Land between the CF Industries fertilizer plant and Rotary Centennial Way (formerly 23rd Street) in Medicine Hat's north end is the subject of a proposal to build a 1,600-acre solar power facility.--News File Photo
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Lawyers for groups proposing and opposing the construction of the Saamis Solar Park in Medicine Hat are in dispute about next steps during a province-wide pause on renewable energy projects, but both agree their costs could mount.
The 1,600-acre solar power facility that would be built on vacant industrial land and grassland in northern Medicine Hat was scheduled to move to an approval hearing in July, but that was paused when the developer, DP Energy, discovered a protected hawk’s nest and redrew its layout.
Before a new date could be set however, the Alberta government announced Aug. 3 that no final approvals would be issued until March 2024 as a review takes place on how wind, solar and other renewable projects are approved.
DP’s law firm argued in mid-August that the Saamis application should proceed “up to the point of approval or rejection,” while lawyers representing several nearby landowners say the review may alter regulations and those will require full consideration at the hearing stage.
“An abeyance of six months – assuming (the review period) is not extended – will result in wasted cost,” states a letter written to the Alberta Utilities Commission by the law firm of Borden Ladner Gervais on behalf of Saamis Solar Park Ltd. (SSPL).
“This will inevitably result in significant duplication of work. SSPL would bear, not only its own duplicated costs, but potentially also the duplicated costs of any intervener that requests and is granted an intervener cost order.”
Both parties made submissions Aug. 18 in response to an AUC request for feedback on how larger inquiry should be held, and four days later announced generally that project hearings may proceed in order to lessen a backlog of work when the pause ends next winter.
Local opponents of the Saamis project said that may duplicate work, and they requested interim costs be awarded (applicants typically cover costs of intervening parties).
“The (AUC) inquiry will carry significant weight in determining the fate of the Saamis Project, and therefore, further evidence and public hearings (before its conclusion) may not provide meaningful input,” their submission reads.
The group, known as the Medicine Hat Land Developers Group, is represented by the firm of McLennan Ross.
“In order to ensure that projects … are viewed through the lens of any new requirements … implemented as a result of the inquiry, the MHLD Group requests a complete abeyance.”
The group comprises land developers Rick Wahl and Gary Stimson, who both have land holdings in the area they say have development potential that would be affected by the solar facility. Tow other men, John McMahon and Bill Fanning, hold interests in another quarter-section.
“It is expected that the results of the inquiry will have a substantial influence on the entire approval procedure,” their letter states. “Any additional written evidence submitted or public hearing conducted during the Approval Pause period will become inconsequential if the outcome of the Commission’s inquiry renders them irrelevant.”
After announcing the moratorium, the AUC began soliciting feedback on how the review should be conducted from stakeholders.
The United Conservative government has said the review is needed to address environmental, reclamation and other concerns that have arisen in rural communities.
The opposition New Democrats say the review is badly planned and could be completed without the halt, calling it a costly exercise that will send mixed signals to industry.
“Investors are looking at this shifting of rules and asking, ‘Is this a jurisdiction where I want to invest?’,” said Kathleen Ganley, the NDP’s energy critic, on Sept. 7. “There’s no justification for something this heavy handed, and these things have costs.
“If people are going through regulatory hearings, hiring people, preparing, and it turns, then the rules change so they have to go through a hearing again, that’s increasing costs, too.”
The plan to build the solar array was announced in 2019 with the company stating a 200-megawatt array would make constructive use of a former tailings pond on the site left over from fertilizer production.
It was expanded to 325 megawatts before it was formally submitted, a capacity that would require panels set up east of the tailings pond toward Division Avenue in Crescent Heights.
Two smaller but similar projects have progressed in Calgary. The Medicine Hat site is also owned by Viterra and is subject to a long-term lease.
Several homeowners and environmental advocates also registered to be interveners.
There is no set date for a hearing.
