They loomed over the landscape along the Crowsnest Highway, the 57 hulking wind turbines of the Cowley Ridge Wind Farm. This was the first commercial wind farm anywhere in Canada, erected in 1993 before being decommissioned eight years ago, replaced by a more efficient TransAlta-owned project slightly to the north.
With the Alberta government now declaring a ban on any new wind turbines within 35 kilometres of whatever the province deems “pristine viewscapes,” would this be allowed? Would Canada’s pioneering renewable energy project be kosher under Premier Danielle Smith’s new regime?
“My inability to answer that question is the problem here,” said Evan Wilson, policy vice-president with the Canadian Renewable Energy Association, in an interview Wednesday.
When taken to the policy’s most extreme interpretation of buffer zones “with a minimum of 35 kilometres” around all protected areas and designated viewscapes, most of southern Alberta would be off-limits. (Cowley Ridge is seven kilometres as the crow flies from Lundbreck Falls Provincial Recreation Area.)
It’s not clear the rule will be this restrictive — but even Nathan Neudorf, the utilities minister bringing in these plans, noted there is no “universal definition of pristine viewscape,” and details would have to be worked out.
Approvals of wind and solar energy developments have been frozen for seven months, and as this period formally ends on March 1, the province still needs time to figure out what it means by limits within viewscapes.
That’s what has groups advocating for renewable power antsy. After seven months with the sector’s fate left flapping in the air, there’s more uncertainty.
The Smith government “has now essentially introduced a second ‘soft moratorium,'” said Jorden Dye of the Business Renewable Centres-Canada.
Them’s the brakes
Nearly two decades ago, when then-premier Ed Stelmach was facing heat on the societal and environmental impacts of the rapidly expanding oilsands, he declared he didn’t believe in “touching the brakes.”
The current premier surprised businesses by slamming on the brakes when she was faced with another blossoming energy sector that critics said needed regulation. And with the brake now being lifted, businesses aren’t sure where they’re allowed to go.
Smith said further growth “must happen in well-defined and responsible ways.” Yet there’s much more yet to be defined, including the viewscape rules and forthcoming regulation changes to better cover the transmission costs to the wide-ranging renewable power farms. — and that’s a prospect industry leaders worry may add costs to existing wind or solar plants, in addition to new projects.
And there’s more of a potential crackdown yet to come on the power source its advocates tout as low-cost and plentiful, but which this UCP premier casts as unreliable and fraught withdisadvantages.
Wednesday’s announcement was only part of the Smith-ordered review of wind and solar.
The next shoe to drop is on the overall market capacity for wind and solar, and action to back up Smith’s repeated declarations that the grid must add as much “reliable” power (natural gas, mostly) as it adds wind and solar, which cannot produce electricity 24/7/365.
They spoke the language of reassurance, with Smith saying “I don’t know how long it will take us before we end up constraining (development),” and Neudorf saying “there is no requirement for any of those proponents to add natural gas to their approvals” with these new rules.
But embedded into these remarks is the subtext that constraints and mandated gas-to-solar pairing are on the horizon.
This business is watching with what we can generously call anticipation to an hour-long speaking engagement by Neudorf on March 11 at an electricity producer conference in Banff.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced new rules governing the installation and cleanup of renewable energy projects. Joining her was Affordability and Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf, left, and parliamentary secretary Chantelle de Jonge, right. (Manuel Carrillos/CBC)
As much anxiety as there has been about what Smith’s government was cooking up with this multibillion-dollar Alberta business, It’s not clear any of this yet spells doom for wind and solar in the province. Alberta’s natural advantages and its open-entry market still make it far easier for businesses to develop than in any other province, even as they ramp up their own renewables portfolios in government-controlled quantities.
More than 90 per cent of Canada’s new wind and solar development occurred in Alberta last year, and Smith expressed desire to keep the province a dominant player — even if she may also want to clip this low-carbon power sector’s wings a bit.
Wind and solar players say they can live with the new rules offering more municipal and neighbour input in hearings and (forthcoming) rules for reclamation. Meanwhile, limits on solar farms on top-class agricultural lands cover more than one-quarter of Alberta’s farmland, according to the government, although little of that is in the pasture-heavy southern Alberta, where electricity developers have flocked.
The province also offered power producers a glimmer of hope that it will finally open up government-owned Crown lands to wind and solar farms, which industry advocates say could offset newly restricted lands, especially in areas closer to existing transmission. But while many of these rules take place immediately (or as soon as Alberta figures them out), Crown access won’t happen until at least 2025.
It’s the murky “viewscape” rules that are drawing the most trepidation (thus far) about the sector’s ability to come roaring back post-moratorium.
“That’s going to make it harder to find suitable sites for this development, which means fewer projects are going to go ahead,” said Dan Balaban of Calgary-based renewable developer Greengate Power.
He has pulled back from pursuing expansions in Alberta since Smith’s moratorium, and he’s unsure about coming back yet, with more rules and regulations still yet to come.
The view from here
For a sense of how broad that 35-kilometre buffer is, it’s roughly the length of the full Deerfoot Trail from the north end of Calgary’s Stoney Trail ring road to its south end. That distance would span the entire Crowsnest Pass.
Pressed further to define “pristine viewscape,” Neudorf said the “Foothills and majestic Rocky Mountains are fairly significant.”
So is that declaring the gusty southwest Alberta a new moratorium zone?
He went on, talking about new mandates for “visual assessment” for towering wind turbines.
“Anything on the ridge is far more visible than it might be in a valley or a bluff,” Neudorf said.
So the third generation of Cowley Ridge won’t be allowed unless it’s hidden from view of potential naysayers?
