Grassy Mountain, peak to left, and the Grassy Mountain Coal Project are seen north of Blairmore, Alta., on June 6.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
The head of one of five coal companies suing Alberta for a collective $16-billion over the government’s flip-flop in coal policy says the government has decimated investor confidence in the province, as Energy Minister Brian Jean is set to make an announcement on coal policy Friday.
The massive damages claims come from two lawsuits filed over the past year. One involves Evolve Power Ltd., formerly Montem Resources Ltd., which was looking to restart an old coal mine on Tent Mountain in Southern Alberta’s Crowsnest Pass.
Evolve chief executive officer Peter Doyle says the provincial government is doing a poor job of managing Alberta’s economy by failing to develop new coal development rules.
“They don’t know what they’re doing. There’s no leadership. It’s a terrible place to invest,” Mr. Doyle said in an interview Thursday.
A chunk of Evolve’s investors are in Australia, including the largest long/short fund on the Australian Stock Exchange, which Mr. Doyle said refuses to invest in Alberta again until something changes.
“That echoes what I hear from all of our shareholders, and Alberta just seems oblivious to it,” he said.
The two lawsuits stem from the Alberta government’s coal policies. In 2020, it nixed a land protection policy that dated back to 1976, prompting a furious public backlash that forced the government to reverse its decision the following year.
The government then cancelled leases earmarked for potential new mines and declared an indefinite moratorium on coal exploration.
Companies that had already spent millions developing mine plans, including Evolve, are now trying to recoup some of those costs by suing the province.
The first suit is a joint case involving four separate submissions to Alberta’s Court of King’s Bench by Cabin Ridge Project Ltd., Atrum Coal Ltd. and its subsidiary Elan Coal Ltd., Black Eagle Mining Corp. and Evolve. All were pursuing mines for metallurgical coal, which is used for making steel. They are seeking a collective $13.8-billion. The case is set to begin April 28.
At some point between now and then, Mr. Doyle said, the government will have to “get a backbone and do something about it, or they’re going to go to court, spend millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money and risk billions of dollars in damages settlement.”
The other suit was filed in June. Northback Holdings Corp. argues that the joint federal-provincial review of its proposed Grassy Mountain mine was flawed and that dozens of provincial officials acted in bad faith when they “consistently assured Northback that the Grassy Mountain Project would be subject to a fair and transparent regulatory process.”
Northback is seeking $2.2-billion in damages. Meanwhile, it continues to pursue three exploratory applications for a rejigged Grassy Mountain mine.
None of the claims have been proven in court.
The Alberta government hasn’t said much about how it intends to change coal regulations.
The day after a recent non-binding referendum in the municipality of Crowsnest Pass showed overwhelming support for the Grassy Mountain mine, for example, Mr. Jean said only that “democracy had its day.” He added that it was now up to the Alberta Energy Regulator to assess Northback’s applications.
His office said in a statement Thursday that it would not comment on continuing litigation.
However, it did say that Alberta is “one of the best places in the world to invest for energy or mineral opportunities,” adding that the government will soon announce a long-term legislative and regulatory framework focused on environmental protections that also allow coal development.