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Wind, solar proponents have high hopes for Alberta renewable energy framework

March 5, 2014 By Admin

Policy promised in throne speech

By Amanda Stephenson, Calgary Herald

March 4, 2014

CALGARY – The solar and wind industries could be about to take off, proponents say, if a long-awaited renewable energy framework becomes a reality in Alberta.

The need for a comprehensive plan governing wind, solar, and geothermal electricity generation in Alberta has been discussed for years in Alberta. As far back as 2007, a group called the Clean Air Strategic Alliance — made up of representatives selected by government, industry, and the non-profit sector — recommended drafting such a framework with the goal of increasing Alberta’s supply of and demand for renewable and alternative electricity sources.

For the most part, the government has remained tight-lipped about its plans. But Monday’s throne speech contained a line promising the introduction of “an alternative and renewable energy framework that empowers consumers to exercise choice within the market-based electricity system.”

That’s significant, said Robert Hornung, president of the Canadian Wind Energy Association. He said Alberta was at one time a leader in Canada on the renewable energy front, thanks to its ideal conditions for wind generation. But other provinces such as Quebec and Ontario have leaped ahead, in part because they have renewable energy policies that are helping to grow the sector.

“We’ve seen more and more of that investment flow to other jurisdictions,” Hornung said. “We will need to see some changes, because if the status quo is maintained, Alberta will have a hard time competing for this investment going forward.”

The challenge for the Alberta government is finding a way to support renewables within Alberta’s deregulated, free-market electricity system.

Ben Thibault, director of the Pembina Institute’s electricity program, said the government is unlikely to replicate Ontario’s feed-in tariff system, which assures wind farm developers of a fixed price for their electricity. But he said he would like to see a “renewable portfolio” or “clean electricity” standard, which would require retailers to either source a certain proportion of their electricity from renewable sources or ensure their portfolio falls below a maximum emissions intensity standard.

“This is a policy that’s been successful in a number of U.S. states,” Thibault said. “Over 30 states now have implemented a policy like this, including in free market systems like Texas, which has increased its wind energy substantially through this type of policy.”

Calgary-based renewable energy development company BluEarth Renewables currently has two Alberta wind projects in the works. Vice-president of market development Marlo Raynolds said the company would like to have more projects in its home province, but said the uncertainty around wind power pricing in Alberta scares away investment.

Requiring retailers to source a certain amount of electricity from renewable producers would be one way to get around that problem, he said.

“The renewable energy resource here, both solar and wind, is incredible — and it’s largely untapped,” Raynolds said. “We have a growing demand for electricity in this province, and it would be really nice to ensure that a portion of that portfolio, and a meaningful portion, is from renewable energy.”

An Alberta Energy presentation at the National Renewable Energy Forum last spring showed coal and natural gas currently account for 89 per cent of Alberta’s electricity, while wind accounts for four per cent, followed by hydro and biofuels and three per cent each. The final one per cent is categorized as “other.”

Electricity provider Enmax is supportive of all types of generation, said spokesperson Doris Kaufmann Woodcock, adding there is a place for renewables within Alberta’s current system. However, she said the company was pleased to see the government use the words “market-based” when it referenced the issue in the throne speech.

“(These words) signal to us that consumers will continue to have the choice to pay the costs of alternate and renewable electricity, rather than receive any significant level of government subsidy or see a change in our electricity market design to treat alternate and renewable electricity differently than other types of power generation,” she said in an e-mail.

[email protected]

Filed Under: News

RCMP probe urged into power plant scandal

March 5, 2014 By Admin

By Darcy Henton, Calgary Herald

March 4, 2014

EDMONTON — An Alberta Opposition MLA has called for an RCMP investigation into the alleged manipulation of the deregulated electricity market by the province’s largest power plant owner while another questioned the PC government about its “new Wild West approach” to regulating the market.

