23 Mar 2017
Lethbridge Herald
THE CANADIAN PRESS — EDMONTON

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says $30 million the federal government is giving to the province for the oil and gas industry is good news.

She says her government will use the money to focus on reclaiming orphan oil wells and getting oilfield workers back to work.

Notley says they have been lobbying Ottawa for months for money to make sure orphan oil wells are safely closed and the land reclaimed.

She says the wells are a huge, longstanding liability for the province and the industry knows there needs to be a plan to deal with this issue.

Notley says details on how this will be done will come out in the next few days.

The Orphan Well Association said last month there were 1,590 orphan wells awaiting abandonment and cleanup in Alberta.

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20 Mar 2017
Lethbridge Herald
J.W. Schnarr
[email protected]

MINISTER SAYS SELECTION OF ONTARIO BUSINESS STEMMED FROM PREVIOUS GOV’T’S LACK OF PLAN

The Wildrose wants Albertans to pay more for their energy, and the Progressive Conservative party wants the province to do nothing when it comes to improving energy efficiency, says Alberta’s environment minister.

Speaking at an event for the announcement of a new 15-kW solar photovoltaic (PV) system and lighting upgrade for the Lethbridge Farm Stewardship Centre on Friday, Shannon Phillips responded to criticism by the opposition regarding the selection of Ontario-based Ecofitt to install energy efficiency upgrades in Alberta homes as part of the Residential No-Charge Energy Savings Program.

“The Wildrose would like to slam the door on any company that would like to do business in Alberta,” Phillips said. “Clearly, they are not welcoming new jobs and investment.”

She said the company selected was chosen out of the competitive tender process and were the lowest-cost bidder.

“Clearly, the WIldrose would like us to pay more for that, but that’s not an approach that our government is going to take.”

She said the company is in the process of hiring 70 people and has leased 10,000 square feet of warehouse space in Calgary.

“It’s a place where the economy can really use a shot in the arm,” she said. “The Wildrose would like to take us to a time when we are not saving money on their electricity bills.” On March 6, the Wildrose Party issued a statement criticizing the program and the decision, calling it a “corporate welfare handout” which has allowed Ecofitt to expand its operations with government money.

“The NDP government is taking billions of dollars from Albertans to spend on pet projects for out-of-province companies and it’s Albertans who are losing out,” Wildrose shadow electricity and renewables minister Don MacIntyre stated in the Wildrose release.

“Albertans would rather have their money stay in their pockets instead of the government taking their money so they offer them ‘free’ installation of power bars and nightlights.”

But Phillips said decisions by previous governments has made hiring out-of-province sometimes necessary.

“The fact of the matter is that Alberta has never had an efficiency strategy,” she said. “So many of these companies are going to be coming from elsewhere, where there is already expertise on energy efficiency.

“Because the previous government did nothing on energy efficiency, we became the last place in North America without these kinds of programs. It will take Alberta a little bit of time to catch up, but, at the end of the day, these kinds of procurement has to be competitive. The people of Alberta must get the best deal possible.

“The Wildrose would like us to pay more, and the Conservatives would prefer we do nothing at all.”

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20 Mar 2017
Lethbridge Herald
Dave Mabell LETHBRIDGE HERALD [email protected]

POLL SUGGESTS JEAN IS PREFERRED CHOICE AS LEADER OF RIGHT

Former federal cabinet minister Jason Kenney dominated the vote in his bid to take over the provincial Tories on Saturday.

But Lethbridge political scientist Faron Ellis says what’s expected to follow — steps to merge the longserving Progressive Conservatives with further-right Wildrose — may prove much more challenging.

And a recent province-wide poll shows Wildrose leader Brian Jean remains Albertans’ first choice as a “unite the right” leader with 26 per cent support versus 17 per cent for Kenney. About 28 per cent said they wanted “someone else,” the Mainstreet Research poll reported, while 29 per cent were undecided.

PC party delegates from Lethbridge and across the province selected Kenney as their next leader Saturday in Calgary. His opponents — Calgary lawyer and businessman Byron Nelson and Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke, a veterinarian — were easily outdistanced in the vote.

Ellis, a political science instructor at Lethbridge College, says Kenney will need a strong mandate to proceed with his plans to dismantle the Progressive Conservatives, Alberta’s ruling party for more than four decades.

His next step was to meet with the PC party’s executive Sunday. Some members are opposed to any merger, Ellis says.

“They’ll want to preserve the old party,” but they’ll soon be replaced.

“There could be a number of them,” he suggests. Some “will likely resign of their own accord.”

