Enbridge’s Weyburn wind project open house, Part 3: Consultation, renewable energy, turbine size.
Also: Canadian carbon removal company scores US$40M grant from fund backed by Bill Gates
Weyburn wind open house, Part 1
Enbridge’s Weyburn wind project open house, Part 1: Setting the stage
It was a contrite Enbridge which presented a second open house in Weyburn for its planned 200 megawatt wind project, to be located east of the community. The project has seen several revisions, and Enbridge representatives repeatedly spoke about correcting mistakes and working with people affected by the proposed project.
Note: This story ended up being so massive, it needed to be broken up into several parts just to make it manageable and yet still allow a great deal of depth on a topic very important to Weyburn.
On top of that, there is a LOT going on in the power space right now, with the Tuesday release of the revised Clean Electricity Regulations and on the same day as the grand opening of the Great Plains Power Station at Moose Jaw which Pipeline Online attended. There’s a lot of catching up to do, so please bear with me. Here’s Enbridge’s Weyburn wind project open house, Part 1: Setting the stage.
I’ve never seen a multi-billion behemoth like Enbridge be so apologetic for wanting to spend around a third of a billion around a community.
Enbridge folks said “apology” or “apologize” five times, and “sorry” twice. I checked my transcript.
I expect they still feel sore about losing Northern Gateway, where First Nations claimed Enbridge spoke to them like they owned the place. It was clear this was an entirely different approach.
It wouldn’t be a Monday without a wind story
Seriously, I was working on yet another wind story when this came up.
For 12 hours again this past weekend, power in Alberta was “free,” with BC and Montana benefitting greatly.
Zero dollar price is “free,” is it not?
The case for, yes for, big wind at Weyburn
I worked on this story for many days with one of the proponents whose family will account for around half of the land assembly for the project. The number was initially a lot higher but the project has been changed and adapted. He has some strong points in favour of wind development, and they should be heard.
This is what they call “journalism,” as in telling multiple sides of a story. And no one else is writing in depth stories like this in Saskatchewan.
That being said, I have another wind story about a great day of wind production in Alberta on Sunday – 74 per cent output. That’s four orders of magnitude better than it was at noon precisely seven days before. But that also caused pool prices to hit zero for 12 hours.
Again, I point out the problem with no one making money is no one is making money. That’s unsustainable. And the proposed reforms in Alberta will make it much worse, by introducing negative pricing. Ridiculous! Nothing with intrinsic value should ever be zero. Ever.
Cough it up, buddy
This is huge – Alberta wind and solar projects will have to put up the reclamation costs up front before going ahead. Should Saskatchewan do the same? Alberta releases new rules and no-go zones on wind and solar projects.
And the new rules mean when these turbines you see come down at end of life, they likely will not be replaced.
Also:
Climate change warrior shovels quarter billion SaskPower’s way
In Pipeline Online’s continuing mission to ensure we all know exactly what the federal government is telling us on climate change initiatives, this is the verbatim press release from the Government of Canada issued at 18:10 hrs on Dec. 5. Notably, it was not sent out via provincial media releases nor SaskPower’s media releases. And apparently according to the feds, Jansen is a company, not the place the largest mining company in the world, BHP, is building the world’s largest potash mind. Check that out in the opening paragraph.
(You’d think the natural resources minister, and ministry, might be aware of the largest potash mine in the world being built in their country)
The announcement was made by Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson. He and Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault are the federal Liberal government’s lead ministers on their numerous and various climate change initiatives. For good measure, we’ve interspersed a healthy dosage of oil and gas ads, that industry that this government’s Bill C-59 is trying to muzzle.
Highlights include money for a number of solar projects, advancing SMR development, the intertie to the United States, grid-scale batteries, and a “forecast that there will be over 130,000 clean energy jobs added in Saskatchewan between 2025 and 2050.”
Oh, and I am willing to bet a Christmas cheesecake the $265 million number was set so they could say it was more than Harper gave carbon capture in 2008 ($240 million). Never mind 9 years of inflation meaning my kid cries after buying groceries.
And on the topic of Guilbeault, Pipeline Online columnist Jim Warren, knocks another one out of the park talking about his involvement with the green slush fund.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 1722 times…
What did 1722 Alberta wind turbines have in common? 0.007 per cent output at noon on Sunday
But hey! At that very moment, at noon, solar’s output was less than 10 per cent!