Wildrose electricity critic Joe Anglin told the Alberta legislature Tuesday police should investigate the strategy allegedly employed by TransAlta Corp. to shut down its generating plants during periods of peak demand to drive up power prices in 2010 and 2011.

He questioned why Alberta’s electricity watchdog, the Market Surveillance Administrator, was conducting the probe into the allegations.

“Given that the MSA allegations are, in effect, allegations of fraud, theft, destruction of evidence — all of which are criminal in nature — will this government ask the RCMP to investigate and file criminal charges as necessary and hold these companies and individuals to account?” he asked the Redford government during the first question period of the spring session.

TransAlta has denied the allegations and the matter will be reviewed by the Alberta Utilities Commission.

Donna Kennedy-Glans, associate minister of electricity, said RCMP will decide what they do and pointed out the allegations are now before the AUC, the quasi-judicial body that oversees Canada’s only fully-deregulated electricity market.

“We cannot prejudice the outcome of this case,” she said.

But Liberal Calgary-Buffalo MLA Kent Hehr questioned whether the utility will be found in violation of market regulations since the rules currently allow withholding electricity from the market to increase profits.

“Was the MSA acting on government instructions when it adopted the new Wild West approach to market surveillance?” he asked.

“When the MSA was operating its own policy and procedures, which clearly said that economic withholding is a good thing for these companies to do, why didn’t the government step in and say: ‘This is ridiculous to allow corporations to be gouging Albertans on their power bill?’ ”

Kennedy-Glans said if the government interfered every time there was an allegation about corporate activity, “we’d be awfully busy.”

The issue was raised initially in the legislature by PC Stony Plain MLA Ken Lemke, who said his constituents want to know “What the heck is going on?”

“If the AUC finds that the market manipulation was happening, how is that going to help consumers who have overpaid for electricity?” he asked.

Kennedy-Glans said protecting consumers is a priority for her government.

“If market manipulation did happen, the government has given the AUC the authority to levy a penalty of up to $1 million a day, and as well they can claw back any economic benefits the AUC determines resulted from that behaviour,” she said.

“If the AUC levies a fine, this government will ensure that those funds are directed to consumers.”

TransAlta spokeswoman Stacey Hatcher said the utility has spent three years trying to resolve a dispute with the MSA about the market guidelines and the retroactive application of the rules and the place to do it is in front of the market regulator.

“The right arena and the right authority is the AUC,” Hatcher said in an email Tuesday.

TransAlta and other energy producers followed the guidelines set by the MSA for taking units off-line, Hatcher said.

The company and parties named in the investigation have filed complaints with the AUC over the watchdog agency’s conduct in investigating the matter.

“We’ve asked the AUC for a hearing to find out why the rules were not clear, why the rules changed, and why new rules are being applied retroactively, and selectively to TransAlta,” she said.

[email protected]

Original source article: RCMP probe urged into power plant scandal

Filed Under: News

Labour Coalition: Alison Redford awarded ‘Political Oscar’ for promise-breaking performance

March 4, 2014 By Admin

Sunday, 02 March 2014

EDMONTON – Alberta Premier Alison Redford was named the winner of a “Political Academy Award” this afternoon for her remarkable promise-breaking performance persuading so many Albertans she would fight to protect their right to a secure retirement.

“When Ms. Redford said she wanted Alberta seniors to be able to live their lives with dignity and respect, who could have imagined she would attack the modest pensions of her own government’s employees,” asked Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan, speaking on behalf of the Labour Coalition on Pensions.

The mock “Oscar” award ceremony in Churchill Square during which Premier Redford was also nominated for convincing Albertans she would protect their public health care system and for convincing them she would protect their public education system may have been light-hearted, but it had a serious point.

“The point was that the Progressive Conservative government is breaking promises to many groups of Albertans and attacking public services that Albertans value,” McGowan said. “What incredible acting skill it took for them to get elected!”

The judges picked the premier’s broken pension promise because her government is consistently doing the opposite of what it claims to be trying to achieve.

