A wind turbine is shown at a wind farm near Pincher Creek, Alta., on March 9, 2016.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Swaths of land in Alberta will be barred from hosting renewable power projects under sweeping new rules that will govern the industry.
The changes, announced Wednesday by Premier Danielle Smith and Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf, are the culmination of a ban on renewable approvals that lasted almost seven months. Details of many of the rules have yet to be ironed out. But the industry says the mountain of new red tape being introduced by the government will stymie renewable development in Alberta, which led sector growth in Canada in 2023.
The province announced the renewables moratorium in August last year. It ordered the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) to halt approvals for all renewable projects – be they solar, wind, geothermal, biomass or hydro – and launch an inquiry into various issues including where projects can be built, rules regarding clean-up and how renewable power fits into Alberta’s grid. The renewable sector was not consulted before the pause, and raised concerns that unprecedented government intervention into the multibillion-dollar sector would stoke uncertainty and stifle investment.
The AUC split its review into two separate groups. Wednesday’s announcement deals only with the first set of issues, which includes land use, reclamation and viewscapes.
Under the changes, Alberta will ban new projects from private property deemed to have excellent or good irrigation capability, unless a project proponent can demonstrate that crops or livestock can co-exist on the site alongside the renewable generation infrastructure.
When it comes to reclamation, developers will be responsible for eventual clean-up costs via a bond or security, paid to the government. They will also have the option to negotiate directly with landowners on reclamation costs, but will have to provide “sufficient evidence” to the AUC for such a deal to be accepted.
Buffer zones of a minimum of 35 kilometres will be introduced around protected areas, or whatever the government deems “pristine viewscapes.” New wind projects will not be permitted within those zones, and other forms of renewables may be subject to a so-called “visual impact statement” before approval.
Ms. Smith said the change would ensure that Alberta doesn’t sacrifice future agricultural yields, tourism dollars or “breathtaking viewscapes” to rush through renewable development.
“Renewables have a place in our energy mix, but the fact remains that they are intermittent and unreliable. They are not the silver bullet for Alberta’s electricity needs. And they are not the silver bullet of electricity affordability, because each new development risks driving up the transmission costs and makes Alberta’s utility bills even more expensive,” she told media.
Mr. Neudorf said he believes the changes are fair for the renewables sector, and will strengthen investor certainty by providing clear expectations for agriculture and energy.
But when asked if the same rules would apply to development of other natural resources such as coal, logging or oil and gas, he said only “that is a potential, but it’s up to those regulators in those industries to determine that.”
The AUC will be charged with other duties regarding viewscapes too, including hearings to determine the appropriate distance between renewable infrastructure and neighbouring residences, and conducting site visits for proposed projects.
Municipalities will also see changes under the new rules, including the right to participate in AUC hearings, which was not previously the case. And they will be able to request cash to cover the cost of taking part in those hearings.
Jason Wang, a senior analyst at the Pembina Institute, an environment think tank, said the new rules are fraught with subjectivity and will only serve to add more uncertainty to a previously booming investment climate for renewables in Alberta. The concept of “pristine viewscapes,” for example, has no legal description and appears to have no bearing on oil and gas facilities within the province.
“It might just be like a back-door ban – a soft moratorium,” said Mr. Wang, who specializes in electricity markets and regulatory reform for utilities.
Industry officials have warned that onerous new restrictions will result in Alberta being seen as unfriendly as jurisdictions compete for global capital tied to net-zero goals.
Evan Pivnick, clean energy program manager at Clean Energy Canada called the announced an “uncertainty bomb” for renewable project investors and developers in Alberta.
“Until last year, the province was the undisputed renewables capital of Canada,” he said in a statement. “Now Alberta is undermining its own success, making it one of the only jurisdictions in the world trying to frustrate the deployment of cheap, clean, renewable electricity.”
Corporate power deals in the province have supported nearly $6.3-billion in new capital investment since 2019, according to Business Renewable Canada. That equates to 12,400 gigawatt-hours per year of energy, production of enough energy to power 1.7 million homes. The vast majority of those deals have been in rural parts of the province where they have provided about $28-million in revenues to municipalities.
While many municipalities have welcomed the windfall to their coffers, some have also raised concerns about friction between using land for crops versus massive solar installations or wind farms.
And there were worries that – much like what has happened with oil and gas – they would be left dealing with the remnants of wind turbines or solar panels if projects failed or companies went bankrupt.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