Then, Ellis predicts, Kenney will begin making overtures to Jean and his Wildrose colleagues.

“He wants to negotiate terms of the merger.”

There again, Ellis says some members of the Wildrose executive could voice their opposition. They may feel their party is strong enough to defeat the governing New Democrats in 2019 without merging with their weaker rivals. The debate could be heated.

“But as the squabbling goes on, whichever party seems the most obstinate will be the loser in this confrontation.”

Voters aren’t interested in the political battles of the past, Ellis explains.

“They don’t care about the grudges of 20 years ago.” Still, the road to political matrimonial bliss could be bumpy. Ellis says Elections Alberta, a non-partisan public agency, has rules covering the dissolution of political parties, and what happens to their money. Either party could challenge those rules in court.

Once lawyers get involved, things could get complicated. Months could slip by.

Kenney, a former immigration minister in Stephen Harper’s government, has to reach some kind of agreement with the Wildrose leadership between now and this summer, Ellis says. The executive’s recommendation would have to be approved by the party’s grassroots members.

“Realistically, the parties would probably have to vote sometime next fall.”

The PC’s members would also have to be asked to vote for their party’s demise.

Then, if all goes Kenney’s way, the new party would have to create a new organization, name its executive and file papers for legal recognition.

“They’d have a year to get the legal entity together.”

That would allow the new party to start nominating candidates for the 2019 election, Ellis says.

“There’s no time to take a break on this,” he maintains.

While it’s a long process, Ellis predicts a new “unite the right” party will be ready to take on the New Democrats before the next election.

“This thing should be unstoppable,” he believes. “There is so much momentum.”

Follow @DMabellHerald on Twitter

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20 Mar 2017
Lethbridge Herald
Dean Bennett
THE CANADIAN PRESS — CALGARY
NEWLY ELECTED PC LEADER TO MEET WITH BRIAN JEAN OF WILDROSE PARTY TODAY

Alberta Progressive Conservative Leader Jason Kenney says the wheels are in motion on his unite-the-right plan, with the goal of a new party and an elected leader in place a year from now.

Newly-elected leader of the Alberta PC party Jason Kenney answers questions at a news conference in a Calgary hotel Sunday.

“This is not written in stone (but) if there’s any way that we can accelerate that timeline, I’m all ears,” Kenney told reporters Sunday after he met with the Progressive Conservative board of directors.

“I want us to go as quickly as we can … but not jeopardize the unity project by speeding this up unnecessarily.”

On Saturday he won 75 per cent of the vote in a delegated convention to become the new party leader on a platform to dissolve the PCs and merge with the fellow right-centre Wildrose party.

Wildrose leader Brian Jean has already said he is in favour of joining forces if his members approve. Kenney also says any unity move must be approved in a referendum, although he declined Sunday to say what percentage he believes would represent a vote to merge.

The two leaders will meet today in Edmonton.

Kenney says the plan begins with appointing a negotiating team to get a framework deal in place for members of both parties to vote on.

Kenney also says he doesn’t anticipate running for a legislature seat in the near future but will focus on working on a merger plan.

He said while formal talks progress, informal unity can begin right away.

Kenney said he is exploring having the Wildrose and PC caucuses in the legislature work together, and is urging constituency boards of both parties to get to know each other. Party president Katherine O’Neill called the closed-door meeting positive with the board rallying behind Kenney.

“You can tell around the table today that people want to work with our leader,” said O’Neill.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions still, but people want to be at that table helping move us to next steps.”

Kenney, however, told reporters that the party’s executive director, Troy Wason, has resigned.

Under Alberta rules, parties cannot simply vote to merge their organizations and bank accounts. Instead, they must surrender their assets.

The next election is scheduled for the spring of 2019.

Kenney’s win has opened divisions in the PCs. Critics say under Kenney, the party will tack right on social issues and rights of minorities similar to the Wildrose

The NDP, Liberals and Alberta Party all took to social media within hours of Kenney’s win to urge progressive PC supporters to join up.

Kenney also walked back Sunday a promise he made in his victory speech to repeal all legislative and regulatory changes made under Premier Rachel Notley’s NDP, starting with the multibillion-dollar carbon tax.

NDP members and supporters pointed out that repealing everything would mean cutting the minimum wage by a third, raising the small business tax back to three per cent from two, and allowing union and corporate donations to political parties.

Kenney said policy is still to be hashed out by party members, but said he would undo only the “most damaging aspects” of those NDP policies as they relate to the economy.

