Rochelle Pancoast, the city’s managing director of energy, land and environment, says the purchase will allow the city to scale up the project gradually in a way where it can meet the needs of Medicine Hat and green energy requests from commercial customers. Eli J. Ridder/CHAT News

By Eli J. Ridder

ENERGY

Medicine Hat director says solar project is a ‘no regret’ strategic investment

Oct 30, 2024 | 6:36 PM

Medicine Hat’s managing director of energy, land and environment Rochelle Pancoast says the Saamis Solar project is an example of a “no regret” strategic investment the city can build at a reasonable pace if it acquires the rights to purchase it.

Pancoast during a council budget meeting Wednesday reiterated the city would carry out more research on the proposed solar field if Alberta’s utilities regulator grants approval for the city to buy it.

“We don’t plan on recommending a build unless the financial numbers support doing a build,” Pancoast said.

“We do at the business level see this as a no regret opportunity, but we need to still confirm that out in our due diligence.”

Some residents have raised concerns over the city’s effort to buy the solar project from Ireland-based DP Energy, saying the renewable energy initiative is not reliable enough to replace the gas power the city currently relies on.

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For its part, the city sees it as an opportunity to diversify its taxpayer-owned electricity generation business and offset increased fossil fuel levies, such as the federal carbon tax program.

Moving now to invest in the solar initiative is a form of future-proofing for the city during a limited time frame, staff said.

“The challenge about later is if we didn’t jump on this opportunity that had been started by a third party, the space to develop renewable energy in this community is pretty limited,” Pancoast told council.

“We are limited in our franchise area of footprints, and unfortunately, renewables take a lot of space in order to move them forward, particularly on solar.”

The Saamis Solar farm is proposed for an area in the city’s north end and is, in part, planned to go on vacant contaminated lands from the former Westco Fertilizer plant.

While the price tag to build the entire 325-megawatt project as planned by DP Energy would cost an estimated $600 million, Pancoast said again Wednesday the city would start with a smaller, less expensive size and build up gradually.

However, that does mean the city will need to revisit the site design and amend permits for the smaller size — administrative work that would happen after a purchase and before shovels are in the ground.

When asked about the Saamis Solar Park project, Premier Danielle Smith said earlier this month that rooftop solar is the best approach.

Those who produce electricity from the panels are able to sell it back to the grid to create “reliability and off-grid opportunities for the business owner,” she said at the time, without directly mentioning Medicine Hat.

Medicine Hat city council meets for another budget meeting next week.