In January, the Alberta government scrapped a series of ministerial orders that banned coal development in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Evolve Power Ltd. is the latest company to reach a settlement with Alberta in a $16-billion multiparty lawsuit over the government’s flip-flop on coal policy.
The company has agreed to drop its suit and surrender two of its coal land leases – for its Chinook and Greenfield projects – in exchange for $95-million. Evolve will also transfer the mineral and surface rights related to those projects to the Government of Alberta, according to a notice on the company’s website.
The province is due to pay up $93.5-million before Nov. 3. It will retain $1.5-million until Evolve completes reclamation of its exploration activities at the Chinook project site.
The company said its board of directors, based on legal advice, believes the settlement is the best possible outcome for shareholders.
Alberta settles with two companies in $16-billion coal case
The agreement sees Evolve join Atrum Coal Ltd., which earlier this year agreed to drop its part of the lawsuit and surrender its coal leases back to the government in exchange for $142.8-million.
At the heart of the court action was a series of changes made to Alberta’s provincial coal policy by the United Conservative Party government.
In 2020, it nixed land protection rules that dated back to 1976, prompting a furious public backlash that forced the government to reverse its decision the following year.
The province then cancelled leases earmarked for potential new mines and declared an indefinite moratorium on coal exploration.
This past January, the Alberta government scrapped the series of ministerial orders that banned coal development in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, returning to an older policy that in part relies on land categories to govern where mines are built.
Companies that had already spent millions developing mine plans moved to recoup some of those costs by suing the province.