Welcome to this week's edition of IPPSA Intelligence! |
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Alberta Electric System Operator |
AESO Publishes Busy Week of REM, GRIP, and Reliability Standards Deadlines Market & Regulation The AESO has a heavy consultation calendar converging in the final week of June. Key items include June 22 stakeholder sessions on market power mitigation for energy storage and hydro under the Restructured Energy Market, and the Cost of New Entry study update — both directly consequential for how generators will be compensated under REM. A June 23 REM IT Systems Working Group kicks off monthly sessions on market submissions and the new API. June 24 deadlines cover FAC-002 and FAC-008 reliability standards amendments plus GRIP requirements. The AESO also released a new guide on connection requirements for transmission-connected data centres, reflecting accelerating interest from that sector. |
Millar Western's 6 MW Whitecourt Biomass Unit Added to AESO Supply Registry Renewables Millar Western Forest Products Ltd. has had a 6 MW transmission-connected biomass generator at Whitecourt added to the AESO's Current Supply & Demand page, effective June 19. The addition is modest in scale but adds dispatchable, baseload-eligible renewable capacity to the Alberta grid — the kind of firm generation that complements the growing share of intermittent wind and solar on the system. |
Alberta Promotes Sovereign AI Infrastructure and Data Centre Investment at VivaTech 2026 Policy & Transition Minister of Technology and Innovation Nate Glubish attended VivaTech 2026 in Paris, delivering a keynote at the Canadian Pavilion and holding a bilateral meeting with German Federal Minister Dorothée Bär on AI and digital infrastructure collaboration. Alberta is actively marketing its 1+ GW of AI data centre capacity in the pipeline, citing energy availability, cold climate, and a modernized privacy framework as competitive advantages. For Alberta's power generators, this international pitch directly translates into load growth expectations — data centres are shaping up to be a meaningful demand driver for the province's electricity market. |
AltaLink Files AUC Application to Restructure as BHE AltaLink Ltd., Targeting Q4 2026 Completion Electricity AltaLink, L.P. filed an application with the Alberta Utilities Commission on June 18 to reorganize its corporate structure, with BHE AltaLink Ltd. — to be renamed AltaLink Ltd. — becoming the regulated transmission utility holding all assets currently under ALP, including the KainaiLink and PiikaniLink partnership interests. The transaction is structured as a plan of arrangement under Alberta's Business Corporations Act, requires AUC approval by September 2026, and is expected to close in Q4 2026. Bond terms are unchanged and no credit rating impact is anticipated. For Alberta's market, this is an internal ownership restructuring at the province's largest transmission provider, not a change in operational control or regulatory obligations. |
Taiwan Delegation Visits Alberta Energy Regulator and Calgary to Explore Geothermal and Hydrogen Collaboration Electricity, Generation & Infrastructure A delegation from Taiwan's Energy Administration, led by Director General Chih-Wei Wu, visited Canada in June 2026 for the Taiwan-Canada Energy Working Group Meeting with Natural Resources Canada counterparts, with discussions centred on geothermal power and blue hydrogen. The delegation participated in a Calgary Economic Development roundtable and met with the Alberta Energy Regulator to examine regulatory frameworks for geothermal and hydrogen deployment. Alberta's geothermal potential and hydrogen infrastructure were specific areas of Taiwanese interest, offering a modest but real signal of Alberta's growing profile as a destination for clean energy technology partnership. |
CIB Closes $164.4M Financing for Rose Valley Wind, Enabling Indigenous Majority Ownership in Saskatchewan Renewables The Canada Infrastructure Bank reached financial close on a $128M project loan and a $36.4M Indigenous equity loan for the 210 MW Rose Valley Wind project near Assiniboia, Saskatchewan. M-Squared Renewables, owned by ten First Nations including the nine Meadow Lake Tribal Council nations and Mistawasis Nêhiyawak, holds majority ownership enabled by the CIB's equity loan. The project has a power purchase agreement with SaskPower, was selected through SaskPower's 2024 RFP, and is expected to cut approximately 297,807 tonnes of emissions annually. Senior lenders include Desjardins and KfW IPEX-Bank. The CIB equity loan model used here is directly analogous to structures that could be applied to Indigenous participation in future Alberta generation projects. |
Canadian Climate Institute Warns BC Faces Near-90% Industrial Electricity Shortfall by 2035 Electricity A Canadian Climate Institute report released June 17 found that if only half of B.C.'s proposed industrial projects proceed, the province would face a 110% industrial electricity shortfall by 2035 — second-worst in Canada after Alberta, which faces a gap more than three times its industrial supply capacity. Even accounting for BC Hydro's latest grid plans, including 1,100 MW of new wind contracts and a $1B efficiency investment, researchers say the gap shrinks only to just below 90%. The report points to LNG terminals and data centres as the largest sources of demand uncertainty, and calls on Ottawa to strengthen interties, incentivize industrial demand flexibility, and expand CIB financing. Alberta's own supply adequacy under comparable industrial growth assumptions is flagged as even more strained than B.C.'s. |
