Proponents of renewable energy projects on farmland will have to ‘demonstrate the ability for both crops and livestock to co-exist on the land,’ Alberta utilities minister says
Alberta will adopt an “agricultural-first” approach when deciding where new renewable energy projects can be built in the province — while creating 35-kilometre buffer zones around “pristine viewscapes” and requiring developers to put up remediation bonds.
For industry proponents, the news feels more like a renewables-second policy. The sector is clamouring for more answers about the potential effect of the new rules on investment into the country’s hottest renewable market.
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The province is lifting its moratorium later this week on approving new renewable energy projects and overhauling the criteria for the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) to approve future clean energy proposals.
The new policy was announced Wednesday by Premier Danielle Smith and Affordability and Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf, who said the rules are intended to protect farmland while allowing the renewables industry to grow — although Neudorf acknowledged it will likely slow the sector’s rapid expansion.
“We’re only requesting that the proponent demonstrate the ability for both crops and livestock to coexist on the land for renewables projects. So, we are creating a pathway for this to continue,” he said in an interview.
“We anticipate that there will be some contraction of some of these (proposed) investment projects.”
The UCP government will instruct the AUC to use the new policy direction for approving new projects, beginning March 1.
Changes will not be retroactive, but will apply to 13 projects that began moving through the review process during the seven-month pause, which began in August.
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Reaction from the clean energy proponents and developers focused on the lack of specific details on key policies, such as how the province will define pristine viewscapes.
“We still need additional information,” said Canadian Renewable Energy Association CEO Vittoria Bellissimo.
BluEarth Renewables CEO Grant Arnold said he was pleased to see the changes will not be retroactively applied to projects already built in the province.
However, the Calgary-based company also has about 400 MW of proposed wind and solar developments in the works in Alberta.
“The concepts discussed today by the province, combined, add cost and red tape,” Arnold said.
“I’m not giving the green light on a new project today in Alberta until I have some certainty, and I don’t know if I’ll see it in the near future or in the far future.”
Alberta has seen a surge of wind and solar projects over the past five years.
The province added almost 1.4 gigawatts (GW) of installed renewable capacity in 2022 — about three-quarters of all such additions across the country — and the percentage topped 90 per cent last year.
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With the changes, renewable projects will no longer be allowed on what the province considers Class 1 and 2 farmland under a land suitability rating system — covering about seven million hectares out of 26 million hectares — unless the proponent shows livestock or crops can coexist on the site, Neudorf said.
The province will also look to create tools to ensure native grassland, irrigable land and productive farmland will continue to be available for agriculture.
“We’re trying to be responsible with not just one industry, but many industries,” the minister said.
Buffer zones extending at least 35 kilometres will be created around protected areas and what the province designates as pristine viewscapes, such as the Rocky Mountains or the foothills.
In those areas, wind farms with turbines will be a “no-go,” said Neudorf. Other developments in the zone could require the AUC to conduct a visual impact assessment.
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The minister doesn’t anticipate many projects will be affected, but the Pembina Institute said it appears the buffer zone could cover up to 76 per cent of southern Alberta due to protected areas in place.
“If the government is interested in agriculture-first, these rules should apply to the oil and gas sector, to residential and industrial development,” said Simon Dyer of the Pembina Institute.
The province said protected areas will focus on the western portion of Alberta and haven’t been established yet.
The new policy will also create guidelines around reclamation costs to pay for the cleanup once a renewable project reaches the end of its life, such as putting up a bond to cover those expenses.
The money will either be given to the AUC or negotiated with the landowner, but the specific amount required has not yet been set.
The incoming changes will give municipalities the automatic right to participate in AUC hearings on new projects. Other parts of a broader government review of the electricity sector are also being developed and expected to be revealed later in March.
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The new policy will likely continue to stir the controversy that has surrounded Alberta’s pause, which was adopted last summer amid a growing lineup of proposals before the AUC.
Alberta has excellent wind and solar resources and, as Canada’s only deregulated power market, it has become a magnet for private-sector investment. The energy-only market allows developers to build projects and sell the electricity, along with renewable energy credits, to corporate customers through power purchase agreements.
The Business Renewables Centre Canada said corporate-based PPAs have garnered more than $6.4 billion in investment since 2019.
Greengate Power CEO Dan Balaban, which developed the largest solar project in the country south of Calgary, said Wednesday there is still uncertainty and some subjectivity in how the new rules will be applied.
His company, which has been involved in renewable development in Alberta for more than a decade, has seen the province become Canada’s top investment destination for wind and solar, which is “a modern miracle to see that happen in oil country.
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“I am a little disappointed, I’d say, that it looks like that pace of growth is not going to continue,” Balaban added.
“It certainly seems like they’re prioritizing agriculture over renewables — agriculture-first would imply that … I think both can coexist.”
However, the review tackled issues that needed a deeper examination due to the industry’s speedy expansion, said Rural Municipalities of Alberta president Paul McLauchlin.
“This is actually not that limiting,” he said.
“Most of rural Alberta should be happy with the path forward.”
Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.
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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.
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Yuri Kageyama is on X:
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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.
Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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.
Companies in this story: (TSX:REI.UN)
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