Alberta, Canada Leads the Pack With Cheap Wind Power; More to Come

When the winning bids for Alberta’s renewable power auction were announced in December, jaws dropped.

The winning projects were approved at a record-breaking low price of C3.7 cents per kilowatt hour — the lowest price for electricity anywhere in Canada.

“This is a game changer. Even the most optimistic observers were shocked at how low the price turned out to be,” said Binnu Jeyakumar, electricity program director at the Pembina Institute.

The Alberta Advantage: Solar Rebates Give Homeowners a Boost in Canada

Alberta’s residential solar industry has chugged along for decades without government support.

That dry spell finally drew to a close on Monday, when the provincial NDP government announced a two-year, $36 million rebate program to help bring down the costs for residents, business and nonprofits who want to install solar projects.

By 2020, the number of solar installations on rooftops is expected to increase from 1,800 to 10,000 systems, which will create about 900 jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a half million tons (or the same as taking 100,000 cars off the road). The program is funded through the province's carbon tax revenue.

Alberta, Canada Advances Clean Energy Goals with More Renewables

The Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) said Nov. 3 that a provincial leader in Alberta made a major policy pronouncement at the final day of the association's 32nd Annual Conference and Exhibition in Calgary.

Alberta Minister of Environment and Parks and the Minister Responsible for the Climate Change Office, Shannon Phillips, speaking in front of a packed plenary room at CanWEA 2016, announced that the Alberta government is introducing the Renewable Electricity Act to legislate its target of 30 percent renewable electricity by 2030. Phillips also announced that Alberta will be proceeding with a procurement of an initial 400 MW of renewable energy as a first step towards meeting the target.

Green Companies say Alberta's Target for Renewable Energy Should be Law

Green energy groups have joined an environmental think tank in calling on the Alberta government to legislate firm targets for renewable power.

The Pembina Institute and a number of green energy firms say in a letter to Premier Rachel Notley and others in her government that the province has shown strong leadership in its Climate Leadership Plan.

Alberta Introduces Carbon Tax Bill as it Formalizes Climate Plan

Alberta is moving to turn its ambitious climate-change plan into law with the introduction of legislation to tax purchases of all fossil fuels, including gasoline and natural gas.

Bill 20, introduced on Tuesday, is one of the first major steps by the Alberta government to formalize grand plans unveiled last November, when it announced a sweeping climate-change plan meant to significantly reduce or cap the province’s greenhouse-gas emissions.

Improving Alberta’s environmental reputation is seen as crucial by the NDP government and some energy industry leaders, who believe that the strategy will help attract investment in the oil and gas sector, put greater emphasis on technology and renewable energy and win support to build one or more new pipelines to Canadian coasts.

Alberta is the Only Province in Canada Without a Renewable Energy Policy

Albertans have already seen so many promises broken.

So we shouldn’t expect much more from Premier Jim Prentice, the newly elected leader of Alberta’s New Democrats told a Lethbridge audience Thursday.

Edmonton MLA Rachel Notley, selected three weeks ago to lead her party in the next election, recounted many campaign promises offered by previous premier Alison Redford and Conservative premiers before her.

They ranged from 140 new “community clinics across the province, she said, to full-day kindergarten and eradication of child poverty “within five years.”

But few if any of the promises have been honored, Notley told the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs. More and more Albertans are now relying on food banks, she said, though the number of families in dire need has fallen in other provinces.