It says its policy on public sector pensions is designed to make the plans sustainable, while the report of the Auditor General of Alberta says it in fact puts the survival of the plans at risk
It says it wants to encourage inter-generational fairness while it in fact it intends to treat younger workers much worse in future
It says it wants to encourage recruitment and retention of the best public employees in government and health care, while it is in fact likely to prompt a serious skill shortage in those fields as workers rush to depart

Premier Redford did not attend the ceremony. Her award was accepted on her behalf of the thousands of Albertans who voted for her party thinking she would deal fairly with public employees, all Albertans and our public services.

-30-

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]

Filed Under: Bulletin

TransAlta officials approved plant shutdowns, documents show

March 2, 2014 By Admin

By Darcy Henton, Calgary Herald March 1, 2014

EDMONTON — Top executives at TransAlta approved the strategy of shutting down power plants temporarily to drive up electricity prices for millions of dollars in profits — and company officials congratulated each other about how well it was working, according to documents filed with the provincial electricity regulator.

Three TransAlta vice-presidents, including the vice-president of regulatory and legal affairs, approved a portfolio bidding strategy in November 2010 to stage discretionary plant outages during peak periods to drive up the price of electricity, the market watchdog alleges in documents filed to the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) this week.

None of the allegations have been proven and TransAlta denies any wrongdoing. The matter has yet to be heard and adjudicated by the AUC.

“We’re looking forward to a full and fair hearing from the AUC,” TransAlta spokeswoman Stacey Hatcher told the Herald this week, saying plant shutdowns were all for maintenance, operations or safety reasons.

“We do stand behind our employees and we do stand behind our conduct and we will defend it.”

Alberta’s Market Surveillance Administrator (MSA) alleges that four times in 2010 and 2011, TransAlta deliberately shut down major coal-fired generators, usually at the supper hour — the super peak — on extremely cold winter days, to enhance their profits through trades and sales of electricity from other plants they controlled.

Shutdowns of three TransAlta plants in December 2010 garnered a $6.69-million profit alone — even taking into account penalties TransAlta had to pay the utilities that owned the rights to the power it produced.

When three plants went down Dec. 14, 2010, the electricity price spiked to $992.25, just short of the maximum.

TransAlta officials congratulated each other in e-mails when the numbers began rolling in.

One of the authors of the strategy, Nathan Kaiser, applauded the “great work” by plant managers on their co-ordinated effort in taking the plants down at the same time.

“All three of these outages were discretionary and all three plant managers worked with us on the timing,” Kaiser stated in an e-mail, quoted in the MSA documents.

“It means juggling schedules and moving into position faster than they might have otherwise, but we received full support through the process. Great Work!”

A followup memo noted that the daily price more than tripled after the units were taken off-line.

The next TransAlta discretionary shutdown in February 2011 triggered an energy emergency alert in which the Alberta Electricity System Operator had to call on all other available generators to supply electricity to the grid to meet the demand to avoid rolling blackouts.

“The MSA concludes that TransAlta disrupted or impaired the safety or reliability of the interconnected system by scheduling a discretionary outage during a time frame where supply was already low and demand was high,” say the documents filed with the commission.

The outage caused the daily price to reach an average of $618 per megawatt-hour — the second-most expensive day for power consumers in Alberta history.

Documents allege the shutdown garnered TransAlta nearly $8.5 million over just three days.

When TransAlta took its plants and their committed power off-line, it left their competitors scrambling to purchase electricity from other sources at a price often higher than what they were selling it to consumers, the documents say.

The documents refer to emails from employees about what they should tell Enmax, which owned the rights to the power at one shutdown plant, “to get them off our back.”

TransAlta contends in its written response to the watchdog’s allegations that its actions were not prohibited under the market rules.

It claims the MSA initially portrayed TransAlta’s conduct as acceptable, then later called it “completely offside.”

