Alberta counties, green power companies await new power rules

Two years after a “pause” on new approvals for wind and solar farms was lifted, 14 major renewable energy projects have yet to break ground in southeastern Alberta.

That is due to an uncertain outlook in the sector, say analysts, as Alberta prepares to bring in new cost structures and a new energy market over the next year.

The slowdown, as well as the status of projects already approved, is also creating uncertainty for counties and rural municipalities. 

Many had expressed concerns over the speed and scope of renewable energy development, while also seeking out investment and new development to shore up their tax bases.

Newell County councillor Neil Johnson says wind and solar production sites could bolster his region’s tax base, and the size of investments are too large to see disappear.

“It’s huge,” he told CBC News.

“We were talking about a couple hundred million dollars [in projects] … Which we need, because the oilpatch is slowly but surely abandoning wells.

“It was, yeah, a lifeline.”

Johnson, who leases a portion of his farm holdings to an existing solar plant facility, is one of few vocal green-power boosters among rural Alberta politicians.

Councils typically hear stiff opposition at land-use hearings and calls by ratepayers to block further development.

Cypress County councillor Dustin Vossler pushed for local rules to bar solar from setting up on higher-value agricultural land before the province did just that following the moratorium in 2023.

He still wants strict regulations in place. 

“It’s all well and good that people make money from it,” said Vossler. “But municipalities and taxpayers will be left to clean it up.”

Cypress County and Newell County, surrounding Brooks and Medicine Hat respectively, are home to at least a dozen projects that are approved by regulators but still awaiting a final go-ahead from developers.