Earlier this month the National Energy Board (NEB) issued a news release drawing attention to the fact that Alberta wholesale electricity prices have already set an annual record this year for the number of hours that generators received zero dollars for the power they generated. According to the Market Surveillance Administrator’s Q2/17 Quarterly Report… Read More
What is the Long-term Outlook? At least every two years the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) shares with the market its long-term (20 year) forecast of Alberta’s electricity demand and the generation capacity needed to meet that demand. The forecast is called the Long-term Outlook (“LTO”), and the AESO uses it to help guide transmission… Read More
New electricity generation projects in Alberta are required to complete a gated six stage connection process in Alberta (Connection Process) before they can be connected to the grid. There are actually seven stages, if you count what the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) calls Stage 0. The Connection Process was implemented by the AESO in… Read More
AlbertaPowerMarket.com previously described here how the Balancing Pool, a public body here in Alberta, has become a very important player in the Alberta electricity market. We also promised to update you on important Balancing Pool developments. Earlier this week, when our neighbours to the South were celebrating July 4th, the Balancing Pool announced that, subject… Read More
What is the AUC doing? The Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) has been requested by the Province to hold an inquiry into and report on matters relating to distribution system-connected generation (“DG”) in Alberta. Facilitating significant growth in DG would help the Province achieve its goal of having 30% of Alberta-generated electricity be from renewable sources… Read More
Economic withholding is now a questionable pricing strategy for generators to use in Alberta due to the May 26, 2017 decision of Alberta’s Market Surveillance Administrator (MSA) to revoke its Offer Behaviour Enforcement Guidelines (OBEG). Economic withholding has not been expressly prohibited by the MSA, but the revocation of OBEG by the MSA means that… Read More
The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) is not accepting any further comments on the contract, called the Renewable Electricity Support Agreement (RESA), which it will award to the winners of the REP Round 1 procurement currently underway for 400 MW of renewable electricity in Alberta. While the AESO did issue and consult on “key provision… Read More
Alberta is in the middle of procuring 135,000 MWh per annum of solar photovoltaic (Solar PV) electricity. This procurement dedicated to solar should not be confused with the REP Round 1 procurement that is also currently underway in Alberta for 400 MW of renewable electricity. The Solar PV procurement was first announced in October 2016.… Read More
This spring has been “coal-to-gas conversion season” in Alberta. First, TransAlta announced in April that it would be accelerating the conversion of its wholly owned coal-fired generation plants to gas prior to the end of their useful lives. TransAlta plans to convert Sundance Units 3 to 6 and Keephills Units 1 and 2 to gas… Read More
Excited to release the Second Edition of our publication “New Opportunities in the Alberta Electricity Market – a BLG Overview”. It is an easy to read summary of the history and structure of the Alberta Electricity Market, plus the recent policy changes that have occurred in Alberta to create business opportunities for market participants. AB… Read More