“This regulatory about-face has created an untenable position for TransAlta and other stakeholders and has created a circumstance best described as a regulatory minefield that TransAlta has been led into,” TransAlta states.

It charges the MSA should have been providing guidance rather than filing charges with the AUC.

Associate minister of electricity Donna Kennedy-Glans said she has faith in both the MSA and AUC to police and regulate Canada’s only deregulated electricity market.

“We can’t prejudge the outcome of this case. It’s the AUC’s responsibility to listen to these arguments,” she said.

“I respect their qualifications to do that. The AUC will have to deliver the answers to those questions. They are important questions that need clarity.”

Wildrose critic Joe Anglin said he doesn’t accept the argument that shutting down power plants during peak demand periods to drive up prices for bigger profits is allowable conduct in the market.

“It is wrong under any rules,” he said. “I’m saying it is not right to gouge Albertans — and they know it’s wrong.”

NDP Leader Brian Mason said he has little faith in the MSA investigation or the AUC’s ability to adjudicate the matter.

“They are basically trying to manage a system that’s virtually unmanageable,” Mason said.

Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark said it appears the provincial government needs to give the MSA more teeth, and the ability to levy larger fines when necessary.

“If we’re going to have a deregulated system, we absolutely have to have a very stringent regulator with the willingness to enforce those rules,” Clark said.

In Calgary, Kaiser’s lawyer Steven Leitl questioned the motive behind the MSA actions.

“They are focusing on a very narrow time frame of alleged conduct that occurred in 2010 and very early in 2011,” he said Friday.

“They are not alleging any improper conduct by anybody since that time so this has nothing to do with correcting any behaviour that’s ongoing today. This is an isolated incident in the past.”

He denied his client did anything wrong and said he will contest the MSA’s authority to investigate him.

The MSA launched an investigation after receiving a complaint on Feb. 25, 2011, from an unnamed market participant and began asking TransAlta for its records two weeks later.

However, it didn’t get its hands on many key documents, including the shutdown strategy memo until two years later. It finally received the Alberta Portfolio Bidding Business Case Executive Summary on July 19, 2013.

Computer hard drives of key players, including Kaiser and head trader Scott Connelly, were either deleted or lost, according to MSA’s filed documents.

TransAlta refused to release another 850 documents, which it claimed are privileged, and a court has been asked to rule on whether they have to be turned over.

— With files from Chris Varcoe, Calgary Herald

[email protected]

Filed Under: News

Transmission fees will hit city power rates

February 27, 2014 By Admin

By Mabell, Dave on January 14, 2014.

Dave Mabell

LETHBRIDGE HERALD

[email protected]

Think you’re paying too much for electricity now? Things are only going to get worse, warns Mayor Chris Spearman.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg ” he told city council members Monday, after a detailed briefing from the city’s electrical utility manager.

Alberta’s electrical transmission costs have doubled over the last five years, manager Otto Lenz pointed out.

“And transmission charges could double again in the next five years,” he predicted.

With Lethbridge power bills expected to increase as much as 6.3 per cent per year, Lenz told council three of the city’s largest power users are already hoping to build their own power stations and go “off grid.” The impact, at least in the short term, would be to download more costs on Lethbridge homeowners and small businesses.

The soaring costs of power transmission, he said, are a result of the Conservative government’s decision to build two high-voltage transmission lines in central Alberta. They’ll cost $2 billion, he said, and the government has ruled ordinary Albertans should pay for their construction instead of the companies’ investors.

The two north-south lines’ capacity will be far in excess of need, Lenz said. They’ll be of little benefit to Lethbridge-area customers.

“It’s like running a Via Rail train between Coaldale and Lethbridge, for one passenger.”

Lethbridge officials have often made that point during presentations to the government-appointed energy regulators, he said.

“It’s fallen on deaf ears.”

