TransAlta cancels wind power project over new government rules on development

A major Alberta utility is cancelling a large wind power project because of new government rules on where such developments can be built.

TransAlta CEO John Kousinioris says the 300-megawatt Riplinger project near Cardston in southern Alberta will no longer proceed.

Kousinioris told a conference call to analysts that the reason for the decision is the provincial government's rules that create a buffer zone around protected areas and block development in what it calls pristine viewscapes.

TransAlta is also placing three other developments on hold as the government goes through a redesign of the province's electricity market.