For example, he said, he wouldn’t repeal the ban on corporate and union political donations.

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19 Mar 2017
Lethbridge Herald
Dean Bennett
THE CANADIAN PRESS — CALGARY

Jason Kenney is the new leader of Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives. Kenney, 48, captured 1,113 of 1,476 votes cast in the party’s first delegated convention since 1985.

Richard Starke, a sitting PC legislature member, was second with 323 votes. Longtime party member Byron Nelson was a distant third, with 40 votes.

“Today, it’s springtime in Alberta,” Kenney proclaimed after the results were revealed.

“This result sends a message to our fellow Albertans who are struggling, to those 200,000 Albertans who are looking for work, we are going to ensure there is a government on your side.”

Kenney will now begin the next phase of his unite-the-right campaign by seeking a deal with the Wildrose party to join forces under a new conservative banner.

Under Alberta rules, political parties cannot merge. Rather, they must fold up shop and surrender their assets before seeking to create a new party.

Wildrose party Leader Brian Jean has said he’s open to meeting with the new PC leader, but has stressed that any new conservative party will be created under a Wildrose legal framework, with the approval of Wildrose members.

Jean congratulated Kenney in a statement Saturday evening.

“Wildrose has its dancing shoes on when it comes to creating a single, principled, consolidated, conservative movement,” he said. “I hope to meet with Jason on Monday and share with him more about the direction I have heard from our members.”

Kenney has stressed unity is necessary to avoid the vote splitting he says led to the majority win by Premier Rachel Notley’s NDP in 2015. Notley’s win brought to an end four decades of PC rule in the province. Kenney attacked the New Democrats in his speech after his win.

“Today is the beginning of the end of this disastrous socialist government,” he said as supporters roared their approval. “You have decided, we have decided, to ensure the defeat of this tax-hiking, job-killing, debt-loving, meanspirited, incompetent NDP government.

“We Albertans are going to unite to take our province back.”

Starke and Nelson ran on promises to follow the wishes of party members who voted just a year ago to not merge with the Wildrose, but instead rebuild the PCs.

Kenney’s critics fear he will abandon the party’s centrist approach on social issues to embrace the social conservatism of the Wildrose.

Delegates booed Starke during his speech earlier Saturday when he warned that a merger with the Wildrose could tar the PCs with the label of intolerance toward women and minorities.

The NDP immediately reached out to progressive voters on Twitter after Kenney’s win.

“Progressives looking for a modern and moderate party? Welcome,” the party said. “Join us.”

For Kenney, unity is a road map with no road. There is no provision in the PC constitution to dissolve itself and the leader is just one vote on the party’s board of directors.

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26 Feb 2017
Lethbridge Herald

LETTERS

Re: “Green incentive program ready by March.”

My goodness, Shannon! How nice of you to help us save month. You plan to spend $648 million over the next five years. That’s over $171 million a year. Money you don’t got. How’s that for saving us money? All that borrowed money wasted to save the planet.

Now, Shannon, and your boss Notley, if you really want to save the planet, don’t shut down our coal-fired plants. Why not grant some of that money to real scientists and engineers to find even better ways to reduce coal-fired emissions. The technology is already proven because those plants hardly produce harmful emissions.

Not every country is blessed with oil and natural gas, so they turn to coal, which is cheap and readily available in most countrys. If not, they will import coal.

Coal is still king. With hundreds of new coal-fired plants being built right now all across the planet, that would create a lot of emissions. Alberta to the rescue, with our new-found scrubbing technology, which we can export to those countries using coal.

We may even make a few bucks, and we would be the darlings of the planet.

George Van Bostelen

Coaldale

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25 Feb 2017
Lethbridge Herald
Dave Mabell
POLLS SHOWS MOST CITY RESIDENTS OPPOSED TO PROVINCIAL LEVY

If you vote NDP, you likely support Alberta’s new carbon levy. If not, you’re probably among more than 64 per cent of Lethbridge citizens who say they’re opposed to the carbon tax and rebate program launched by the government last month.

A new study by the Citizen Society Research Lab at Lethbridge College shows more than 80 per cent of city residents who would vote for the New Democrats favour the climate change initiative, along with 53 per cent who’d vote Liberal provincially.

But just 10 per cent of the city’s Wildrose supporters agree with the program, and 18 per cent of Progressive Conservatives.

“It’s a highly ideologically charged issue, and the numbers show that,” says political scientist Faron Ellis, who supervised the research.

While more than 35 per cent of Lethbridge residents polled said they agreed with the NDP government’s program, more than 64 per cent were against it.

