Olivia Woods
According to a clean energy think tank, Alberta has stopped granting permits for 118 renewable energy projects, costing the province $33 billion.
The Pembina Institute claims in a recent analysis that these projects would employ 24,000 people full-time for an entire year.
It is estimated that landowners in 27 cities might receive $263 million in leases and local taxes from these projects.
The United Conservative government of the province announced earlier this month that it would delay all renewable energy approvals until February to deliberate about issues like land use and reclamation.
On Wednesday, the utilities regulator announced that it would keep reviewing projects but stop issuing new permits.
Several companies with active projects have said that their decision has caused them to search elsewhere, alarming Alberta’s growing renewables industry.
“Renewable projects generate revenue for both the landowner — through land lease payments — and the municipality in which they are located — through municipal taxes.”
Analysts utilized a “job-year metric” to predict how many new positions will be created as a result of the projects.
“That is to say, these are not peak construction jobs, but rather the equivalent of one person being employed one year full-time.”
Nagwan Al-Guneid, an energy critic for the New Democratic Opposition who has experience in both fossil fuels and renewables, has noted that such mechanisms are already part of the legislation. Land use consultations, she claimed, were already in progress.
“You can still be open for business while going ahead with these consultations,” said Al-Guneid. “A moratorium is not a solution.”
She also mentioned the International Energy Agency’s projection that this year global investment in renewable energy will exceed $2.3 trillion, with solar investment surpassing fossil fuels for the very first time.
She claims that Alberta is losing out on investment because of the uncertainty surrounding the timing of a report expected in February that may include extra expenses and regulations.
“The reality is that there is a global transformation,” she said. “A responsible government needs to plan for all scenarios.”
Premier Smith addressed the Canadian Energy Executive Association on Thursday in Banff, Alberta.
She did mention that Alberta producers are making an effort to lower their greenhouse gas emissions during production, but she left out the fact that only 20% of a barrel of oil’s carbon emissions occur during production.
“We don’t need a just transition in Alberta because we don’t intend to transition away from oil and gas,” said Premier Smith.
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