The AUC’s electronic filing tool used to manage, search and upload application documents
Rules that set out requirements and processes for all entities under the AUC’s jurisdiction
Full list of all recently issued regulatory documents
Legislation regulating the energy and utilities sector
Current electricity and gas rates in Alberta
How the AUC reviews and determines utility rates
Resources for questions and general concerns involving regulated utilities
Answers to common utility related questions
Highlighting a few projects and applications currently being reviewed and considered
General information about creating an account and using the eFiling System
A list of active registered applications being considered
What is involved in reviewing power generation facilities in Alberta
Established process to review applications
Livestream broadcast of AUC hearings
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A trusted leader that delivers innovative and efficient regulatory solutions for Alberta
Your source for AUC news, bulletins and announcements
Electric, gas, water utilities and renewable power generation
Stories of innovative regulatory solutions for Albertans and happenings at the AUC
Various types and classes of renewable power generation in Alberta
Renewable power generation is electrical energy obtained from natural resources that can be naturally replenished or renewed within a human lifespan. There are many types and classes of renewable power generation.
The AUC has a map for central Alberta and for southern Alberta that indicates the location of wind and solar projects that have been approved, constructed and operating, have been approved by the AUC and not yet constructed, or where applicants have applied to the AUC for approval of these types of power plants. This map is updated monthly.
Download the map in a Shapefile format
Wind-powered generation is achieved through the use of wind turbines. A wind turbine is a device of varying sizes that converts the wind’s kinetic energy into electrical power. Generally, wind turbines work through wind turning propellers or vanes, the vanes rotating a drive shaft and the shaft turning a turbine that generates electrical current. Wind turbines are manufactured in a wide range of vertical and horizontal axis types. Canada’s first commercial wind power plant was opened at Cowley Ridge, near Pincher Creek, Alberta in 1993.
Solar power uses a variety of technologies to convert the sun’s light and heat energy into electricity. Direct methods include the use of photovoltaic panels which convert light into an electric current, while concentrated solar thermal systems uses lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam that can in turn create steam and turn a turbine that produces electricity.
Hydroelectricity uses water pressure and the movement of water to turn a turbine that then outputs electricity. There is a wide array of applications of hydroelectric generation, including the traditional dam and reservoir, as well as run-of-river, which uses the existing flow rate of a body of water to turn turbines that are placed in the water body. New hydroelectric technologies are also being developed to harness tidal power, where tides exist. In a traditional dam and reservoir set up, water collects in a reservoir, then using gravity is sent down large pipes to turn a turbine that produces electricity. It has the advantage of controllability in that water flow can be controlled.
Geothermal generation is similar to other steam turbine thermal power stations, however the heat is derived from the earth’s core to heat water or another working fluid, which in turn spins a turbine of a generator, producing electricity. The largest conventional resources for geothermal power in Canada are in British Columbia, the Yukon and Alberta.
Biomass generation encompasses generation using a range of natural and man-made fuels sources including thermal, chemical and biochemical. In practice biomass generation is centred on generation from the highly efficient combustion of plants or plant-based materials, or from the combustion of biofuels, which are produced from plant sugars and starches, or biodiesel, produced from leftover food products such as vegetable oils and animal fats. Generation from landfill gas is also a form of biomass generation.
Micro-generation is small-scale generation, generally close to or at the point of consumption. Alberta’s Micro-generation Regulation defines micro-generation as generation that exclusively uses sources of renewable or alternative energy and is intended to meet all or a portion of a customer’s total energy consumption at the customer’s site or aggregated sites. More information can be found on the Micro-generation page.
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