Alberta investing $18M to complete energy-efficient upgrades

(Pexels)

The Alberta government is lending a hand to communities to help them implement costly and challenging upgrades to public buildings.

In an announcement on Thursday, Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz said the UCP government was providing funding to support communities that may not have the resources to do so.

"This will help towns and cities upgrade facilities and reduce emissions while saving money on their power bills," she said.

The $18-million investment, which comes from Alberta's Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program, will help communities hire staff, replace windows, upgrade lights and make other improvements to arenas, community centres and other public buildings.

The money will also assist the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre (MCCAC) to expand its suite of programs.

"Municipalities recognize the risks of climate change and are active participants in programs that reduce impacts for current and future generations," said Paul McLauchlin, president of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta.

"We are pleased to see this ongoing support which will ensure rural municipalities can continue to develop energy security and cost savings."

With the government's support, the MCCAC's recreation conservation program helped complete upgrades at Calgary's Max Bell Centre in 2022 and install an ice plant replacement at the Barrhead Arena.

To date, the MCCAC's work has supported 1,036 jobs and 943 clean-energy projects across 401 organizations, including 170 municipalities.

Further information about the MCCAC can be found online.

At Thursday's press conference, Schulz also took a shot at Canada's environment minister, Steven Guilbeault.

"Sometimes, it feels like Ottawa is announcing new regulations and rules every week, adding more and more costs onto Alberta's industries, municipalities and the families who call these communities home," she said.

"We often do not hear Minister Guilbeault tell Albertans how much their bills and taxes will go up when he announces these new policies. We certainly don't hear the prime minister mention how much his latest scheme will add to communities that are simply trying to keep the lights on in their buildings."

Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada, takes issue with that comment and the Alberta government's intention to ignore impending federal regulations that aim to have a net-zero grid by 2035.

"The easiest way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally is with cleaning up the electricity grid, and then transferring a bunch of things now that we do with oil and gas to using electricity," he said.

"So that's electric vehicles, using heat pumps to warm and cool your home. So cleaning up the grid is key, and the Government of Canada has the same target as the government of the United States of the European Union, which is to get to a clean grid by 2035.

"That gives us time to make that happen and frankly, the federal government is offering billions of dollars to help them make that transition."

Stewart added the Alberta government's announcement this week that it was going to start rationing water in anticipation of another drought without a clear plan was irresponsible.

"The fire chief of Alberta wrote to the government, begging them for a plan to deal with wildfires, which they say are getting evermore extreme," Stewart said.

"That trend is going to continue until we deal with climate change. So to hear the Government of Alberta saying to the federal government, you know, please don't try and do anything about climate change, to me, that's not good for anyone."

On the topic of drought, Schulz says work is being done to look at how water allocation licenses will be handled.

"We reached out to municipalities and other major water users so that we could get a handle on how much of the water is being used right now, how much extra do all these major water users have in their current allocations to maybe redirect to other users in the drought we're expecting," Schulz said.

"It's significant, but in the years where we've had this type of drought in the early 2000s, Alberta was really able to navigate it by doing this exact thing by bringing all major water users together in a collaborative approach."