Wind turbines are seen with the Rocky Mountains in the background near Pincher Creek, Alta., on June 6.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
More than 18 months after Alberta paused all renewable energy development in the province, the government has released concrete regulations that control where wind and solar projects can be developed, banning them from huge swaths of prime agricultural land.
The new Electric Energy Land Use and Visual Assessment Regulation, released Friday, builds on the government’s pledge to put agriculture at the forefront of rules governing renewables. However, the industry is still waiting to find out how the province will institute new reclamation requirements for renewable energy operations.
Renewable project approvals were put on ice in the province in August, 2023, when the United Conservative Party government abruptly ordered the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) to halt application green-lights and to review issues around reclamation and viewscapes, and to determine which agricultural land should be used for wind, solar, geothermal and biomass plants.
The AUC commissioned a series of consultant reports to help overhaul the rules that govern Alberta’s multibillion-dollar industry. But industry and experts had worried that adopting some of the recommendations in those reports would lead to an unfair system where renewable energy projects are subject to rules that don’t apply to oil, gas and other industries.
The AUC had already been assessing project applications according to similar draft rules, but the change Friday formalizes that process.
The regulations ratify so-called buffer zones that ban wind projects within what the government has deemed “pristine viewscapes.” That includes a specified 70,000-square-kilometre region that surrounds the Rocky Mountains and reaches to the western half of Calgary.
Solar and other power generation projects aren’t outright banned in the buffer zones, but developers will have to submit a visual impact assessment as part of their application.
Those assessments must include visual simulations from key vantage points illustrating the potential visual impact of the project and proposed mitigation measures to minimize or offset any adverse visual effects.
Renewable energy developers eyeing privately owned, high-quality agricultural land must also submit an impact assessment as part of their application, including how the site could affect agricultural productivity.
The owner or operator of a renewable energy site on such land must also submit a report to the AUC that confirms the agricultural productivity of the land within 36 months from the start of operations.
The visual assessment regulation follows what the government has called an “agriculture first” approach, which it says will protect Alberta’s most productive lands.
Jorden Dye, the director of the Business Renewables Centre Canada, said that if that is the goal, required agricultural assessments should apply to all power generation – not just wind and solar.
However, Mr. Dye said formalizing the rules has removed some of the unknowns for industry.
It also quelled concerns that the province might introduce a new regulation that would require 90 per cent of Alberta agricultural productivity to be left intact, further limiting where projects could be built.
“The government didn’t go with that, and I think that means flexibility, which we were excited to see,” he said in an interview Sunday.
Mr. Dye also noted that the regulations around buffer zones don’t apply to projects that have already been approved, “which was great to see from industry perspective.”
Kara Westerlund, the president of Rural Municipalities of Alberta, said in a statement that a strategically-planned renewable energy industry has the potential to be an economic driver in rural areas for years to come.
“RMA is optimistic that today’s announcement will ensure that renewable projects are properly located to minimize impact on agricultural land, and that renewable companies will be held responsible for end-of-life management,” she said.
Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf said the new rules would help balance environment conservation and Alberta’s long-term economic prosperity.
“Our government will not apologize for putting Albertans ahead of corporate interests,” he said.