Opposition was highest among seniors, people without post-secondary education and households with an income between $40,000 and $100,000.

By now, Ellis points out, many lowerincome Albertans will have received carbon tax rebate cheques — while all drivers are paying an extra 4.5 cents per litre for their gasoline.

But with gasoline selling for less than $1 a litre once again, he says, who’s going to notice?

“If you don’t notice the tax, that defeats the purpose.”

Ellis points to drastic price hikes during the 1970s energy crisis as an example of the real shock that’s required to change consumers’ habits — to buy smaller cars and reduce needless trips, for example.

While it’s stirred voters’ opposition, Ellis predicts, the new tax is not going to change consumer behaviour. And a year after the tax was announced, opposition remains strong.

When the research lab asked for Lethbridge residents’ views a year ago, it found 67.2 per cent of Lethbridge residents didn’t agree with the plan.

A similar poll taken by researchers at Think HQ in Calgary reported 66.3 per cent of those they polled were opposed.

Since then, Ellis says, the government has spelled out plans to support energy-saving innovation and technology, while offsetting its impact on lower-income families.

But the survey shows 64.3 per cent of Lethbridge residents still reject the initiative.

And few of them hesitated when contacted by students conducting the CSRL survey, Ellis says.

The students were given fact sheets in anticipation that some people would ask for more information.

“People didn’t believe they needed more information.”

Follow @DMabellHerald on Twitter

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February 24, 2017.

Albertans can’t expect relief on their bills soon

J.W. Schnarr

Lethbridge Herald

[email protected]

Albertans can expect a few more years of rising electricity costs during the provincial phase-out of coal-fired electricity in favour of renewables and natural gas.

But those increases will be coming from infrastructure projects greenlit by the previous government, and not the cost of electricity itself.

David Gray, President of Gray Economics, spoke Thursday at the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs on the future of the Alberta electricity market with regards to pricing as the province moves forward with replacing coal-fired electricity generation with renewables and gas.

He said the question most people want to know is if the province will be like Ontario.

“Is it going to be a disaster?” He asked. “My answer is no. It probably won’t be.”

The biggest challenge in Alberta with regards to electricity is the cost of absorbing new transmission lines which were commissioned by the PCs that are now entering service.

“They are a huge multi-billion dollar expenditure that we are having to pay for at the same time demand has dropped – or at least, is not growing the way it did – and when you put those two things together, it actually adds up to a substantial increase to people’s wire charges.

“The wire charges are sometimes actually higher than their energy charges. That’s because our energy charges at the moment are historically low – lower than is really sustainable.”

Gray called the decision to green light massive transmission line upgrades a mistake by the Progressive Conservatives in Alberta.

“They gave carte blanche to $15 billion worth of new transmission lines, where as previously we had $1 billion worth. That’s the biggest thing hitting people’s bills at the moment.”

Albertans can expect continued fallout from that decision for several more years.

Gray said while the opportunities for energy efficiency are getting better all the time, the province really needs to find a use for these line upgrades.

“My suggestion is that we look at a partnership with B.C. and perhaps the federal government to create a much larger interconnection between B.C. and Alberta, and allowing us to produce a lot more wind power than we could just on our own with a goal of being a green energy superpower and selling to California and the western U.S. as they electrify their vehicle fleet.”

He said another energy cost many overlook are franchise fees set by municipal governments. He said it is those local municipalities setting the franchise fee rates who are partly responsible for driving up energy costs.

“Having said that, those fees have been relatively stable and people haven’t been jacking them up,” he said. “But some of them are still quite high.”

Follow @JWSchnarrHerald on Twitter

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Alberta Energy Regulator has no confidence in Calgary oil and gas producer can operate safety

February 16, 2017
The Canadian Press
by Dan Healing

CALGARY — The Alberta Energy Regulator is taking the unusual step of shutting down all Lexin Resources operations, accusing the Calgary-based oil and gas producer of ignoring orders and regulations for months.

Lexin was ordered to shut down its estimated 1,660 sites, including 1,380 wells and 201 pipelines across the province.

“The AER has very little confidence in Lexin’s ability to conduct their operations safely and we’re taking measures to prevent any increase in public safety, environmental or financial risk,” said Mark Taylor, senior vice-president of the regulator’s closure and liability branch.

Lexin officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Taylor said AER field inspectors are paying special attention to 16 sour gas wells Lexin was operating just south of Calgary because of their proximity to the city. He said there is no present danger to the public.

