Environmental groups welcome an electricity-generation project for the Oldman River Dam, but will oppose new coal-fired power plants for which they’ll demand full-scale public hearings.

The Pembina Institute released a six-point plan to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy development that the environmental policy research group says would eliminate the need for any new coal-fired plants in Alberta.

Epcor plans to build a $500-million, 400-megawatt expansion of its Genesee coal-fired plant west of Edmonton. TransAlta plans a $1.9-billion, 900-MW expansion of its Keephills coal-fuelled generator in the same area.

The utilities argue that with Alberta’s 800-year supply of coal, the fossil fuel is the only energy source that will lower electricity prices for consumers and businesses by 2005, when the new plants are to be operating.

Larry MacDougall, Business Edge
Construction will start this spring on ATCO's hydroelectric project at the Oldman Dam.

To help ease the province’s energy crunch, Atco Power, a subsidiary of Atco Ltd., received federal and provincial approval to build a $33-million, 32-MW hydroelectric plant at the Oldman River Dam near Pincher Creek in southwest Alberta.

Construction of the plant will begin this spring, to generate power by May 2002, says Len Landry, Atco Power’s manager of corporate services.

“It’s only going to be significant generation in the May to September period,” when water flow in the Oldman River is at its highest, Landry said.

The peak generation of 32 megawatts is enough power to supply about 25,000 households.

No modifications to accommodate the power plant are required to the 76-metre-high earth dam, Landry said. The dam and reservoir were completed in 1992, after years of controversy, to supply irrigation water to farmers.

Atco’s hydroelectric project involves building a penstock — a chute to channel water into power-generating turbines — in one of two water-diversion tunnels on either side of the dam. Rock at the end of this tunnel will be excavated to build the powerhouse enclosing two turbines and generators.

The run-of-the-river power plant will have virtually no emissions and no impact on fish or fish habitat, Landry said. “We’re not even disrupting any foliage that would absorb carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas), so there’s nothing negative.”

Andrew Pape-Salmon, eco-efficient technologies program director for the Pembina Institute, said the dam itself harmed the environment. Now that it’s there, however, Atco’s hydroelectric plant will use the facility more efficiently, he said.

Environmentalists could have re-quested a public hearing — provided for under provincial legislation — on the hydropower project, said environmentalist Martha Kostuch, vice-president of Friends of the Oldman River society, which fought the dam’s construction.

“But the damage had already been done and the environment destroyed when they built the dam,” she said.

The Friends group reviewed Atco’s application, Kostuch added. ATCO did a cumulative environmental assessment as required by federal legislation and agreed to mitigate any impact on fish and fish habitat.

But new coal-fired power plants won’t get such an easy regulatory ride, Kostuch and Pape-Salmon warned. “We do not see any justification for a new coal-fired facility in this province,” Pape-Salmon said.

These projects “will all go to hearings,” Kostuch vowed. “They’re just not acceptable.”

The coal-fired plants’ greenhouse gas emissions could expose Alberta to a $1-billion environmental liability by 2010 if Canada and other countries agree to the Kyoto Protocol to reduce such emissions, blamed for global warming, Pape-Salmon said. Even without the Kyoto agreement’s ratification, many environmentalists and industry players expect to see new government regulations limiting the emissions within five years.

Alberta needs to meet increasing electricity demands, Kostuch said. “But we must not meet those needs through building additional coal-fired generating plants. We will be sacrificing the health of Albertans and the health of the environment.”

But David Lewin, senior vice-president of sustainable development for Epcor, said energy conservation and new renewable energy projects aren’t enough to meet Alberta’s expected power demand of 420 megawatts of generation a year for the next five years.

Natural gas has become an expensive, premium fuel required by Alberta’s petrochemical industry and to heat homes, and gas is often not the most cost-efficient way to generate electricity, Lewin said.

“Coal-fired generation is the best way we have of ensuring that Albertans are not hobbled” by ever-increasing electricity prices, Lewin told the Federico Garcia Lorca Conference on Global Business Issues in Calgary last week.

Pape-Salmon said the Pembina Institute’s six-point energy plan, if implemented by the province, could provide enough power to displace 1,600 megawatts of coal-fired supply by 2010. That amount is more than the combined 1,400-MW to be generated by Epcor and TransAlta’s proposed new plants.

Pembina’s plan includes a one-time $100-million investment by the government to establish a revolving loan fund to stimulate energy efficiency projects.

Applicants — be they residential, commercial, institutional or industrial consumers – could obtain zero-interest loans to finance energy-efficient equipment and retrofits in homes and businesses. The fund would be replenished by regular payments from those obtaining loans.

Pembina also proposes new tax incentives to promote development of cost-effective renewable energy, and ensure 10 per cent of Alberta’s power needs is met by “green” energy by 2010. Natural gas co-generation (combining heat and power generation), rather than coal, should be used to make up any remaining shortfall, the institute recommends.

Pembina’s plan wouldn’t cost any more than the Klein government’s $4.1-billion for energy rebates to consumers, which are “pure subsidy to the fossil fuel industry,” Pape-Salmon said. “We would like to see that kind of money being spent in a way that not only provides relief to consumers, but also helps to develop a long-term adaptation to high-energy costs and resource scarcity.”

Pembina’s plan is available online at www.pembina.org.