When the Alberta Utilities Commission has reviewed proposed wind projects before, neighbours or landowners several kilometres away would protest the impact on their views. The commission would acknowledge that as a “consequence of the project that needs to be balanced against the project’s public benefits” — but the provincial policy would transform that calculus, and make viewscape impairment more of a deal breaker.
Oil pumpjacks and mountains have long gone together in Alberta’s iconic scenery. (CBC)
For generations, pumpjacks and oil wells came to dot the Alberta landscape as signs of prosperity and economic development. But they’ve never had the sort of geographical limits or landowner-consent issues facing renewables.
Wind turbines and fields of solar fields were starting to become part of the archetypal Alberta vista. But that was before government policy came to see them as blights on the provincial “viewscape.”
The same sort of business uncertainty, extended permitting hurdles and regulatory “red tape” that governments have lifted for other sectors is now imposed on this one — and the view from here to the future seems mightily obscured.
Human Resources Officers must be very busy these days what with the general turnover of employees in our retail and business sectors. It is hard enough to find skilled people let alone potential employees willing to be trained. Then after the training, a few weeks go by then they come to you and ask for a raise. You refuse as there simply is no excess money in the budget and away they fly to wherever they come from, trained but not willing to put in the time to achieve that wanted raise.
I have had potentials come in and we give them a test to see if they do indeed know how to weld, polish or work with wood. 2-10 we hire, and one of those is gone in a week or two. Ask that they want overtime, and their laughter leaving the building is loud and unsettling. Housing starts are doing well but way behind because those trades needed to finish a project simply don’t come to the site, with delay after delay. Some people’s attitudes are just too funny. A recent graduate from a Ivy League university came in for an interview. The position was mid-management potential, but when we told them a three month period was needed and then they would make the big bucks they disappeared as fast as they arrived.
Government agencies are really no help, sending us people unsuited or unwilling to carry out the jobs we offer. Handing money over to staffing firms whose referrals are weak and ineffectual. Perhaps with the Fall and Winter upon us, these folks will have to find work and stop playing on the golf course or cottaging away. Tried to hire new arrivals in Canada but it is truly difficult to find someone who has a real identity card and is approved to live and work here. Who do we hire? Several years ago my father’s firm was rocking and rolling with all sorts of work. It was a summer day when the immigration officers arrived and 30+ employees hit the bricks almost immediately. The investigation that followed had threats of fines thrown at us by the officials. Good thing we kept excellent records, photos and digital copies. We had to prove the illegal documents given to us were as good as the real McCoy.
Restauranteurs, builders, manufacturers, finishers, trades-based firms, and warehousing are all suspect in hiring illegals, yet that becomes secondary as Toronto increases its minimum wage again bringing our payroll up another $120,000. Survival in Canada’s financial and business sectors is questionable for many. Good luck Chuck!. at least your carbon tax refund check should be arriving soon.
NORMAN WELLS, N.W.T. – Imperial Oil says it will temporarily reduce its fuel prices in a Northwest Territories community that has seen costs skyrocket due to low water on the Mackenzie River forcing the cancellation of the summer barge resupply season.
Imperial says in a Facebook post it will cut the air transportation portion that’s included in its wholesale price in Norman Wells for diesel fuel, or heating oil, from $3.38 per litre to $1.69 per litre, starting Tuesday.
The air transportation increase, it further states, will be implemented over a longer period.
It says Imperial is closely monitoring how much fuel needs to be airlifted to the Norman Wells area to prevent runouts until the winter road season begins and supplies can be replenished.
Gasoline and heating fuel prices approached $5 a litre at the start of this month.
Norman Wells’ town council declared a local emergency on humanitarian grounds last week as some of its 700 residents said they were facing monthly fuel bills coming to more than $5,000.
“The wholesale price increase that Imperial has applied is strictly to cover the air transportation costs. There is no Imperial profit margin included on the wholesale price. Imperial does not set prices at the retail level,” Imperial’s statement on Monday said.
The statement further said Imperial is working closely with the Northwest Territories government on ways to help residents in the near term.
“Imperial Oil’s decision to lower the price of home heating fuel offers immediate relief to residents facing financial pressures. This step reflects a swift response by Imperial Oil to discussions with the GNWT and will help ease short-term financial burdens on residents,” Caroline Wawzonek, Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance and Infrastructure, said in a news release Monday.
Wawzonek also noted the Territories government has supported the community with implementation of a fund supporting businesses and communities impacted by barge cancellations. She said there have also been increases to the Senior Home Heating Subsidy in Norman Wells, and continued support for heating costs for eligible Income Assistance recipients.
Additionally, she said the government has donated $150,000 to the Norman Wells food bank.
In its declaration of a state of emergency, the town said the mayor and council recognized the recent hike in fuel prices has strained household budgets, raised transportation costs, and affected local businesses.
It added that for the next three months, water and sewer service fees will be waived for all residents and businesses.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
TORONTO – A new report says many Canadian business leaders are worried about economic uncertainties related to the looming U.S. election.
The survey by KPMG in Canada of 735 small- and medium-sized businesses says 87 per cent fear the Canadian economy could become “collateral damage” from American protectionist policies that lead to less favourable trade deals and increased tariffs
It says that due to those concerns, 85 per cent of business leaders in Canada polled are reviewing their business strategies to prepare for a change in leadership.
The concerns are primarily being felt by larger Canadian companies and sectors that are highly integrated with the U.S. economy, such as manufacturing, automotive, transportation and warehousing, energy and natural resources, as well as technology, media and telecommunications.
Shaira Nanji, a KPMG Law partner in its tax practice, says the prospect of further changes to economic and trade policies in the U.S. means some Canadian firms will need to look for ways to mitigate added costs and take advantage of potential trade relief provisions to remain competitive.
Both presidential candidates have campaigned on protectionist policies that could cause uncertainty for Canadian trade, and whoever takes the White House will be in charge during the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2026.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
