It says that policy changes to the transmission network have forced the company to heavily curtail the output of its major wind turbine project in southeast Alberta \u2014 and adds that a looming overhaul of transmission rules stands to harm that and other renewable projects even more.<\/p>\n
The company may pursue \u201clegal recourse\u201d if negotiations and lobbying efforts fail to modify the government\u2019s system reforms, the Feb. 26 company management discussion report states.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe company believes the changes in policy, and resulting uncertainty for large infrastructure investment, is detrimental to the government of Alberta\u02bcs stated objectives to promote investment in the province of Alberta,\u201d the document states.<\/p>\n
![\"Alberta](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768700249_257_default.jpg\")
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced new regulations for cleanup and installation of renewable power projects in February 2024, flanked by Affordability and Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf, left, and MLA Chantelle de Jonge. (Manuel Carrillos\/CBC)<\/p>\n
The Smith government has prided itself on creating an investor-friendly climate in Alberta, and slashing regulation that it derides as \u201cred tape.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n But it has faced repeated criticism from the renewable sector for doing the opposite: applying regulations that have deterred development<\/a> of new wind and solar installations. Renewable energy advocates say they\u2019re a low-cost, low-carbon power source, but Premier Danielle Smith and her government have criticized them as intermittent and less reliable than other generation types like natural gas.<\/p>\n Canadian Utilities\u2019 report signals that the province\u2019s electricity policies are not only impairing the renewable sector\u2019s potential growth, but also projects already built in Alberta.<\/p>\n \u201cAlmost everywhere else, you build as much wind and solar as you possibly can, because they’re low cost, and then you design the system around them,\u201d said Tim Weis of the Pembina Institute, an Alberta-based environmental think tank.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd frankly, we’re kind of doing the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n Which way the wind blows<\/p>\n On Oct. 5, 2022, ATCO announced a $730-million acquisition of renewable projects in Ontario and Alberta, including the 202-megawatt Forty Mile wind farm in southeast Alberta. It was a major foray by a massive Alberta conglomerate into the province\u2019s then-burgeoning wind and solar power market; ATCO said it cemented the company\u2019s place \u201cat the forefront of the energy transition.\u201d<\/p>\n One day later, Danielle Smith was crowned United Conservative Party leader and incoming premier.<\/p>\n A skeptic<\/a> when it comes<\/a> to the merits of<\/a> renewable power, her government has imposed a range of new limits<\/a> to renewable project development, including a seven-month moratorium on new approvals in 2023. Reforms to the broader electrical system, made in the name of reliability<\/a> have been widely criticized by companies and groups involved in wind and solar.<\/p>\n Canadian Utilities says one key harmful change to its existing power generators is the end of a longstanding policy called \u201czero congestion.\u201d It guaranteed that the province would build new transmission lines to accommodate new private-sector electricity developments, but the government has shifted from that policy in favour of one that accepts some system congestion.<\/p>\n The lack of new power transmission lines from the wind- and solar-heavy southeast part of Alberta has forced the system regulators to curtail some companies\u2019 generation.<\/p>\n The ATCO company\u2019s Forty Mile project has been one of the hardest hit. Twenty-five per cent of its total potential power generation was curtailed last year, according to a report<\/a> by the provincial Market Surveillance Administrator.<\/p>\n Additional forthcoming regulations will extend this issue, the company says, meaning its major wind farm \u201cremains exposed to sustained curtailment and uncertain timelines for relief, which will continue to depress cash flows until definitive transmission solutions are implemented.\u201d<\/p>\n Canadian Utilities is warning that other recent reforms are also financially harmful. Among them, pricing changes as part of Alberta\u2019s energy market restructuring will further depress potential revenues for the company\u2019s existing wind and solar developments, the company\u2019s report stated.<\/p>\n All told, provincially legislated changes \u201chave materially and retroactively altered the economic conditions under which these renewable assets were developed and financed,\u201d the ATCO company said in the document.<\/p>\n Canadian Utilities is a publicly traded company that is majority controlled by ATCO, the 79-year-old Calgary-based giant with business in construction, logistics, natural gas distribution and more.<\/p>\n Canadian Utilities did not break down the value impairment to the Forty Mile wind project or three solar farms within its ATCO EnPower division, but $54 million of the total $408-million writedown is due to recent decisions not to proceed with some development projects.<\/p>\n In an email, EnPower chief operating officer Mark Brown, said no legal challenges have been filed. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur strong preference is to continue to work collaboratively with the government of Alberta and the AESO [the Alberta Electric System Operator] on a fair and durable framework that serves customers, investors, and generators \u2014 as we have done throughout Alberta\u2019s market redesign process,\u201d he told CBC News.<\/p>\n Affordability and Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf was not made available for an interview to respond to ATCO\u2019s concerns. Instead, a minister\u2019s spokesperson emailed a statement which stressed that Alberta\u2019s new transmission regulations have not been finalized.<\/p>\n \u201cThe policy changes that ATCO EnPower is referring to are not in effect and still in the draft stage,\u201d Ashli Barrett stated. \u201cFurther, the policy direction is based on the feedback and input gathered through hundreds of hours of extensive engagement with industry.\u201d<\/p>\n She added that Neudorf\u2019s office is not aware of any legal challenges filed regarding provincial renewable or transmission reforms.<\/p>\n The $408-million writedown may represent a fraction of the total value in all of ATCO Group\u2019s varied divisions, but it amounts to close to one-fifth of the previously reported assets in ATCO EnPower, according to a year-end financial statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBasically what they’ve said in their investor report is what the renewable energy industry has been saying for the past few years,\u201d said Weis, Pembina\u2019s senior director of industrial decarbonization.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we should expect more companies to be making decisions [like this] now.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Executive](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773507550_430_default.jpg\")
Nancy Southern is chief executive officer of the multifaceted Calgary-based company that her father founded in 1947. It employs 20,000 people in Alberta and internationally. (Jeff McIntosh\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n