Political and regulatory uncertainty around Alberta’s electricity market poses risks for companies considering investing in the province – if TransCanada Corp. were assured Alberta’s market design would remain the same for the next 20 years, the Calgary pipeline and energy company would approach building more generation with confidence. TransCanada, which is contemplating a $500-million, 350-megawatt natural gas power plant outside of High River, agreed Alberta needs to build up its transmission. But the company noted a number of factors have changed since the grid operator planned the transmission projects, from lower natural gas prices to additional on-site industrial generation. New developments could reduce the stress on the existing north-south lines for several years.
Wind energy is playing an increasingly important role in meeting Ontario’s demand for electricity, according to the Independent Electricity System Operator’s annual release of supply, demand and price data. Total wind energy production rang in at 3.9 terawatt hours TWh – up substantially from 2.8 TWh in 2010. November 2011 marked the highest monthly wind output ever seen in Ontario, with production in that month alone exceeding 0.56 TWh. In annual terms, wind generation represented 2.6 per cent of total output across all fuel types of 149.9 TWh. A record level of new wind energy projects were commissioned in both Canada and Ontario in 2011. In 2011, new wind energy projects were built and commissioned in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. More than 5,000 MW of wind energy projects are already contracted to be built over the next five years.
