Category Archives: Energy

Energy

Renewable energy project cancellations in Alberta hit alarming milestone

Cancelled wind, solar and storage projects exceed province’s average total power demand

Press release from the Pembina Institute

EDMONTON — August 21, 2025: Clean energy projects cancelled since the start of Alberta’s renewables moratorium could have generated more than Alberta’s average total power demand (109 per cent), according to new analysis from the Pembina Institute.

Since October 2023, projects amounting to almost 11 gigawatts (GW) of wind, solar and energy storage have been withdrawn from the Alberta Electric System Operator project development queue. Though not all proposed projects make it all the way to completion, cancellations for renewables over the last two years have been concerningly high, at 44 per cent. By comparison, 11 per cent of gas capacity proposed in the same timeframe has been cancelled.  

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Energy

Who really pays for BC’s power?

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

The average home in British Columbia uses around 10,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year.

There are approximately 2.2 million homes in B.C. This means the province needs to make sure the grid has enough energy to supply about 22 billion kilowatt hours every year to keep those homes warm and the lights on.

And that’s just for homes. It doesn’t include all the electricity needed for industry, businesses and a rapidly expanding electric-vehicle market.

In B.C., the average resident pays around $100 a month for electricity, roughly $1,200 per year for those 10,000 kilowatt hours.

Residential rates just went up on April 1, when BC Hydro increased its rates by 3.75 per cent. That’s partly to start paying off some of the sunk costs the government has already invested in building new power infrastructure.

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Energy

Pipeline north or south? Risks follow either BC route

By Sonal Gupta, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Another pipeline along the existing Trans Mountain corridor may be the most realistic route from Alberta to tidewater, but many agree the environmental risks still follow the oil.

The federal government is currently considering various pipeline routes from Alberta — to the Lower Mainland of BC near Vancouver, or a northern line to the port of Prince Rupert. The move comes as Ottawa and Alberta build on an MOU signed in November 2025 to potentially ship another million barrels daily to Asia. 

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Energy, Politics

Taxpayer Dollars, the pipeline, and Canada’s Clean Energy Future

Three weeks ago the Toronto Star reported that “three Liberals privately suggested to the Star that Prime Minister Mark Carney may put federal money behind a new pipeline to the west coast … Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, say Carney wants to see the pipeline built, and is realizing it may not happen without more public money behind it.”

Aaron Gunn, the Conservative MP for North Island-Powell River, emailed that he is not interested in discussing rumours. While he recently acknowledged the climate is changing, Gunn also stated Canadians have more important issues to deal with. The pipeline was one of them: 

“I will say this pipeline should have been built ten years ago. Instead, the world remains beholden to oil from brutal, dictatorial regimes like Russia and Iran, while Canadian oil sells at a discount to the United States.” 

Jennifer Lash’s response to the Toronto Star article was, “Ottawa is nothing if not a fish bowl of rumours.”

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Energy

Malfunctioning Canadian LNG terminal burned more gas than estimated 2024 global record

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter, Wil Crisp

This investigation is a collaboration between The Narwhal and Point Source, a U.K.-based investigative journalism organization.

An LNG facility in Western Canada burned more gas in 2025 than any other liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility on record in 2024, raising concerns about Canada’s claim it’s producing the cleanest LNG in the world. 

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