Coal is hot, renewables are (still) not: the latest in Alberta
The contrast between a thirst for coal mines and the restrictions on renewables is striking. At least there’s a bonkers video on a proposed AI data centre and the potential for vacation resorts on public land
A dump truck works at Teck's Fording River Operations coal mine in B.C. The mine is just across the border with Alberta, where a proponent is pushing hard to re-open an old coal mine named Grassy Mountain.
It wouldn’t be a week in Alberta without some kind of announcement that curtails the development of renewable energy projects.
So, uh, Alberta had another week this week.
And just like baggy ’90s pants that I now regret tossing away because I could currently sell them to someone born this millennium for a dumb price, retro vibes are the province’s current look.
Here’s what happened in the province that never sleeps, as the holidays close in and everyone dreams of sweet, sweet natural gas heating.
1. Coal is back, baby
When Alberta decided to move away from coal-fired electricity, it worked swiftly, beating a 2030 deadline many critics called impossible by six years. Some said, it was the beginning of the end and insist we’ve all been one hair away from dying in the cold ever since.
That old-school generation is not making a comeback (yet!), but coal is definitely in the headlines in a way that makes me extra nostalgic for the Green Day shirt I bought at the show they played in that old church near the Stampede grounds and then probably used as a rag and tossed away years ago, definitely without turning a profit.
But I digress.
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The Grassy Mountain project also got a kinda-democratic injection of oomph with residents of Crowsnest Pass voting in favour of the project in a non-binding plebiscite.
The project, it should be noted, is not in Crowsnest Pass. The week after the vote, the municipality said it wants to annex the neighbouring municipality where the project actually is, in order to override opposition there. See? “Democratic” oomph.
No, not transmission of important sexual health information to children in schools or anything like that. Transmission of electricity.
Minister of Affordability and Utilities Nathan Neudorf announced changes meant to incentivize developers to build new electricity projects in areas that already have transmission lines in order to reduce costs. Now, developers will be on the hook for installing new lines if they want to build in areas that don’t have them yet.
As the Alberta government remakes the province’s electricity market, it recently announced changes to how transmission is built and paid for. The changes won’t be in place until 2027, which critics say adds another layer of uncertainty for developers of renewable energy. Photo: Leah Hennel / The Narwhal
It sounds like it could be a win for Alberta consumers, who traditionally pay for transmission buildout. But it also works against renewables that need to be built where the wind blows and the sun shines and often require new lines to connect to the grid.
Critics say it incentivizes big natural gas power plants.
Luckily, we don’t have many details. The rules won’t come into effect until 2027, adding another layer of uncertainty in a remarkably uncertain provincial electricity market. These changes are part of a larger reform of the entire market that has frozen investment.
Business Renewables Centre Canada, which helps broker deals between buyers and sellers of renewable energy, says new rules around getting electricity to market on congested power lines will also have an impact.
The organization says power purchase agreements in the province, which see companies like Amazon ink contracts to purchase renewable power from a solar farm or wind farm, dropped from 1,000 megawatts in 2023 to 52 megawatts in 2024.
It’s unclear if that will help or hinder Dragon’s Den dude Kevin O’Leary’s fever dream of a $70-billion AI data centre in northern Alberta called Wonder Valley — which would require approximately 40 per cent of all electricity currently produced in Alberta. This incredible promotional video has been shared by Premier Danielle Smith, and is one of the best things posted online in the past week. Promise.
3. I proclaim this natural area a resort
The government has made it official. The All-Season Resorts Act is now a real thing, having been proclaimed on Dec. 12, after passing through the legislature on Dec. 4.
The act gives the minister of sport and tourism the power to remove protected-area designation and establish all-season resort zones, doing away with pesky environmental land-use planning, review and approval processes.
What if, and bear with me, there was a Wonder Valley Hyper Resort to go along with the Wonder Valley hyperscaler data centre. A place where recreation and technology could come together in perfect harmony and your recreation could pulse at every turn, where electrons, machines and a nice Chardonnay would come together in an algorithmic dance? (Seriously, watch the video.)
There are two weeks left in 2024, and while most of us are winding down, there’s sure to be more to watch in Alberta. Maybe we’ll see you here next week?
Another year of keeping a close watch
Here at The Narwhal, we don’t use profit, awards or pageviews to measure success. The thing that matters most is real-world impact — evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.
And in 2024, our stories were raised in parliaments across the country and cited by citizens in their petitions and letters to politicians.
In Alberta, our reporting revealed Premier Danielle Smith made false statements about the controversial renewables pause. In Manitoba, we proved that officials failed to formally inspect a leaky pipeline for years. And our investigations on a leaked recording of TC Energy executives were called “the most important Canadian political story of the year.”
Here at The Narwhal, we don’t use profit, awards or pageviews to measure success. The thing that matters most is real-world impact — evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.
And in 2024, our stories were raised in parliaments across the country and cited by citizens in their petitions and letters to politicians.
In Alberta, our reporting revealed Premier Danielle Smith made false statements about the controversial renewables pause. In Manitoba, we proved that officials failed to formally inspect a leaky pipeline for years. And our investigations on a leaked recording of TC Energy executives were called “the most important Canadian political story of the year.”
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