From: lessgovt@gmail.com   
      
   Canada’s Oil-Rich Alberta Province Halts Renewable-Energy Projects   
   By Vipal Monga, Aug. 19, 2023, WSJ   
      
   TORONTO—Canada’s oil-rich province of Alberta has become the latest   
   jurisdiction to push back against renewable-energy initiatives, declaring a   
   seven-month moratorium on new wind and solar projects.   
      
   The pause put in place by the province’s conservative government has   
   provoked criticism from members of the renewables industry, which says the   
   move threatens to undermine a fast-growing sector that has been contributing a   
   growing share of energy to    
   Alberta’s power grid.   
      
   Alberta, which is home to Canada’s oil sands, the fourth-largest oil reserve   
   in the world, announced earlier this month that it would pause until Feb. 29,   
   2024, approvals of any renewable-energy projects that produce over 1 megawatt   
   of power. Alberta    
   wants to study how the projects affect the power grid, their impact on the   
   environment and what the government called “Alberta’s pristine   
   viewscapes.” The government also wants to consider end-of-life rules for   
   solar farms and windmill projects.   
      
   The action has effectively put at risk 80 projects worth roughly $15 billion,   
   said Vittoria Bellissimo, president and chief executive of the Canadian   
   Renewable Energy Association, an industry group.   
      
   “We are concerned and disappointed,” she said. More than 75% of all   
   renewable projects built in Canada last year were in Alberta, adding about   
   1,391 megawatts of power to the provincial grid, she said.   
      
   Alberta’s actions complicate a broader push by Canadian PM Justin   
   Trudeau’s government to lower carbon emissions from Canada’s electricity   
   grid. The government in Alberta has called draft regulations from Ottawa that   
   would require the Canadian    
   electricity grid to be carbon-neutral by 2035 unconstitutional.   
      
   The confrontation is the latest spat between Trudeau’s Liberal government   
   and Alberta’s conservative leadership, which has sparred with Ottawa on   
   energy policy and Covid vaccine mandates.   
      
   Alberta’s move mirrors efforts in the U.S. Renewable projects in states such   
   as Kansas and Iowa have encountered resistance from local municipalities and   
   state governments, which have cited the effect of solar and wind farm projects   
   on small    
   communities.   
      
   In Texas, lawmakers this year tried to pass legislation that would have made   
   renewables companies help pay for natural-gas plants, and for wind farms to be   
   set back hundreds of yards from property lines. Opponents said the proposals   
   would have upended    
   the renewables industry in that state. While many of the most- restrictive   
   measures didn’t pass the Texas Legislature, those that did raised costs for   
   the industry and made the state less attractive for wind and solar, said   
   clean-energy executives.   
      
   In Europe, too, governments are running into opposition from residents and   
   officials who say noisy wind turbines and massive solar arrays will harm the   
   landscape, cultural sites and tourism.   
      
   In general, the scale of green-energy projects is growing, which is affecting   
   more people, and some opposition is natural, said Grant Arnold, president and   
   chief executive of BluEarth Renewables, a wind, solar and hydroelectric power   
   company based in    
   Calgary, Alberta.   
      
   Nonetheless, BluEarth, which has projects under development in Minnesota,   
   Wisconsin, Wyoming and other U.S. states, will slow down or pause future   
   spending in Alberta because it appears as though the government is taking a   
   political position that is    
   opposed to the renewables industry, Arnold said. BluEarth has invested almost   
   $450 million in Alberta in the past four years. It has seven projects in   
   operation and several others in development in the province.   
      
   “There’s political risk,” he said. “We’re forced to look hard at   
   investing more in the province.”   
      
   Alberta is the only province in Canada with a deregulated energy market.   
   Energy providers negotiate directly with buyers without going through a   
   government-owned intermediary. Industry advocates say wind and solar energy   
   providers have been able to offer    
   cheaper rates to businesses and energy distributors for retail customers,   
   allowing renewables to take a growing share of the market.   
      
   About 17% of Alberta’s electricity came from renewable hydro, wind and   
   solar-power sources in 2022, an increase from 10% in 2018, according to   
   government statistics. Most of the rest of the power supply comes from natural   
   gas, and a decreasing share    
   comes from coal.   
      
   Alberta’s leader, Premier Danielle Smith, said in an interview that a   
   short-term moratorium is needed so the province can craft new rules governing   
   where renewable projects can be located and how operators must deal with solar   
   arrays and wind turbines    
   once they stop working. The issues have become more urgent as projects get   
   bigger and take up space on valuable farmland and near rural communities, she   
   said.   
      
   Smith, who leads the right-leaning United Conservative Party, said she also   
   wants to increase the number of natural-gas projects in the province. The   
   province’s power grid must be supported by natural-gas production to avoid   
   rolling blackouts when wind    
   and solar production can’t keep up with demand, she said.   
      
   “I have to build a power grid knowing that there are some days of the year   
   when neither wind nor solar are operating at all,” she said.   
      
   Smith has publicly railed against the Canadian federal government’s plans to   
   create a net-zero power grid by 2035, which was unveiled earlier this month.   
   The plan would limit how much electric power can come from fossil fuels. Smith   
   said the target is    
   unachievable for a province that will get most of its power from natural gas   
   for the foreseeable future.   
      
   Getting to net zero by 2050 would be more realistic, she said.   
      
   Responding to Smith’s criticisms, Canada’s environment minister, Steven   
   Guilbeault, said in a statement that the country’s plan allows for   
   natural-gas use when coupled with carbon-capture technologies. The Canadian   
   plan aligns with that of the U.S.,   
    where President Biden has set a 2035 target for a carbon-free grid. This will   
   create new investment opportunities for Canadian green energy companies, the   
   minister said.   
      
      
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