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By Eli J. Ridder

ENERGY

Medicine Hat receives regulatory approval to purchase solar farm project

Feb 4, 2025 | 4:50 PM

The City of Medicine Hat will move ahead with buying a massive solar farm project after receiving approval on Tuesday from a provincial regulatory body.

The Alberta Utilities Commission also signed off in the city’s plan to build up to 75 megawatts worth of solar panels in a first phase of the Saamis Solar Park.

But before pursuing any construction, the city will need to apply to the commission for an amendment to the existing project approval to reflect the intended smaller size and related phasing, according to a statement from city energy director Rochelle Pancoast.

Staff say the project will allow the city to diversify its power to offset carbon pricing and prepare for uncertainties that its natural gas company faces. Critics say they are concerned by a lack of information around the cost for the city in the near and long-term.

The city has maintained more information would be available once the purchase takes place.

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“Now that the city owns the project, we can properly pursue more detailed analysis that will inform how to optimize the value of this new asset, taking into consideration customer and community interests, as well as changing market and regulatory conditions,” the city said in a statement.

Sounantha Boss, who as president of the Medicine Hat Utilities Ratepayer Association is a vocal critic of the city’s effort to purchase the solar farm, said she was disappointed but not surprised the city received utilities commission approval.

Now, Boss said she’s looking forward to the city engaging in a transparent process as it decides what to do with the project.

“We need to know like what’s going on and how it’s going to affect the environment or the people,” she told CHAT News.

“At the end of the day, we are disappointed. But hopefully this will push them to further engage the citizens.”

The ratepayer association hosted a town hall in November featuring several speakers who argued against the validity of the solar farm project.

The not-for-profit advocacy organization called for a plebiscite on the solar project, with the aim of getting more details about the initiative out in the public through a referendum.

It also applied for and was denied “intervenor status” in the city’s regulator application.