BC Hydro Breaks Ground on Revelstoke Unit 6, Adding 500 MW of Clean Hydro Capacity Generation & Infrastructure BC Hydro has begun construction of a sixth generating unit at Revelstoke Generating Station, adding 500 MW within the existing facility footprint. Combined with upgrades at G.M. Shrum, Mica, and several other stations, BC Hydro's optimization program targets over 1,000 MW of additional capacity — approximately a 7% increase in the utility's total supply. The Revelstoke work involves installing a new 500 MW generating unit in an existing turbine bay, a new penstock on the dam face, and electrical upgrades. The project is part of the newly announced Powering Growth, Fueling Opportunity strategy. This build-out of firm hydro capacity in B.C. is worth watching from Alberta's perspective given interconnection dynamics and potential future energy trading. |
BC Energy Minister Signals Serious Review of Site E Dam and New Bute Inlet Hydro Project Electricity B.C. Energy Minister Adrian Dix confirmed the province is "seriously" re-examining the Site E dam at the Peace-Alces river confluence — a project originally proposed in 1958 with up to 750 MW of capacity — alongside a separate 900 MW project near Bute Inlet. No construction decisions have been made; technical review comes first. The province plans fall legislation to amend the Clean Energy Act, which currently prohibits both sites. Dix cited projected demand growth of 20% by 2030 and 50% by 2050 as the driver. For Alberta, B.C.'s turn toward large hydro as a supply solution — rather than market procurement — reinforces the divergence in western Canadian power market philosophy, though major new hydro capacity on the BC side of the intertie could affect future import-export dynamics. |
Nova Scotia Premier Rules Out AI Data Centres for Now, Citing Energy Constraints Policy & Transition Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said his province is not actively pursuing AI data centres, citing current energy availability as a limiting factor. Houston said any future consideration would require a full evaluation ensuring no risk to the provincial grid or ratepayers, and pointed to the offshore Wind West project as a prerequisite before the conversation becomes relevant. The contrast with Alberta is stark: while Nova Scotia is pumping the brakes, Alberta is actively marketing over 1 GW of data centre capacity in the pipeline internationally. This further concentrates data centre investment interest in Alberta, amplifying the load growth outlook for the province's power market. |
FERC Acts on Large Load Integration Reliability; NERC to File New Standards by End of 2026 Market & Regulation At its June 18 open meeting, FERC took action requiring RTOs and ISOs to apply study procedures and operational requirements that account for the unique grid reliability risks posed by large loads — primarily data centres and cryptocurrency mining operations. FERC's orders do not yet invoke Section 215 reliability authority, but commissioners flagged NERC's parallel Large Loads Action Plan, which targets new registration criteria and foundational reliability standards for FERC filing by year-end 2026. Alberta, operating outside FERC jurisdiction, is nonetheless developing its own GRIP requirements for large transmission-connected loads — the AESO's June 24 stakeholder session on that topic lands in the same week as FERC's move, suggesting alignment in the direction both regulators are heading. |
U.S. Utility CEOs Sit on Nearly $1B in Stock Pay as Grid Upgrade Spending Heads Toward $1 Trillion Economic & Finance A Reuters analysis found the 15 largest U.S. utility CEOs hold a combined $993 million in unvested stock-based compensation, driven by the regulated utility model where capital spending on regulator-approved infrastructure directly grows the asset base and guaranteed returns. Grid upgrade spending across the U.S. is projected to exceed $1 trillion over the next decade. The S&P 500 Utilities index is up more than 30% since early 2024. Monthly electricity rates are up 10% nationally this year. NextEra's $67 billion acquisition of Dominion Energy was the headline deal. The context matters for Alberta: the U.S. regulated utility model — where CEO pay rises with capex — is structurally opposite to Alberta's competitive merchant model, where investor returns depend on market outcomes, not guaranteed rate base growth. |
IPPSA's Mandate IPPSA's mission is to convene industry, providing information, resources, and a forum for knowledge sharing, and to create opportunities for dialogue, collaboration, and education. This newsletter is meant to inform members but not advocate for specific outcomes. We always appreciate your feedback at info@ippsa.com. |
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