Alberta’s new renewable energy rules lift moratorium but offer ‘little immediate clarity’

Plans for new wind and solar farms in Alberta could soon be moving forward again after changes to the government’s renewables project rules ended a seven-month halt to clean power development in the province.

The revised regulations, first tabled in February, set out no-go zones for energy projects on prime agricultural land and so-called "pristine viewscapes," including a 70,000-square-kilometre stretch between the Rocky Mountains and the city of Calgary. 

With the rules now coming into place, the moratorium is expected to be lifted. However, industry experts cautioned that the first projects seeking approval from the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC), the provincial regulatory body, would be a test case for how the new regulations would be applied.

"This does signal that the government isn't adding additional layers of regulations" for renewables development applications, said Jorden Dye, director of the Business Renewables Centre Canada, a clean energy advocacy body.

"But because they didn't spell out exactly how the standards will be applied until projects start going through AUC hearings, these regulations provide little greater immediate clarity to developers.” 

The Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA), an industry body, was far more critical, calling the new regulations disappointing.

“Alberta needs to provide its competitive electricity market with as much policy certainty and regulatory clarity as possible… and does not provide a clear regulatory standard for the AUC to follow,” said CanREA CEO Vittoria Bellissimo.

“Between regulatory uncertainty, a punitive approach to market restructuring, and real problems getting clean power to market over congested wires, Alberta is undermining an industry crucial for its long-term success."

The new "agriculture first" rules prohibit renewables developers from building on prime farmland, so-called Class 1 and 2 agricultural acreage, unless they can show the projects can coexist with livestock and crops on these lands — similar to new rules introduced in Ontario this fall.

Developers will also now be required to include mandatory reclamation security — money paid to safeguard the environment, public interest and cultural heritage resources — for their projects. 

Kara Westerlund, president of Rural Municipalities of Alberta, in a statement said the revised regulations would underpin a “strategically-planned renewable energy industry.” 

“This has the potential to be an economic driver in rural Alberta for years to come and will ensure that renewable projects will support industry accountability and positive relationships between renewable companies, municipalities, and landowners,” she said. 

Several grandfathered wind and solar projects that were already in development in Alberta when the moratorium was imposed will now be freed up to proceed, Dye noted. 

Alberta was once Canada's fastest-growing renewables market, accounting for more than 92% of Canada’s overall growth in renewable energy and energy-storage capacity. Last year the province added 1,671 megawatts (MW) of wind, 329 MW of solar, and 130 MW of utility-scale battery storage, according to figures from the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA), an industry body. 

That was all paused last February. CanREA calculated the moratorium stalled over 8,000 MW of projects under development in the province, almost half of which would have come online in 2025.

The announcement of the new regulations was "an important step," Dye said. But he emphasized the renewable energy sector would not rebound instantly.

"It is good to see we are moving past this issue, but it will not restore renewables industry confidence in Alberta overnight."

BRC Canada forecasts solar and wind farms will bring in more than $54 million in land tax revenues for Alberta municipalities this year, a 93 per cent leap over 2022.