The number was so low that if you enter those numbers into your Windows calculator app (0.39 megawatts / 5476 megawatts), it will give you the scientific notation of 7.121986851716581e-5.
That’s right – the percentage was in scientific notation, because normal numbers don’t go that low. And this is after many, many billions spend on wind.
I keep asking: Why are we throwing away what we know works, for what we know absolutely does not work?
Electricity is the very oxygen of our economy. When you have lots of oxygen to breathe, no problem. The very second you run out – big problem. And we are entrusting our very lives with technology that continually completely collapses in a widespread basis. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 49 times (the number of Alberta wind farms) shame on me. And fool me 1722 times (the number of Alberta grid-scale wind turbines) … well, you get the idea.
Also:
Digging deep on the lithium and potash Crown land sale – a 97:1 ratio on land prices, just 30 miles apart
Why the Sask Party lost the cities
Bronwyn Eyre: Saskatchewan election post-mortem: Why the Sask Party lost the cities
A former Energy and Resources Minister for four years, Eyre is joining Pipeline Online as a regular contributor, both as a columnist and co-host in an upcoming regular podcast that is rapidly coming together. Watch for Eyre’s continuing contributions on Pipeline Online in the weeks and months ahead.
Also:
Alberta wind power generation falls to less than one per cent capacity, once again (Last Friday, it fell to zero. You read that right. Zero.)
TC Energy CEO sees opportunity in Trump win as company refocuses on natural gas
And, what’s this Bluesky Social all about? In the interest of staking territory, Pipeline Online is now on this new social media at @pipelineonline.bsky.social. If you’re on there, be the first to follow, I guess?
Drove out to a brand new wind farm, not one turbine turned
200 megawatt Bekevar Wind Energy Facility joins Saskatchewan grid, produces less than a phone charger on opening day
We’ll triple the price, that’ll make it more affordable
Brian Zinchuk: How will tripling maximum electrical pricing in Alberta help consumers?
Also:
Pamela Wallin and John Gormley discuss the Saskatchewan election results
Ottawa fires back at Alberta’s application for judicial review of carbon price
The loonie is trading at lows not seen in years. Here’s what it means for Canadians
Alberta Premier Smith says lower-than-forecast oil prices could mean budget deficit
Wow…. just… wow…
You can’t make this stuff up.
The Saskatchewan Green Party proposes to “Make Green Jobs the future of Saskatchewan’s economy by transitioning away from fossil fuels,” while financing its extensive socialist policy platform by modelling Norway which applies “a whopping 78 percent total tax” on oil and gas revenues.
Notably, it includes five pages discussing the Greens opposition to small modular reactors. And the policy document closes by saying on the last page, “How do we pay for it? The Saskatchewan Green Party is dedicated to building a prosperous future for our province. It is time to raise royalty rates in the oil & gas sector to levels that truly reflect the value of our resources. We would use Norway as an example. Norway has a 51 percent tax on petroleum-related income, on top of the 27 percent income tax. That amounts to a whopping 78 percent total tax. This is put into a fund to benefit all citizens.”
That page does not list any other major revenue source, or indeed any revenue source at all, other than heavily taxing oil and gas, the same oil and gas earlier in the document the party promises to transition away from. If the party does succeed in “transitioning away from fossil fuels,” (Page 17) it offers no other source of revenue on the “How do we pay for it?” page (Page 61).
The Big Smoke and fossil fuel ads
Toronto takes step toward ban on misleading fossil fuel ads, following TTC move
Because of course they are. From the Canadian Press
Also:
Alberta government proposing additional restrictions on wind and solar energy
Wind doesn’t blow, again, in Alberta
Wind output in Alberta falls below 1 per cent, again, Sunday morning
So if you can’t rely on wind, how about oil? Learn more about heavy oil at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show on Wednesday and Thursday.
Wind, unreliable. Really? Yup
Misconceptions? Surely, you jest!
SaskPower’s blog speaks about “Misconceptions about wind and solar facilities”
Note:
Facing a groundswell of opposition to a proposed 200 megawatt wind project near Weyburn which would be built, operated and owned by Enbridge as an independent power producer, SaskPower posted the following on its corporate blog on Aug. 23.
That blog posting was then promoted via advertising on social media, including Facebook.
