{"id":540439,"date":"2026-03-16T16:22:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/540439\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T16:22:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:22:01","slug":"alberta-ottawa-mou-talks-should-address-renewables-roadblocks-think-tank-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/540439\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberta-Ottawa MOU talks should address renewables roadblocks, think tank says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Wind turbines near Pincher Creek, Alta., with the Rocky Mountains in the background. The Pembina Institute says solar and wind power would deliver better results than other technology, such as carbon capture and storage.Jeff McIntosh\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Removing obstacles to renewable energy development must factor into talks the Alberta and federal governments are having around electricity emissions policy, clean energy think tank Pembina Institute said in a new report. <\/p>\n

The two governments signed a sweeping energy accord<\/a> late last year that includes the suspension of federal clean electricity regulations, pending an agreement on equivalent provincial rules by April 1. <\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s plan to have a net-zero grid by 2050<\/a> seems to rely too heavily on technologies that take a lot of money, time and risk tolerance to build, such as carbon capture and storage and small modular nuclear reactors, said senior analyst Will Noel. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a real large risk that we\u2019re going to get to mid-2030s and be in the same place we are now or potentially even worse off,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Focusing on 2050 as the end-goal and not on the emissions reductions that can be achieved in the interim would be a mistake, he added. He likened it to a boat taking on water and, instead of trying to bail it out now, hoping that a light on the horizon might be a rescue vessel. <\/p>\n

\u201cFocusing on these quick wins, these no-regret solutions … that\u2019s really what we need to do to have this all be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noel argues that solar and wind power would deliver quicker, cheaper and more certain results, but Alberta has been spooking away investment in those technologies with an \u201conslaught\u201d of policy changes targeting the renewables sector<\/a>. <\/p>\n

A seven-month moratorium on new renewable project approvals ended in early 2024, after which the province introduced a bevy of rules affecting the sector. Those include an \u201cagriculture first\u201d approach to land use, upfront payments for reclamation costs and a 35-kilometre buffer zone around wind projects so as not to impede \u201cpristine viewscapes.\u201d <\/p>\n

At the time, Premier Danielle Smith said Alberta would continue to lead the country in renewable energy investment, but that the goal was to grow it in \u201cwell-defined and responsible ways\u201d that guarantee grid reliability and affordability. <\/p>\n

There was a 93 per cent drop in new installed wind, solar and storage capacity in 2025 compared to 2022, the peak year for such developments in Alberta, said the Pembina report, citing data from the Alberta Electric System Operator and Alberta Utilities Commission. <\/p>\n

In 2025, less than one-fifth of new wind, solar and battery capacity installed in Canada was in Alberta. In the early 2020s, the trend was the exact reverse \u2013 four-fifths of Canadian renewables capacity was installed in Alberta, the report said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like developers are getting fed up with the state of the renewables market in Alberta and they\u2019re looking to move elsewhere,\u201d Noel said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping that they\u2019re staying in Canada.\u201d <\/p>\n

Opinion: Canada must remember that the future is electricity, not fossil fuels<\/a><\/p>\n

A report last month from investor group SHARE and Dunsky Energy & Climate Advisors argued the federal and provincial governments must act urgently to build out the country\u2019s green power infrastructure, or risk losing Canada\u2019s global competitive edge. <\/p>\n

\u201cPower at Risk: The Investment Case for a Clean, Competitive Canada\u201d says electricity constraints, slow infrastructure build out and policy uncertainty are jeopardizing up to $220-billion in potential investment across the country. <\/p>\n

Three-quarters of that figure relate to industrial projects that depend on green power. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe window of opportunity to capitalize on the clean electricity advantage is closing. Other jurisdictions in North America, Europe and Asia are moving quickly to decarbonize electricity grids and attract fast-growing sectors reliant on clean power,\u201d the groups said in the report. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Canada has successfully attracted the initial wave of investment, the physical and regulatory infrastructure to realize this growth is proving inadequate. Without an aggressive, co-ordinated national effort to rapidly scale and future-proof the grid, the capital that Canada has won risks being stalled, delayed or ultimately relocated, transforming a competitive advantage into a missed economic opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The federal government is expected to soon release a new electricity and nuclear strategy.<\/p>\n

Last week, 10 provinces and territories announced an agreement to expand electricity transmission between jurisdictions, and called for federal support to make it happen. <\/p>\n

\u201cA better-connected national grid will allow for a greater share of low-cost renewables by enabling the flow of electricity across regions to balance supply and demand, while long-distance transmission of clean power can help to minimize the need for provinces to rely on more expensive fossil generation, creating savings for ratepayers,\u201d Ollie Sheldrick-Moyle, program manager at Clean Energy Canada, said in a news release. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Wind turbines near Pincher Creek, Alta., with the Rocky Mountains in the background.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,66,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-540439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-science","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}