Land south of the CF Industries fertilizer plant is earmarked for Saamis Solar, which the city is currently looking to purchase. City officials are reminding Hatters that full details and public discussion will come before a final decision is made.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
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A group opposing the city’s plan to buy the Saamis Solar Park is calling for a plebiscite on the project ahead of a meeting later this week to outline their concerns.
Several city councillors tell the News they are confident complete details of the plan will be made public once regulators rule on the potential purchase, while administrators have said several times this fall a final investment decision will go to council at that point.
The Medicine Hat Utility Ratepayers Association says it plans to intervene in a regulatory process that is now open for public comment, and will hire its own analyst to evaluate the project.
A meeting set for Higdon Hall on Thursday evening will include guest speakers, and MHURA head Sou Boss tells the News the entire project should be paused until after a business review that is due in late November, and is now calling for a city-wide plebiscite to take place.
“We should be taking this report into consideration first – it will have recommendations on how to move forward with the business,” she said last week. “Instead it’s being done without transparency, and we’re always the last to know.”
City councillors told the News on Monday they expect costs and benefits will be clearly spelled out when they debate the final go-ahead on construction.
City hall officials say the AUC process is at final conditions on the sale – paid for with $7 million approved by council in April 2023 – and application would allow them to build an initial phase at first, then more as needed.
“Any (debate) before (the AUC ruling) would be premature,” said Coun. Alison Van Dyke. “We don’t want to interfere in the AUC process.
“I expect there will be a public discussion once we’re further down the road in the process.”
When announced in August, energy committee chair Coun. Darren Hirsh said the acquisition was a matter of actively managing a substantial business, and would be an asset no matter the results of the third-party business review.
Administrators haven’t addressed criticisms directly but have outlined the division’s actions and options to respond to net-zero requirements and escalating carbon pricing in two hour-long presentations in September to council and committee.
The block of land, located north of Rotary Centennial Drive (formerly 23rd Street), north of Crescent Heights, is owned by Viterra, and represents the largest land mass in the city limits.
Not buying the project and its lease, says Rochelle Pancoast, managing director of the energy division, would effectively block the city from entering the solar sector for lack of suitable land.
“Renewables require a lot of land and this (property) has this least impact on future developable space in the city, and an opportunity to look at transitioning to a portion of renewable (production) in our fleet through time at a pace that makes sense for us,” she told a council committee meeting on Oct. 30.
“We wouldn’t make a recommendation (to build) unless it is expected to return appropriate earnings to the city to help our bottom line. It’s timing, but it will payback over time and then some, but we’ve got to prove that out.”
Officials have said the overall plan to address net-zero requirements is a work in progress owing to changing economics, carbon compliance targets and technology.
However, solar panels are a proven technology that will lower cost of production, and provide carbon credits to offset provincial carbon levies at gas-fired power plants – which the city intends to run as long as economically viable, said Pancoast.
The current provincial TIER fees paid by the city are forecast at $10 million in 2024, rising to $50 million in 2035.
“We are working on due diligence on a smaller (phase of) 75 megawatts, and … when we do come forward for a build recommendation, that it makes sense for our needs,” said Pancoast.
“The current rules have us paying more and more every year to emit carbon, and diversifying starts managing that per megawatt emissions cost to us and the community. It dilutes the risk overall … and green energy creates offsets that we can use to comply with rules for (our) natural gas.”
