Wind Power News: Alberta
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.
Plans advance for embattled Montana power line
HELENA, Mont. — A Canadian energy company said Tuesday that it is buying an embattled Montana power transmission line project that has seen its plans of shipping wind energy across the border become mired in landowner disputes. Alberta-based Enbridge Inc.’s announcement came the same day the company announced a significant settlement with a leader of the opposition. Enbridge’s plans to purchase Tonbridge Power Inc. – whose main business involves the Montana-Alberta Tie Line power transmission project – in a deal . . .
MATL facing issues on several fronts
The controversial MATL transmission line continues to generate news, running the gambit from table talk to a Montana Supreme Court decision. The issues stem mostly from placement of the 500-foot transmission line corridor, a process that involved the state, the public and the company through the Major Facilities Siting Act process, but the project’s complexity has created an expanded list of concerns. Chris Stephens, who has advocated for landowner rights since the MATL project was started, and whose brother, Robert, . . .
Power line slowed by cash crunch; Montana link faces $5.8M shortfall
Lack of funds has slowed action on the proposed 300-megawatt Alberta Montana Tie Line transmission line, the company behind the province’s first intertie with the U.S. said. Costs have escalated on the proposed $213 million US merchant power line, which would flow electricity from wind farms in each jurisdiction to their respective power grids, said Tonbridge Power Inc. Regulatory delays, a contentious court decision, landowner and contractor disputes have increased costs by about $25 million US on the Lethbridge to . . .
Contract dispute halts transmission line work
The construction of a cross-border transmission line between Canada and the United States has been halted pending the resolution of a dispute between Montana Alberta Tie Ltd and its contractor. “The EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) has a specific section related to permitted change orders, where the actual costs related to design changes, lack of access to land, inclement weather days in excess of twenty, changes in law, and other elements outside the control of RMC provide a basis . . .
Heritage Wind Farm approved
Alberta regulators have approved the 291-megawatt Heritage Wind Farm power plant, a renewable project outside of Pincher Creek. The Alberta Utilities Commission gave the green light to the project which will include 97 Vesta V90 turbines atop 80-metre tall towers straddling two townships along Alberta’s premier wind corridor. Privately held Heritage Wind Farm Development Inc., headed by Allan Kettles, is developing the project, which originally was proposed by Benign Energy Canada Inc. in 2006. The approval, June 2, was a . . .
Leaks raise questions over power projects
New questions are surfacing over the Stelmach government’s plans for $14 billion in power line projects, as newly released U.S. diplomatic cables reveal the province and American officials have been eyeing additional Alberta electricity exports but that more transmission capacity is necessary. Premier Ed Stelmach and his ministers have maintained the new power lines are necessary to keep the lights on in Alberta and ensure reliable flow of electricity on a system that hasn’t seen any major upgrades in more . . .
Renewable energy still too expensive, says report
Despite high oil prices, fossil fuels will continue to trump renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power without massive government subsidies, a new investment bank says. A report by Calgary-based AltaCorp Capital says the “economic realities” of oil and natural gas mean that the world will remain largely dependent on non-renewable energy sources for the foreseeable future. Author John Mawdsley said he didn’t set out to make a case for oil and gas, but found that hydrocarbon fuels . . .
MATL files brief in appeal
A Canadian company building a high voltage for-profit power line through Teton County has fired the first salvo to reverse a judge’s order stating that the private company has no eminent domain authority. MATL L.L.P. filed an appeal in the Montana Supreme Court on March 7 of 9th Judicial District Judge Laurie McKinnon’s order last December dismissing the company’s condemnation lawsuit against Larry Salois, guardian of his disabled mother who owns property in Glacier County. MATL L.L.P., standing for “Montana . . .
Greengate wind farm approved
Greengate Power Corp. has been given the regulatory green light on what could be Canada’s largest wind farm, the privately-owned company said Thursday. The Calgary-based company expects to start building the Blackspring Ridge I project in 2012, with an in-service date of 2013. Located near the village of Carmangay, about 30 kilometres north of Lethbridge, the project will add 300 megawatts of power to the provincial grid, said CEO Dan Balaban. “We are very pleased to have received AUC approval . . .
Wishing won’t make wind energy viable
Over the course of the last year, there has been a change to the landscape along Hwy 21 southeast of Red Deer as a windswept ridgeline has become home to a new type of farm in the region — a windmill farm. Within a year or so, another larger one will sprout on the windy prairie east of Stettler. Armed with tremendous amounts of taxpayers’ cash, utility giants are looking to wind power to bolster their bottom line, and our . . .
