City notebook: Power, Norway, bucks and pucks make big headlines

By Collin Gallant on August 25, 2018.

A hot topic this summer — excuse the pun — has been power electricity.

The City of Medicine Hat power plant has been pumping it out this season. The Hut 8 dataprocessing facility and air conditioners across Hat-dom have been humming. It’s been hot.

The big day appears to be on August 10.

That day Alberta set an all-time summer record demand of 11,169 megawatts. The same day SaskPower reports a similar record demand record of 3,520 megawatts

That crown corporation also announced several items of interest. Its plan is to boost total generating capacity from the current 4,500 megawatts to 7,000 by 2030, when it plans to have coal-fired plants phased out.

To that end, the new Chinook natural-gas fueled station near Swift Current reached the halfway point in construction this week.

As well, Transalta utilities is promoting its plan to build the Antelope Coulee windfarm to the east of Swift Current.

So, you might ask, how and/or why is Saskatchewan phasing out coal production and add renewables while fighting against a carbon levy.

One important difference to note, though, is that SaskPower is a Crown Corporation, and takes its marching orders from provincial government.

Not so much in Alberta, which must deal with what the private sector does and doesn’t want to do with or without financial incentives.

For similar reasons it’s not really fair to compare Norway’s $1 trillion wealth fund from oil and Alberta’s Heritage Trust Fund, worth $17.4 billion, as of March 31.

With Norwegian state-controlled Statoil is the dominant player there, and makes its business plan fit the policy, basically paying whatever royalties and taxes are levied.

Speaking of Norway

The News booted it this week, stating that city chief administrator Merete Heggelund, who is from Norway, had previously worked for France-based Total, when it’s obvious Statoil was correct.

That report came after a long council meeting capped by the news that Bob Nicolay will return to the city to takeover from the retiring Heggelund.

The emotional moment of the night, however, came early on as Heggelund was tasked with passing along a plaque denoting thanks from the Royal Norwegian Airforce to the city. Forces from the NATO ally had for years taken part in biological and chemical response training at CFB Suffield. For several years they have been toured around by their countrywoman, Heggelund.

It thanks the city and its CAO for its welcoming nature and hospitality.

City finances

The City of Medicine Hat will hire Manulife Asset Management to mange $100 million in medium term bonds — a move following a switch in long-term strategy to allow provincial pension and fund manager AIMCo hold Medicine Hat’s long-term assets.

The item presented to council Monday didn’t include the shortlist of potential managers, but some snooping shows the shortlist of candidates and a prestigious group.

Final candidates were Manulife, BMO Nesbitt Burns, CIBC Asset Management, and the Conner, Clark & Lunn Financial Group.

Qualified but not making the second cut were AIMCo., Franklin Templeton, Jarislowsky-Fraser Limited, as well as Scotia and TD banks.

Hockey Talk

The Tigers started training camp this week. Yep, we interrupt summer for hockey season.

A few other hockey notes were laced throughout the News this week.

Lethbridge City Council will put $1 million towards the WHL Hurricanes’ bid to host the 2020 Memorial Cup. There’s no whisper of a local bid this time, so the earliest a Medicine Hat bid could be considered is 2023, about 10 years after Canalta Centre construction was approved.

A look ahead

City council resumes sitting on Tuesday, Sept. 4. In case you’re wondering the House of Commons resumes its work on Monday, Sept. 17. The Alberta legislature doesn’t get back at it until October.