Green energy project moratorium to end in February as scheduled, Smith confirms

Alberta's moratorium on new wind and solar power projects will be lifted at the end of the February, Premier Danielle Smith confirmed on Monday. 

The pause was announced in August, with utilities minister Nathan Neudorf citing issues of development on agricultural land, impacts on scenery, reclamation security, and system reliability. 

During the moratorium, the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) was tasked with reviewing policies around the use of agriculture and public land, land reclamation, and the role of municipalities in land selection for projects. 

Neudorf said Alberta wanted to "provide future renewable investments with the certainty and clarity required for long-term development.”

"We will not extend it. It will be lifted on Feb. 29," Smith told reporters on Monday in Ottawa, where she opened an office to advocate for the province's interests. 

She pointed to a stint of extreme cold in January when the province's electrical grid was maxed, noting Alberta was 40 megawatts away from needing to implement rolling blackouts.

"Every time we bring wind and solar on, we have to bring an equivalent amount of backup on. And as we continue to grow – we're expecting our electricity need to double by 2050 – it does us no good to have unreliable intermittent sources of power when we have such extremes in temperature in our province," Smith said. 

"We have to make sure that reliability and affordability are number one. We can reduce emissions, too, but we have to make sure we're doing it in a balanced way."

The moratorium was criticized by renewable energy advocates and some municipalities as misguided, lacking consultation, and likely to have negative economic implications. A poll found two thirds of Albertans could oppose the moratorium. 

It also was a point of controversy for Smith's government, which offered conflicting reasons for the pause.

• Premier cites feds in explanation for moratorium on new wind and solar projects
• Alberta premier offers up contradictory versions for imposed wind and solar pause