Responding to council members’ questions, Lenz said while large, power-hungry companies are allowed to generate their own power, the city’s electrical utility is not. Yet Calgary and Edmonton are permitted to own large electric utilities which are allowed to generate.

Medicine Hat has to abide by almost none of the regulations that hamstring Lethbridge, he added. But Lethbridge, as a “wire services provider,” is required to provide service to local customers who do not want to sign a contract with Enmax or one of its retail competitors.

While it’s intended to operate on a break-even basis, he said the utility has lost as much as $2.8 million on those customers one year – when power prices spiked after a train derailed into Lake Wabamun, site of a major power plant west of Edmonton.

Year-end results for 2013 were a loss of about $1.5 million, he said, due to unexpected hikes in transmission charges set by the Alberta Electrical System Operator. The utility transferred $9.7 million to the city’s coffers, however, as a return on the city’s investment in electrical facilities.

In the power distribution tariff proposed for 2014, Lenz said the utility could resume a break-even course despite slight reductions to access fees for distribution.

A typical homeowner using 650 kilowatt-hours could see the bill rise from $112.66 to $117.64 per month, he estimated. A large retailer using about 35,000 kilovolts would see last year’s $5,472 bill increase to $5,841 per month.

The city recently created a higher-impact residential rate, Lenz said, in response to some owners’ decisions to use heat pumps for geothermal heating, or plug-in electric cars. Their monthly bills could advance to $466 for 3,500 kilowatt hours, up from $446 last year.

Filed Under: News

Chamber adds voice to drilling opposition

February 27, 2014 By Admin

By Mabell, Dave on February 27, 2014.

Dave Mabell

LETHBRIDGE HERALD

[email protected]

There’s new opposition to a Calgary company’s plans to drill for oil in Lethbridge. The Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce has taken a stand against Goldenkey Oil’s bid to drill exploratory wells near new housing developments on the city’s westside.

In a statement released Wednesday the business organization is calling on the Conservative government to order a moratorium on all resource drilling inside urban centres.

If the government allows Goldenkey to proceed, it warns, it will have “a profound negative economic impact on the community as a whole.”

“Resource development in urban areas will result in significant negative economic and community impact,” the chamber’s board of directors warns.

The safety setbacks required in drilling zones will leave land in those areas “sterilized for urbanization purposes,” it adds.

The declaration of opposition, released by chamber president Bruce Galts, came after debate at the organization’s board of directors meeting. It also cited health and safety concerns, hazardous products trucking and adverse impacts on real estate values in its detailed statement.

“The health and safety of people in neighbouring areas of drilling activity are a top consideration of the chamber and the community,” it says. “Fact-based review of the potential risks and mitigating measures must be up for public review when drilling within a city boundary.”

Disruption of the city’s development plans and real estate market are key considerations as well, it suggests. When wells are drilled, the chamber says land will be needed for storage facilities, pipelines and safety setbacks.

“This will significantly impact the planning of future roads, homes, schools and commercial property,” it points out.

“The financial impacts to landowners and the city will be significant and should be one of the primary considerations in the approval process.”

Large areas of west Lethbridge could be isolated by the oil industry, the chamber says. Longterm plans for such projects as the Chinook Trail and other arterial roadways would also be disrupted, along with plans for new watermains, storm and sanitary sewer systems.

If Goldenkey’s first three exploratory wells are deemed successful, chamber members say, the company will likely apply for permits to drill more. That could leave large areas of west Lethbridge, the city’s fastest-growing area, “unavailable for urbanization.”

If any drilling plans are approved, the organization says a disaster response plan must be ready before any work begins. The company and the city should also have an agreement on access routes and their costs of maintenance, it adds.

City council, the real estate industry and the city’s public and Catholic school boards have also voiced strong opposition to the Goldenkey proposals.

