Sherwood Park MLA Kasawski: Smith’s murky new rules for renewables
Alberta was leading Canada in the construction of non-hydro renewables like wind and solar. Until now.
Published Mar 14, 2024 in The Sherwood Park News • 3 minute read
The Alberta story for renewable energy was a good one. Our province is endowed with massive reservoirs of fossil fuels, especially in our north, and abundant sunshine and wind, especially in the southern part of the province. We have created immense wealth from extracting oil and gas, and have been leading Canada in the construction of non-hydro renewables like wind and solar. Until now.
In August, Premier Danielle Smith and Nathan Neudorf, Minister of Affordability and Utilities, held a press conference to announce the UCP government was putting a moratorium on the approval of permits for new renewable energy projects. Instantly, $33 billion worth of geothermal, solar and wind power plants under development in Alberta were stopped in their tracks.
Alberta’s electricity market is unique in Canada. Most provinces have a crown utility company like BC Hydro or SaskPower that supplies electricity. In Alberta, private companies own power plants and sellers of power can strike deals directly with buyers.
Private companies have invested $6.3 billion in renewable energy power plants in Alberta since 2019. Alberta company Greengate Power built Canada’s largest solar power plant (and for a moment, the world’s) in 2022 in Vulcan. Greengate struck a deal to sell its power from solar directly to Amazon. This deal underpinned Amazon’s decision to invest an additional $3 billion into its Alberta operations. It is a great example of the benefit of keeping up with the world, as businesses work to decarbonize their operations.
To mitigate the future effects of climate change, the world has committed to decarbonize and be carbon neutral by 2050. Canada is committed to this goal and so is Alberta. Danielle Smith has repeatedly claimed Alberta under her leadership is committed to a carbon neutral economy by 2050. She said this in her Happy New Year video. She said it again in her recent pre-budget televised address. She continues to say this in speeches and on her weekly radio show. And it is not just her, the entire UCP caucus voted for a carbon neutral economy by 2050. It is written into their recent motion to use the Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act.
Worse than doing nothing to build a carbon neutral economy by 2050, the UCP is actively working against an industry that will help us decarbonize. In February, Smith lifted her moratorium on permitting new renewable energy projects and released new rules for the renewable industry. The main restrictions limit where projects can be built but the UCP did not release any details. The new rules are too murky for companies to make multi-million dollar investment decisions in Alberta.
It was one thing for energy companies like TransAlta and Capital Power to be told to wait by the government. It is an entirely different thing to be told you cannot build where the sun shines and the wind blows. Energy companies will take their investment dollar elsewhere.
The irony is that, in Alberta, a landowner cannot say no to an oil or gas development on their land. Now, they cannot say yes to renewable energy development. Premier Smith basically told the world that private enterprise is not welcome in Alberta.
Please reach out to me if you have any thoughts on this or other issues that are top of mind for you.
Kyle Kasawski is the MLA for Sherwood Park. If you have questions about this column or any provincial issues, he would like to hear from you. Find his contact information at meetkyle.ca