EDMONTON – The man who took over the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board six months ago after a spying scandal has resigned.
William Tilleman resigned as chairman today, saying he plans to return to his private law practice now that the EUB has been split into the new Energy Resources Conservation Board and the Alberta Utilities Commission.
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An analysis by the Herald reveals most of the large emitters haven’t met the government’s mandated 12 per cent reduction in their emissions intensity (per unit of production).
Instead, they’ll be forced to write cheques totalling tens of millions of dollars to meet their reductions — either by purchasing carbon offset credits or investing in the government’s technology fund, which is designed to make future energy production greener.
For consumers, one thing is clear: the millions of dollars in additional environmental costs will trickle down to Albertans at the gasoline pumps and on power bills.
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http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=b1f93177-7e00-4ec4-b69f-17306457fb3d&k=36778
Fresh on the heels of announcing the location of a new $1-billion-plus power plant in Calgary, city-owned Enmax Corp. announced Wednesday it has purchased a southern Alberta wind farm for $163 million in debt and equity.
The acquisition from Creststreet Kettles Hill Windpower LP of Toronto will add 63 megawatts (MW) of power to Enmax’s wind energy portfolio, which includes a 50 per cent stake in the 75-MW McBride Lake Wind Farm near Fort Macleod, along with all of Enmax’s 81-MW Taber Wind Farm, opened in October at a cost of $140 million.
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CALGARY, Alberta, March 25 (UPI) — Half of Canadians want Alberta’s oil sand development slowed over environmental concerns, a poll published Tuesday indicated.
The Environmental Defense group commissioned the poll of 1,014 people March 7-10, and 52 percent said expansion of oil production should not be given federal approval until “environmental management issues are resolved,” compared with 32 percent who said they should be “permitted so as not to curb economic growth,” the Calgary Herald reported.
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http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/03/25/canadians_souring_on_alberta_oil_sands/7119/
OTTAWA — Bruce Power’s ambitious plan to build nuclear reactors in Alberta is unlikely to find the customers it needs in the province’s booming oil sands sector, critics say.Bruce Power filed an application last week to build up to four reactors – at an estimated cost of $10-billion – in northwestern Alberta. The company will be looking to sign long-term power purchase agreements with oil sands producers in order to finance the project, chief executive officer Duncan Hawthorne said in an interview.
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080319.RBRUCE19/TPStory/Business
Landowners who claim that oil and gas drilling has contaminated their tap water want the province to reopen investigations into their complaints.
In letters sent Wednesday to Alberta Environment, the landowners contend an Alberta Research Council report, released in January, was inadequate and should be reviewed by independent scientists.
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http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=29bb0eb7-ac91-49eb-884e-03cf12570ffa
CALGARY – News of a new federal plan to curb greenhouse gases caught Alberta’s oil industry off guard Monday, according to key representatives.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers was surprised by an article in the Globe and Mail that announced Ottawa would unveil new climate change regulations this week.
An industry insider said the association, which represents the bulk of major oil and gas producers in Canada, hadn’t been consulted directly on the plan which highlights carbon capture and storage as key to controlling greenhouse gas emissions.
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http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=54c67479-6308-4c1d-bd3d-33ff9e989204