
Once powered primarily by coal, Alberta now gets more electricity from renewables
CBC
Less than a decade ago, Alberta relied on coal for the majority of its electricity needs.
Today, the province gets more power from wind, solar and hydro.
That's according to the latest data from the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO).
"For the first time, renewable generation, at 12.6 per cent of total generation, provided more electricity than coal," reads the AESO annual market statistics report for 2022.
"When you look back in time, it's a pretty amazing and rapid change for our province," said Blake Shaffer, an economist with the University of Calgary, who specializes in electricity markets and climate policy.
The shift has been driven primarily by the rapid phaseout of coal-fired power plants in Alberta.
Some coal plants have been retired while others have been converted to run on natural gas.
Natural gas now provides nearly three-quarters of the province's electricity.
Wind and solar power have also grown, over the past few years in particular, while hydroelectric power has remained steady.
Together, those three sources of renewable energy now generate more electricity than coal.
Back in 2015, the Alberta government announced a plan to eliminate coal power by 2030, and that plan is years ahead of schedule.
In 2014, more than half of the province's electricity was produced from 18 coal-fired generators.
Today, there are only two remaining power plants in Alberta that run exclusively on coal.
Shaffer expects the growth in renewable power generation to accelerate in 2023.