Filed Under: News

TransAlta Corp. accused of manipulating electricity market

February 27, 2014 By Admin

Calgary company denies allegations

By Darcy Henton, Calgary Herald February 26, 2014

EDMONTON — Alberta’s electricity market watchdog has accused TransAlta Corp. of manipulating the market by shutting down its power plants at peak times to drive up prices.

The Market Surveillance Administrator (MSA) filed the accusations before the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) on Monday, claiming TransAlta “undermined the integrity of the Alberta wholesale electric energy market by engaging in anti-competitive conduct.”

It claims that on four occasions in 2010 and 2011, TransAlta shut down power plants during hours of high demand “for the purpose of increasing the pool price,” according to the documents filed with the commission.

“TransAlta’s strategy created market volatility, increased forward prices and consequently caused some competitors to become less competitive,” the documents state. “Other purchasers of electric energy in the power pool, such a residential, retailers or industrial loads would also have been affected.”

If the accusations are upheld, it could result in the largest fine ever in Canada’s only fully-deregulated electricity market. The commission has the authority to adjudicate the case and levy fines of up to $1 million per day and to require the offending utility to reimburse other market participants and consumers for their losses.

TransAlta has denied the allegations and filed a complaint against the MSA, alleging the watchdog failed to act fairly and responsibly in the matter. It called the MSA investigation “haphazard and contradictory,” saying the watchdog initially portrayed the conduct as “onside” before eventually calling it “completely offside.”

“The MSA failed to realize that as a market watchdog, it has a duty to be fair and forthright,” TransAlta states in a complaint it sought unsuccessfully to keep confidential.

TransAlta spokeswoman Stacey Hatcher said the utility is asking the AUC to look at all the facts and make a determination.

“TransAlta is very firm and very committed that we followed all the appropriate protocols,” she said. “We believe there has been some lack of clarity in the marketplace.”

Hatcher said the plant shutdowns were all for maintenance, operations or safety reasons.

“We’re looking forward to a full and fair hearing from the AUC,” she said. “We do stand behind our employees and we do stand behind our conduct and we will defend it.”

The Calgary-based power producer and transmission company, was previously fined $370,000 for breaking market rules in November 2010 by restricting electricity imports 31 times over eight days to create an artificial shortage and increase power prices. The fine, which stemmed from a negotiated settlement, drew protests from critics who said a $5-million penalty would be more appropriate.

AUC spokesman Jim Law said the commission hasn’t yet decided whether to hear the complaints separately or together, and no date has been set, but he said the process will be open and transparent.

Wildrose critic Joe Anglin said similar allegations in other jurisdictions would be heard in court — not in front of a quasi-judicial tribunal — and the consequences, if there are convictions, would be more severe than paying fines.

“That’s what is missing in the policing of our electricity system,” he said.

Anglin said the utility’s actions, if confirmed by the AUC, would have affected many consumers.

“This really hurts the average Albertan: senior citizens, people on fixed incomes, people with low incomes. It’s a crushing blow to businesses that have high, high energy costs, that don’t even qualify for fixed contracts.”

He said the ministers responsible for the electricity system keep saying the system is functioning well, but the allegations suggest “the system is not only broken, but has been broken for awhile.”

“It’s a complete disaster,” Anglin said. “They’ve got to get their heads out of the sand.”

[email protected]

Filed Under: News

Blackie Area 138 kV Line Re-configuration

February 25, 2014 By Admin

Project overview

AltaLink is currently completing public consultation for this project and wants your input.

The Blackie Area 138 kV Line Re-configuration is part of an area transmission development called the Southern Alberta Transmission Reinforcement (SATR). This reinforcement includes new transmission lines and upgrades to the electric system in southern Alberta. These projects will connect new wind-generated power to Alberta’s electric system and strengthen the transmission system in the area.

Project details

The proposed project includes:

removing approximately 24 kilometres of existing single circuit, H-frame 138 kV transmission line and replacing it with a new double circuit, single pole 138 kV transmission line between the Blackie Substation and the Queenstown Substation
upgrades to the existing Blackie and Queenstown substations to accommodate new connections for the proposed transmission line

Anticipated project schedule

Although we attempt to follow the anticipated project schedule it is subject to change. We will continue to provide you with updated schedule information as the project progresses.

