022.

What’s very different, Breski said, is the type of wildlife crews may encounter when working on reconnecting power.

“Back home, ticks are the big thing we worry about when you go in the woods, not snakes and gators. So it’s a bit of an adjustment on that.”

Breski said some of the wooded areas are very dense, and workers are using machetes to cut through thick vegetation to locate lines.

It’s not yet clear how long the Nova Scotia crews will be working in Tampa, Breski said, adding “this is not a sprint, this is a marathon.”

Crews have been welcomed warmly by locals, Breski said. “People down here are very friendly and and happy to see us.”

Floridians recovering from Hurricane Milton, many of whom were journeying home after fleeing hundreds of miles to escape the storm, spent much of Saturday searching for gas as a fuel shortage gripped the state.

Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters Saturday morning that the state opened three fuel distribution sites and planned to open several more. Residents can get 10 gallons (37.85 liters) each, free of charge, he said.

“Obviously as power gets restored … and the Port of Tampa is open, you’re going to see the fuel flowing. But in the meantime, we want to give people another option,” DeSantis said.

Officials were replenishing area gas stations with the state’s fuel stockpiles and provided generators to stations that remained without power.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2024.

—With files from The Associated Press.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

VANCOUVER – The B.C. Conservatives have unveiled their education policy plans about six days before the Oct. 19 voting day.

The plan includes reinstating provincial exams for Grade 10 and 12 students, restoring letter grades from Grade 4 to 9, and ending SOGI 123.

The provincial government website says B.C.’s SOGI program was introduced to help make schools inclusive and safe for all students and includes teaching them about sexual orientation and gender identity.

In a news release, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad criticizes the NDP for “undermining the accountability in B.C.’s education system” and “introducing ideological programs into classrooms that distract from core learning and erode parental trust.”

The conservatives say, if elected, they also intend to restore school liaison officer programs, offer funding to parents of children with autism and offer tax credits or direct payments for parents who homeschool their children.

The news release appeared to have been removed from the B.C. Conservatives’ website shortly after it was issued, but the party said it was due to a “copy edit issue” and that it would be republished once fixed.

Their education plans did not include any details of cost, but Rustad said Saturday that he will release his party’s costed election platform on Tuesday.

The NDP responded in a news release Sunday saying it is concerned Rustad’s education plans would lead to increased class sizes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.