The gusts blowing off Alberta's Rocky Mountains have taken on much greater significance lately. In a province where fossil fuels form the backbone of the economy, a thriving wind energy industry has taken hold. And it shows little sign of letting go.
This is especially true in the region near the town of Pincher Creek, a small town nestled on the edge of the Rocky Mountains near the B.C. border , southwest of Calgary. The community is probably best known in renewable energy circles as home to Canada's largest windfarm.
At about this time last year, the 3,600 residents of Pincher Creek found themselves at the center of an intense political debate. The Pincher Creek and District Economic Development Board (EDB), made up of local businesspeople and volunteers, spent most of 1996 lobbying the Alberta government to give wind energy and other renewables equal footing with conventional generation systems. Since "green energy," as it is known, is generally more expensive than conventional generation, they asked Alberta Premier Ralph Klein to help add wind energy to the province's grid. Their plan called for the installation of a large wind turbine manufacturing facility and windpower plant in and around the Pincher Creek area. Although promoting the local economy was certainly one motivating factor, southwestern Alberta does have some of the strongest and most consistent winds in the country, and as such is a perfect location for such a facility
By their own estimates, the project would have created hundreds, even thousands of jobs, offset over 2.5 million tons of CO2 emissions annually, and generate roughly 25 MW annually. More importantly, since it would be funded by private ventures, the Klein government would not have to pay for it.
Their chances seemed good. In July, 1996, Klein set up a task force to examine the wind industry's potential to supply energy to Alberta. Their goal was to see if wind energy could work alongside mainstream generation. EDB's hopes were quickly dashed. Earlier this year, Klein announced that his government was not giving renewable energy any special consideration.
Officials at the Alberta Department of Energy told Electricity Today that there is little the government could, or should, do to assist wind generation. Under Alberta's new electricity industry structure, the onus is on the consumer to make the choice. If, as the CWEA and the EDB say, consumers are really willing to pay a premium for "green power," then it is fully within their rights to do so. They will just have to vote with their dollars; old-fashioned demand and supply.
Jason Edworthy is executive director of Vision Quest Windelectric Inc. and president of Nor'wester Energy Systems Ltd, both private companies offering green energy products. Vision Quest recently installed two wind generators near Pincher Creek to supply power to Environment Canada and Natural Resources buildings. Edworthy said the biggest challenge for green energy companies is finding and targeting their customers, as not everyone is familiar with green power, or the costs involved. But he thinks it is a challenge they can meet.
"It's really very simple. Know your resources and sites, and find your customers . . . It is just like any other business; know your own market," he said.
Sharon Brown, former member of the EDB said she and her colleagues had a hard time seeing how Albertans can take advantage of alternative energy under a system that naturally favors carbon-based fuel. "What we are saying is that there has to be some way to create a level playing field for other generation sources," she said.
Support among Canadians regarding renewable energy, especially wind and solar, seems to be growing. According to figures from the Canadian Wind Energy Association a national organization representing private companies, utilities and other institutions with an interest in wind energy, 70 per cent of Canadians believe that wind generated electricity should be a priority for electric utilities. Nearly three-quarters said they would be willing to pay extra for it.
Numbers in Alberta tell the same story. In a recent Angus Reid poll, seventy-two per cent of Albertans said they would be interested in signing up for some sort of "green power" program, and almost half said they would pay up to five per cent more to get it.
One reason why renewables has become such a hot issue in Alberta has to do with the way power is generated in that province. Both Alberta Power and TransAlta, the province's largest electricity generators, derive almost all of their capacity from coal-fired plants. This also makes TransAlta - and the province of Alberta - one of the leading contributor of CO2 emissions in Canada. It is CO2 gases that contribute to the Greenhouse Effect.
Pollution is not the only objection to coal dependency. Up to now, reducing gases has been strictly a voluntary measure in Canada. This may soon change. As the world's nations become increasingly concerned about their greenhouse emissions, they are looking at carbon reduction measures that have teeth. Chief among these tactics is the so-called "carbon-tax," a set fee for every ton of CO2 produced. The spectre of a carbon tax is making Alberta's consumers and business community very nervous.
And this has served to focus even greater attention on the upcoming Kyoto World Conference on reducing CO2 emissions, scheduled to take place in Japan this December. If the idea of a Canadian carbon tax is going to take root anywhere, it will be there. So far, Prime Minister Chretien has remained silent on the issue. But Roy Johnson, a wind-lobbyist and former member of the EDB, said his silence is ominous.
"Chretien (has been) quoted as saying we don't use much coal to generate electricity. Well, on the whole, Canada does not, but Alberta uses 92 per cent coal . . . He's really just setting up Alberta. He is saying to the rest of Canada, 'we don't need to worry about it, about the carbon tax when if or when it comes.' He's just setting us up so we can pay the brunt of it."
Johnson said Klein and the other powers that be have not looked at the big picture. Klein has talked gloomily about losing jobs in the oil and gas sector. A potential carbon tax will do little to alleviate that problem. But promoting wind energy, he said, can easily replace those jobs.
The strategy for now is to continue pressuring the Alberta government while at the same time educating the public about the benefits of green power. Johnson knows this seems like David versus Goliath, but he said wind-energy supporters want to work with, not against, mainstream power generators.
"What we have proposed right from the start," he said, "is a tremendous partnership with the utility industry, with the goal of forming a little niche industry in Alberta." ET