Central Alberta rural municipalities are being asked to join a coalition of municipalities focused on getting a bigger say in renewable energy project approvals.
Rocky View County Mayor Crystal Kissel sent a letter to Red Deer County and other Alberta rural municipalities seeking a financial commitment to hire a consultant to lobby the provincial government “to develop an overarching policy framework for land use decisions on renewable energy projects that is more inclusive of municipal policies and interests.”
Councillors in Rocky View County, which surrounds Calgary on three sides, recently voted to spend up to $10,000 hiring a third-party consultant and they ask that Red Deer County consider a similar contribution.
Besides pressing for a bigger municipal say in renewable energy projects — typically solar or wind farms — municipalities also want assurances they will not be left paying for the cleanup and reclamation of former renewable energy sites.
Kissel said her county is not opposed to renewable energy projects and believes they will be important to Alberta meeting emissions targets.
“However, we believe that municipalities should have more influence over the process for determining where these projects are located.”
Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) is responsible for approving renewable energy proposals. Decisions on sites must be appealed to AUC, which is not required to abide by municipal plans or land use bylaws.
Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA), which represents the province’s 69 counties and municipal districts, told members earlier this year it plans to work closely with Rocky View on the issue.
RMA president Paul McLauchlin said in a message to members last month that they are responsible for protecting Alberta’s soil and agricultural lands, “And the AUC is ignoring that authority.
“If rural municipalities were considered in project approval, the risks of reclamation, soil health and erosion, and incompatibility of industrial land use on agriculture lands would be addressed.”
RMA is doing its best to “change the path of this complex situation.”
Red Deer County council will debate the request at its Tuesday meeting.
A report from staff says they reached out to other central Alberta municipalities to see what they intended to do with Rocky View County’s request.
Lacombe County opted to deny the request and Kneehill, Mountain View and Stettler county councils plan to discuss it in the next two weeks.
Red Deer County staff made no recommendation to council, instead asking for direction.
A number of solar farms are under construction or have been proposed in central Alberta.
A 170-megawatt solar farm has been proposed for a 930-acre site southwest of Sylvan Lake. A 47-megawatt solar farm near Joffre is expected to be energized this summer and a 20-megawatt solar farm is being eyed for land at the north end of Red Deer Regional Airport.
A 47-megawatt project is also proposed near Castor, a 14-megawatt facility near Caroline and a small, two-megawatt solar farm and electric vehicle charging station has been proposed for a site just south of Junction 42 truck stop east of Penhold next to Hwy. 2.