Solar panels collecting energy from the sun. (Image Credit: Airubon/Dreamstime)

By Jesse Gill

CITY HALL

Decision on Saamis Solar Park in front of Medicine Hat City Council on Monday

Feb 2, 2026 | 9:57 AM

The City of Medicine Hat is expected to decide on the approval of funding for the 75-megawatt Saamis Solar Park during its city council meeting on Monday.

In April 2025, the energy division requested and was approved for funding of $675,000 for a third-party project analysis of the solar project’s viability.

The City’s administrative committee is recommending that council approve a capital budget amendment of $131.5 million to fund the project, which will be up for debate by council.

It is followed by a bylaw to approve $65.75 million in borrowing for the solar project.

The next step, if approval is granted, is a long-term energy sales contract with terms and conditions satisfactory to the City Manager and City Solicitor, and regulatory approvals from the Alberta Utilities Commission for siting permits before construction.

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During the April 2025 meeting, the city’s energy director, Travis Tuchscherer, said Medicine Hat has been contacted “by some of our larger industrial and commercial customers in the city that would have fairly significant size consumption from this project.”

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READ: Medicine Hat council approves $675K Saamis solar project analysis (April 7, 2025)

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The Medicine Hat Utilities Ratepayer Association has been critical of the potential solar project and has shown opposition to it.

City of Medicine Hat energy head Rochelle Pancoast said in April that she couldn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be a tax rate increase if the solar farm project were built, but emphasized the analysis would help answer that question.

Pancoast and other energy staff had insisted they wouldn’t recommend that Medicine Hat move ahead with the solar farm unless it makes sense financially or for the city’s future.

About a year ago, the city entered into a purchase and sale agreement with DP Energy to gain control of the solar farm.

On Feb. 4, 2025, the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) approved the application to transfer ownership of the Saamis Solar Park project to the City of Medicine Hat.

The AUC also approved the City’s application to build up to 75 megawatt, the intended first phase of the project.

DP Energy had planned to create a 325-megawatt solar farm on partially toxic land in the city’s north end.

The exact cost of the transaction was not disclosed, but the council had approved a budget of $7 million earmarked for a development that will enable the delivery of a decarbonized solution in April 2023.

The purchase amount Pancoast had confirmed came within that budget.

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READ: What happens next with the Saamis Solar Park project? (Feb. 5, 2025)

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Also on the public agenda is the potential designation of the Baker-Spalding Building as a Municipal Historic Building.

The building located at 515A North Railway St. SE anchors a group of historic commercial and residential buildings on the street.

Built in 1914, the block of buildings is located across from the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway yard.

City documents show that the building is also valued for its association with the Chinese community in Medicine Hat as a location for the Chinese National League and as a Chinese goods store from 1919 to 1947.

The Baker-Spalding Block was also highlighted as an example of a two-story Classical Revival-style building, featuring a flat roof and parapet clad in local brick with a pressed tin cornice, symmetrically placed upper window pattern, and commercial storefront features.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.

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The YouTube video stream of the Feb. 2, 2026, Medicine Hat City Council meeting is available below.