Renewable energy plan to include First Nations
Companies invited to partner with aboriginal communities
First Nations communities across Alberta may become part of the province’s Renewable Electricity Program. Power-generating companies are being invited to partner with aboriginal communities in the next round of competition for would-be power producers.
Shannon Phillips, the minister responsible for the province’s Climate Change Office, announced the initiative Monday in Calgary. It’s designed to add about 300 megawatts of renewable power to Alberta’s power grid.
Along with a third round of bids — similar to one that attracted about $1 billion in private-sector investment last fall — this second round is expected to close later this year.
“Today’s announcement recognizes the valuable work of indigenous communities in advancing our province’s transition to renewable energy,” Phillips said.
The “auction style” bidding process will open this spring, officials said. Each bid must include a certain level of indigenous equity, they said, but that could include a land-use agreement with the company or an ownership stake in the enterprise.
“Indigenous communities have had a leading role in developing green energy on a smaller scale,” pointed out Margaret McCuaig-Boyd, Alberta’s energy minister.
This new initiative “will support larger, utility-scale projects while creating good jobs and economic benefits for indigenous Albertans.”
Rupert Meneen, a Treaty 8 grand chief, was on hand to offer his support.
“Every day, indigenous people see the effects of climate change first-hand,” he said. “We need to stand up, be heard and take action on this issue because it impacts everybody.”
This new round will support those communities while creating a better life for all, he said.
Officials said the third round, also opening this spring, will follow the same open-competition approach as the initial round last fall, which delivered a record-low price for renewable energy in Canada. It will add 600 megawatts of renewable energy to the grid by the end of 2019.
Together, the second and third rounds are expected to add another 700 MW, enough to power another 300,000 homes. The government’s long-term target is to reach 5,000 MW of renewable energy — about 30 per cent of Alberta’s growing demand — by 2030.
Support for the program comes from the province’s Climate Leadership Plan, officials say, not from charges added to consumers’ utility bills.
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