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Wind power lights up Pembina Hills schools

By 2030, as part of its Climate Leadership Plan, the provincial government hopes to phase out all the coal-fired electricity generating plants and replace them with green alternatives, such as wind.
Wind turbines, such as the ones pictured above, provide all Pembina Hills Public Schools electricity needs in all of its schools and administrative buildings.
Wind turbines, such as the ones pictured above, provide all Pembina Hills Public Schools electricity needs in all of its schools and administrative buildings.

By 2030, as part of its Climate Leadership Plan, the provincial government hopes to phase out all the coal-fired electricity generating plants and replace them with green alternatives, such as wind.

Opponents of the plan say this will result in Albertans paying much higher electricity costs.

That is why the Barrhead Leader decided to talk to Pembina Hills Public Schools (PHPS), which, since the beginning of 2016, has been receiving all of its electricity for its schools and administration buildings through BluEarth Renewables’ Bull Creek Wind project northeast of Provost.

Grant Widdup, PHPS assistant secretary-treasurer, said the division’s involvement in the project stems from their membership in the Alberta Schools Commodity Purchasing Consortium (CPC).

The group was formed in 2005, with 38 school boards, to work together to purchase power. Since then, the CPC has expanded to 52 members and has added the purchase of natural gas to its mandate.

“This was shortly after deregulation and the price of power was very volatile and could fluctuate wildly,” he said.

Widdup said one of the first things the consortium did was to hire an energy consultant, EDC Associates out of Calgary, something the schools boards couldn’t afford to do on their own.

The consultant’s main focus was to reduce the long-term price risk and create more predictability when it comes to budgeting, he said.

The consultant brought back to CPC a number of options, which included buying electricity in their standard three-to-five year contracts, with any price savings coming from the group’s increased buying power and getting volume rates.

“One of the other options was to get into a long-term 25-year agreement with a wind power producer,” Widdup said, adding the concept was first piloted by three school boards.

Using this pilot project as a template the CPC initiated discussions and came to a three-year agreement signed by 25 school boards, to purchase energy from BluEnergy’s Bull Creek Power project, in 2011, as a temporary measure, until it came on line, which it did in January 2016.

The project consists of 17 wind turbines capable of producing 29.2 megawatts of electricity.

When asked if PHPS is concerned that if more of CPC’s school boards sign on to the project, there wouldn’t be enough electricity for PHPS’ needs, Widdup said no.

“They estimate there’s enough to power about 500 schools and administration buildings, so there is room for more school boards to jump onboard,” he said.

As for how the school division feels after the first year of being involved in the project, Widdup said PHPS is pleased.

Currently, the price of electricity is relatively low and there will be times, Widdup said under the current agreement that PHPS will pay above the going rate.

“When we went into this, we knew that there might be times when the market rates are lower than what we signed on for, but what we were looking for was cost certainty and that’s what we have for the next 25 years,” he said. “And we know, from our consultant, that as the coal plants are taken off-line and replaced by natural gas, the power costs over time will only increase.”

Widdup added in the future there could be the ability to have further cost savings as green energy producers sell their excess energy into the power grid or for carbon credits to brown producers, which use traditional fossil fuels to generate electricity.

“Then there is having the knowledge that we are doing something as a school division that is lessening our impact on the environment,” he said.


Barry Kerton

About the Author: Barry Kerton

Barry Kerton is the managing editor of the Barrhead Leader, joining the paper in 2014. He covers news, municipal politics and sports.
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