Expansion of Alberta’s energy industry beyond its hydrocarbon base continues apace. The authors of the lead article in this issue of Energy Regulation Quarterly report that “Alberta is the fastest growing jurisdiction for renewable power development in Canada.” The Alberta Electric System Operator reports that 14 per cent of the province’s power is now generated by renewables.

In “Corporate Renewable Power Purchase Agreements: The Alberta Success Story”, the authors attribute Alberta’s role as a “national leader in the renewable energy space” to several factors, including the unique deregulated wholesale market, government incentives and an abundance of electricity offtakers. Continued growth of renewable power development is expected with the recent enactment of the Electricity Statutes (Modernizing Alberta’s Electricity Grid) Amendment Act, 2022 (Bill 22) and pending related changes to the regulations.

Further diversification of Alberta’s power generation mix may come from the recent introduction of a key element of the regulatory framework for the development pf commercial electricity producing geothermal facilities in the province. Unlike some renewable energy sources, geothermal energy can be used for baseload and might therefore be expected to play an important role in the future power generation mix. In “Bringing the Heat: New Directive Advances Alberta’s Geothermal Development”, the authors review the release of Alberta Energy Regulator Directive 089: Requirements for Geothermal Resource Development. Regulatory uncertainties remain, however.

In Issue 2 of ERQ earlier this year, we announced that we were formalizing the practice of providing links to specific webinars relevant to our audience. This issue includes a link to a recent webinar on “The Duty to Disclose Information to Energy Regulators in Canada and the United States”, sponsored by the Energy Bar Association, Canadian Chapter.

This issue of ERQ concludes with a review of Gregory Berkhouse’s The Wolfberry Chronicles and Other Permian Basin Tales from the Henry Oil Company. This is more than the story of the rise to success of another intermediate E&P company and of its founder Jim Henry. Henry Oil played a central role in the modern development of the now ubiquitous fracking process – by building “a better mousetrap” — leading to the resurgence in recent decades in domestic U.S. oil production.