Report from Alberta commission finds renewables pose little threat to agriculture, environment

Alberta's utilities regulator has released a report saying the province's booming renewables industry poses little threat to its agriculture or the environment.

Alberta’s utilities regulator has released a report saying the province’s booming renewables industry poses little threat to its agriculture or the environment.

“Assuming all renewable development locates on (some of Alberta’s best) land, the percentage of (such) agricultural land loss is estimated to be less than one per cent by 2041,” says the Alberta Utilities Commission report, released Wednesday.

The commission takes a similar view of concerns that solar and wind facilities could leave landowners and the public with big bills for reclamation at the end of their lives.

“Compared to some other forms of industrial development, renewable power plant projects have well-understood and relatively contained reclamation risks,” it says. “The risks associated with groundwater and off-site contamination are generally low.”

The report is the first of two the United Conservative government asked the commission to produce as part of its inquiry into the province’s booming solar and wind power industry. The release of the report comes shortly after the government removed its six-month moratorium on approvals for new renewables generation.

The current report deals with agricultural and environmental impacts, as well as funding for reclamation and effects on what the government has called “pristine viewscapes.”

It found that renewable power is much less of a threat to the province’s farmland than other forms of energy development and urban spread.

“From 2019 to 2021, the largest driver of agricultural land loss was expansion of pipelines and industrial sites,” it says. “Other key drivers … include urban residential development, mines and wells, and roads.”