Letter: Selling off city’s power generation units would be short-sighted

By Letter to the Editor on January 23, 2021.

Dear editor,

The COVID-19 pandemic must have closed all the optician and ophthalmologists offices, which could be the only explanation regarding city council’s short-sightedness in selling off Medicine Hat’s power generation units, seemingly because some time in the future – possibly, maybe, the good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise – green energy will make them redundant.

Wind and solar units only generate power approximately 30-40 per cent of the time. The sun goes down, no solar power, if it is not windy or too windy the wind turbines shut down. We have access to cheap natural gas, the infrastructure is paid for and the power plants are paid for. It is not worth the inevitable and significant increase in the cost of electricity when the citizens of Medicine Hat have to purchase power from the big for-profit generators.

Ian Parkinson

Medicine Hat

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