Energy transition plans at final utility committee meet

By COLLIN GALLANT on October 14, 2021.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

The final city council committee meeting of the term today will outline largely behind-the-scenes work in the utility division to plan for the energy transition over the next decade.

Today’s open meeting of the energy and utility committee will include a verbal report by division director Brad Maynes on a hydrogen strategy, progress on the city’s well-abandonment efforts, its power plant strategy and the potential for carbon capture, which is suggested as a new wing of the city utility division.

The meeting is open to members of the public, though capacity limits are in place at city hall and the specific board room.

The date was reserved for the final meeting of council’s audit committee, where the financial results for the city over the summer were due.

In August, the city’s Invest Medicine Hat office outlines its activities to help create a hydrogen study to bolster the prospects of the clean burning fuel in southeast Alberta.

There is also a potential partnership announced for the city’s natural gas fleet fuelling facility with hydrogen hub partner, Envoy Energy.

The power plant and public utilities were the subject of debate this year after administrators discussed a “valuation” exercise that sought to forecast future profitability and the effect of increased renewable energy production on export pricing.

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