Project schedule
October 2013 to January 2014	Notify and consult on proposed route options
February 2014	File application with the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC)
August 2014	Start construction, if project is approved
July 2015	Complete construction

Filed Under: Bulletin

City council information session on urban drilling draws large crowd

February 25, 2014 By Admin

February 24, 201411:33 pm

LETHBRIDGE – After months of inquiries and controversy, Lethbridge residents were given answers to some of their questions surrounding oil and gas development within municipal limits.

Lethbridge City Council hosted a Community Issues Committee at the Yates Memorial Theatre Monday night with a number of expert panelists.

The meeting comes after months of public outcry over Calgary-based GoldenKey Oil’s potential plans to drill three exploratory wells on the west side.

Mayor Chris Spearman says while council is opposed to the proposed project, the evening was about learning more on urban drilling in general.

“Right now it’s GoldenKey Oil but it might be somebody else next time,” he says.

Among the panelists at the meeting was a representative with the Alberta Energy Regulator, the sole agency that either approves or denies such energy projects in Alberta.

A spokesperson with the AER, Ryan Bartlett, says the organization looks at every aspect of public safety when considering at a proposal.

“We make sure if any approval is done it’s only if the resource can be developed in a way that will protect the environment, public and resource itself,” he adds.

Speaking to drilling processes, a professor of geophysics from the University of Alberta told the large crowd it’s hard to analyze the risks.

“There have been hydraulic fracturing going on for 60 to 70 years and usually it’s not that much of a problem. The issues have become now the usage of the water, could you induced seismicity, but there’s a lot we still don’t know and need to study.” Dr. Doug Schmitt explains.

GoldenKey oil is yet to officially submit an application to the AER.

Spearman says council has invited the company to meet with them, and will likely use the information they garnered at the meeting with plans moving forward.

“This is an issue that we’ve already heard about twice in Calgary…so now the third incident is happening in Lethbridge and it’s an issue that’s not going away,” he adds.

Filed Under: News

Urban Drilling in Alberta: What are the Political Perspectives?

February 18, 2014 By Admin

Thu Feb 20, 2014 University of Lethbridge Ballroom By admin

No Drilling Lethbridge Event: Urban Drilling in Alberta: What are the Political Perspectives? A panel discussion involving MLAs from all parties represented in the Legislature and their view on the proposed drilling in Lethbridge.

The forum will be held on February 20th, 2014, 7 pm at the University of Lethbridge Ballroom.

No Drilling Lethbridge is hosting an all party forum to discuss the issue of drilling for oil and gas within the municipal boundaries of the City of Lethbridge on February 20th, 2014, at 7pm in the University of Lethbridge Ballroom. Kent Hehr, energy critic for the Liberal Party, Jason Hale, energy critic for the Wild Rose Party, Brian Mason, leader and energy critic for the NDP have all confirmed their attendance. The Honourable Diana McQueen, Minister of Energy has been invited.

The issue of drilling in urban areas has come up time and time again in Alberta. The current government promised us a policy on urban drilling back in November 2013 and it is still not here. In the mean time, Albertans are wondering what an urban drilling policy would look like. So, we have invited the Minister of Energy and the energy critics to tell us what their ideas are on an urban drilling policy.

About the Author

We are a small volunteer group of Lethbridge residents working to protect the health and safety of the people in Lethbridge, by being opposed to oil drilling and fracking within OUR city limits. We believe that the risks for Lethbridge greatly outweigh the benefit of acquiring the natural resource. We are not opposed to oil and gas exploration, generally. We are concerned about the negative impacts on OUR city and its residents if oil and gas drilling is allowed inside OUR city limits.

Filed Under: Bulletin