Sour gas contains hydrogen sulphide, a poisonous, corrosive and flammable colourless gas that smells of rotten eggs.

Taylor said the AER doesn’t know how much oil and gas Lexin is producing because the company’s last reliable reports were filed nine months ago.

According to the regulator, Lexin owes more than $1 million in levies to the Orphan Well Association, which reclaims wells left by owners who can’t or won’t clean up depleted sites. The AER said the company also owes more than $70 million in security for its reclamation obligations.

The regulator said it has asked other operators with working interests in Lexin’s licensed operations to secure and shut down those sites. The Orphan Well Association has been asked to shut down the sites where Lexin has no partner.

Association chairman Brad Herald said Alberta’s orphan well total will jump from the current tally of 1,590 awaiting abandonment and cleanup. But it should be a temporary rise of six months or so because productive wells will either be returned to Lexin or sold by the AER to other operators.

Herald said he estimates the cost of caring for the Lexin wells will be somewhat less than $1 million this year.

An AER environmental protection order was also issued to Lexin requiring it to address issues at its Mazeppa sour gas plant 65 kilometres south of Calgary.

The regulator said Lexin only partly complied with an order to shut the plant down last August after it laid off all but six of its staff. The AER said all wells feeding the facility have been shut off.

Andrew Read, a senior analyst for the Pembina Institute, an environmental group, said he applauds the AER’s order but added that it should move more quickly and administer financial penalties.

“I would like to see faster enforcement of breaches of these licence conditions because it does have an impact to, ultimately, what the liability is to the public,” Read said.

Taylor said Lexin asked the AER in January to allow it to designate its sour gas wells as “orphans” because of its poor financial condition but allow it continue to operate its other assets, a suggestion that was rejected.

The AER says most of the Lexin assets were purchased about two years ago from MFC Industrial. MFC had bought the properties from Calgary-based oil and gas company Compton Petroleum in 2012.
News from © Canadian Press Enterprises Inc. 2016

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‘We have not issued an order like this to a company this size,’ AER spokesman says

Tracy Johnson · CBC News
CANADA-ENERGY/

The Alberta Energy Regulator will shut down 1,600 sites, including 1,380 wells owned by Lexin Resources. (Todd Korol/Reuters)

1.6k shares

The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) has suspended the operation of natural gas and crude oil producer Lexin Resources, leaving more than 1,600 well sites, pipeline segments and other facilities to be cleaned up or sold off.

This is the largest suspension order ever by the AER.

Alberta Energy Regulator tries to stem tide of orphan wells

Calgary-based Lexin, which also operated a sour gas plant in southern Alberta, has 1,380 well sites, 201 pipeline licences and 81 facilities. Those have all been turned over to the Orphan Well Association to be suspended and locked up.

“We have not issued an order like this to a company this size,” said Cara Tobin, a spokesperson for the regulator. “We will be working with Lexin and with interested participants and the Orphan Well Association to shut in and secure the sites.”
Lexin unable to maintain sour gas wells

In making the suspension, the AER said Lexin failed to comply with orders made by the regulator to address hydrocarbon spills at its sour gas facility, to close and abandon wells, to pay its administration fees or its security deposit for well reclamation.

As well, in a letter to the AER dated Jan. 31, Lexin advised the regulator it was unable to provide proper health and safety overview and measures for its sour wells after Feb. 15.

In recent months, alarms were raised about Lexin’s sour gas wells and facilities in the province. Sour gas contains hydrogen sulphide and is toxic if released into the atmosphere.

Allan MacRae — a professional engineer who used to be responsible for the High River sour gas plant under a previous owner — said the company wasn’t injecting anti-corrosive elements into its pipelines.

He informed the AER of his concerns and the regulator told the company in August to suspend operations at the plant.

MacRae said now that the plant is shut down, it should remain so. “This is a very severe condemnation of the company,” said MacRae. “You don’t see these very often.”
Orphan Well Association workload to jump

The AER will now work with the Orphan Well Association and the company to determine what is to be done with the remaining well sites and facilities.

“What we’re doing now is to shut in and secure the sites and to make sure it’s left in a safe state,” said Tobin.

The Orphan Well Association currently has a list of nearly 1,600 wells that need to be plugged and reclaimed and a further 700 that are under reclamation. The suspension order of Lexin could potentially double the association’s workload.

Corrections

A previous version of this story stated wells operated by Lexin had not been maintained. CBC News has learned the wells were in fact maintained before and after the plant was shut down in the summer.
Feb 15, 2017 9:58 PM MT

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