Solar panels pictured at the Michichi Solar project near Drumheller, Alta., Tuesday, July 11, 2023. A seven-month pause on wind and solar development in Alberta is coming to an end, but some involved in the sector say their industry's future growth in the province is threatened by creeping politicization. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
CALGARY – A seven-month pause on wind and solar development in Alberta is coming to an end, but some involved in the sector say increased politicization threatens its future growth.
The industry was caught off guard last August by the UCP government’s move to impose a temporary moratorium on new wind and solar approvals in the province to give it time to study issues related to land use, reclamation and grid reliability.
That moratorium is set to expire Thursday, after which the government is expected to unveil new rules to guide future wind and solar development in the province.
But Dan Balaban, CEO of Greengate Power Corp., said the government-imposed pause on the renewables sector is just one piece of an increasingly contentious public debate that has left the wind and solar industry feeling like a political football.
“This is really about the politics of energy,” said Balaban, whose company was behind the development of the Travers Solar farm in southern Alberta, one of the largest solar projects in the world.
“It’s very disappointing because I think there are pragmatic solutions to get us to where we ultimately need to be in terms of providing clean, reliable and affordable energy, and the politics of division aren’t going to get us there. For me, as an entrepreneur, it’s very off-putting.”
The government-imposed moratorium was a response to what has been an explosion of growth in the province’s renewable energy in recent years. In 2022, 75 per cent of all new wind and solar projects in Canada were built in Alberta, thanks to the province’s sunny skies, abundance of wind and unique deregulated electricity market.
But the rapid growth led to questions from rural communities about who would be on the hook to clean up renewable energy infrastructure as well as concerns around the use of food-producing agricultural land for renewable energy development.
Balaban said all of those questions are valid, but Alberta’s move to shut down the industry while seeking answers was “a very negative signal.”
“It really feels like the renewable energy industry was singled out,” he said.
“I agree that all of these things need to be reviewed, but I certainly don’t see the same level of scrutiny and negativity being directed toward other industries.”
At the time the moratorium was announced, there were 118 renewable energy projects proposed by 64 different development companies either in the permitting stage or about to apply for permitting in Alberta.
Jorden Dye, director of Business Renewables Centre Canada – which works to help businesses and institutions reduce their emissions by connecting buyers and sellers of renewable power – said whether or not the moratorium has a long-term chilling effect on the industry will depend on what regulations are introduced.
“There’s a very broad range of changes they (the government) could make, starting with minimal impact all the way up to major impact with a massive reduction in projects,” Dye said.
But like Balaban, Dye said he is concerned in general about the public discourse around renewables, which has intensified due to opposition from Alberta and neighbouring Saskatchewan about the federal government’s proposed clean electricity regulations.
“I do think it’s sad this has become politicized,” Dye said. “Not only does it keep us from focusing on the actual issues, it just reduces the level of conversation in the province.”
Dye pointed to what happened when Alberta was forced to declare an emergency grid alert during an extreme cold snap in January. Premier Danielle Smith called renewables “unreliable” even though two natural gas-fired power plants were also offline at the time, while Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said on social media that power exports from his province to Alberta would be coming from “natural gas and coal-fired plants, the ones the Trudeau government is telling us to shut down (which we won’t).”
Vittoria Bellissimo, president and CEO of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association, said she was discouraged by the number of “hot takes” the grid advisory sparked and said she has been working hard to increase the UCP government’s understanding of renewable energy generally.
“It’s not one type of energy versus another type of energy here. We have oil and gas producers who buy renewables to satisfy their electricity needs and ESG obligations. We have natural gas-fired generators who also produce renewables,” she said.
“There is no line in the sand, or us versus them.”
Balaban said he thinks his industry has been damaged by the “hostile rhetoric” between the province and the federal government over net-zero goals, which is taking momentum away from the growth of the renewables sector in Alberta.
He said his own company is not pursuing any new developments in Alberta until it is confident that any forthcoming new rules for the sector will be “clear, fair and objective.”
“You know, increasingly in the world we’re seeing ourselves being defined by division on major issues,” he said.
“Energy is just one of those major issues and arguably one of the most important ones in Alberta. And this is unfortunately how it’s playing out.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 28, 2024.
