By Shaun Polczer for Western Standard, March 25, 2025
What started as a spark has turned into a raging prairie wildfire.
Following on the heels of a request to set aside an Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) ruling in favour of a solar farm near Caroline, more Alberta communities are mobilizing against renewable energy development in their communities.
Now residents are calling on the UCP government to implement a second moratorium — a so-called ‘Pause 2.0’ — against wind and solar projects backed by overseas developers looking to take advatntage of Alberta’s deregulated electricity market to build projects they don’t want.
Lacombe, 125 kilometres south of Edmonton, is the latest to mobilize against a proposed solar project by German-based developer Re-concept Canada, which hopes to build a 22-megawatt plant about a kilometre south of the town limits.
The Western Standard has obtained the copy of a letter sent to Lacombe-Ponoka MLA Jennifer Johnson outlining concerns from about a dozen local landowners opposed to using prime agricultural land for renewable energy projects.
“We are strongly opposed to their project and have communicated that directly to them. We now want to bring it to the attention of government ministers and officials, Lacombe County personnel (who are aware of this project), and key political figures who we are hoping can validate our concerns and work with us on a path to maintain and retain our precious farming resources,” it reads.
The proposed solar project takes up almost as much land as the now-hamlet of Caroline itself…
“This ‘Pause 2.0’ could be crafted with the explanation, “that now is the time to analyze the impacts from AUC decisions, post-moratorium, in conjunction with how sufficiently the AUC adopted those mandates and how it aligns with public approval,” he said.
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Wind Concerns is a collaboration of citizens of the Lakeland Alberta region against proposed wind turbine projects.