What the blog does not say is that Alberta’s fleet of now 47 wind farms, with a total capacity of 5,214 megawatts was producing 35 megawatts at 3:38 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22, according to X account @ReliableAB. That’s after the recent addition of a new 466 megawatt windfarm which is being brought online. And 35 megawatts was 0.7 per cent of capacity at that moment, while 5,214 megawatts is nearly the entire Saskatchewan grid if every single generating facility was running full our, which never happens.
The ads below are not part of the original blog, but part of every Pipeline Online story to pay the bills. This is that blog posting, verbatim.
Surprised no one brought out a pitchfork
Pipeline company comes to oil town to build a wind project, and gets hostile response
You’d have thought they were proposing a pipeline in Nebraska.
This was a very hostile crowd. I’m surprised no one brought out a pitchfork or torch. I’m sure the Enbridge folks figured they were now working for TransCanada, running a Keystone XL open house in the States.
Meanwhile, in Alberta, on Sunday:
That followed this story on Friday which went viral:
Alberta’s wind power flatlines again this week, hitting 1 megawatt out of a capacity of 4748
And if you didn’t see this, it’s worth the hour.
Jordan Peterson Podcast: Danielle Smith on Bill C-59, freedom of speech, CO2, wind, solar and more
Facebook loved it so much, they immediately pulled down the post, claiming it “violated community standards” as spam.
Big fat zero from Alberta’s giant fans on Tuesday
And, as promised yesterday, more on those Clean Electricity Regulations that mean even MORE wind and solar, and no more coal or natural gas without carbon capture.
Clean Electricity Regulations: Cenovus Energy (Detailed, with recommendations)
And maybe Wilkinson thinks aforementioned wind turbines will power all those electric heat pumps, when it’s cold, and when it’s hot. What am I saying? Of course he does.
Liberal energy minister promises ban on oil furnaces for new builds as soon as 2028
Also:
TC Energy’s US$15B Keystone XL claim thrown out by trade tribunal
Manitoba wind, Alberta taxes, Lloydminster heavy oil
It turns out developing more wind in Manitoba is a big deal for Manitoba Hydro – CEO sacking sorta big deal.
Alberta to relax rule on buying oil, gas wells if municipal taxes unpaid
The Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show is coming up in just under two months. I’ll be there if anyone would like to say hello. I’m identifiable by the fat guy with all the cameras sitting at the front.
And since everyone is talking about the Trump assimilation attempt, I have to say, Peter Zeihan’s video about it this morning is the worst I’ve ever seen from him – and I’m generally a huge fan of his work. His disappointment that it wasn’t successful shows through. Maybe it’s because he’s been saying Biden in a landslide – well, that’s not going to happen now.
Saskatoon energy lawyer who’s not a fan of oil and gas makes submission
In my continuing saga on the Clean Electricity Regulations, I’ve been posting many of the submissions to the Economic Assessment Tribunal. This one, in particular, caught my eye. Chad Eggerman is a very focal critic of the Saskatchewan Party government on X. especially when it comes to energy and the carbon tax. Most of the submissions to the tribunal were requested by the tribunal. Two were not expressly solicited. Eggerman’s submission to the tribunal was one of those two, and was included in the report appendices.
No. The Government of Saskatchewan admitted to breaking the law and failing to pay taxes legally owing. As is the case for all Canadians, when you fail to pay your taxes, the CRA has a right to garnish your account. This is not unfair – this is the law.
No. Section 126 of the… https://t.co/PpfP67gx8K
— Chad Eggerman (@eggermac) July 4, 2024
Eggerman is a big fan of wind projects. That comes clear in his presentation. Take a look.
Also:
Another carbon capture project is going ahead in Alberta.
Well, that was a smooth move
Alberta’s last coal plant shuts down, and days later, a grid alert is declared.
Oh, and that new grid-scale battery that SaskPower just went $10 million over the initial announced price on – Alberta has 10 (albeit a different manufacturer). Three haven’t lit a light bulb since March, and they were no shows on Monday.
But that’s okay, the Pembina Institute wrote a piece celebrating the end of coal, which they strongly advocated for over many years. They published it two days before the grid alert.
And it’s going to be hot two more days in Alberta. Anyone want to make a bet there will be more grid alerts?
Again, Alberta has more coal, oil and gas than God, because God gave all of his to Alberta. For that province to ever be running short of energy is a result of sheer incompetence at the top. And Saskatchewan is following that path – shutting down coal, building more wind, solar, and now batteries. SaskPower has had announcements for all three in recent weeks. Will I be writing about Saskatchewan grid alerts, because we failed to heed what is happening west of us?