33 Comments
User's avatar
Frank Fulton's avatar

Trump spending $1 billion to cancel a wind project that would provide electricity for hundreds of thousand homes is truly hard to believe. If there is a logical explanation that makes any sense I'd like to hear what it is. Also, it is truly a shame that Alberta is doing everything it can to be MAPLE MAGA. Following in the footsteps of the big orange turd is not a formula for success.

Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise)'s avatar

You don’t even have to agree with the policy to see the outcome.

Cancel a project → investors pull back → capital moves.

That’s the part people miss.

Money doesn’t argue politics... it relocates.

Rebecca Lorentzen's avatar

Not all of us Albertans! Please don’t paint me with that brush. Hopefully I’m being joined by others who are getting enlightened.

Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise)'s avatar

You’re right Rebecca... and that matters.

It’s never “all of us.”

It’s always a mix of views, and that’s where change actually starts.

The direction of a place isn’t fixed... it’s decided over time by people like you speaking up.

MizWolf7146's avatar

I took advantage of Trudeau’s Greener Homes program. I got a 0% interest loan spaced out over 10 years. I got new windows and solar panels. The panels offset the increase in utilities.

Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise)'s avatar

That’s the part a lot of people miss.

You didn’t do it for politics... you did it because the numbers made sense.

That’s how real adoption happens.

Patsy Rideout's avatar

Fantastic news for Canada & Canadians!!! Elbows UP!!!!!

Dennis Benoit's avatar

Alberta’s provincial government resists common sense green energy initiatives because the UCP is a wholly owned subsidiary of US oil interests.

Even Texas, the American state Alberta Conservatives spend every day wishing they could be, has invested heavily in renewables on the down-low.

Daniele Smith can’t stop the rest of Canada from doing the right thing, escaping oil’s filthy grip as we save money and lighten up just a little on the environment.

Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise)'s avatar

Funny thing… markets don’t care about ideology.

Texas didn’t “go green” because they hugged trees... they followed the money.

Alberta used to lead in renewables deals. Now investment is down 99%.

That’s not strategy. That’s self-inflicted.

Kalyrn's avatar

Texas has very low barriers to entry in their power market so new projects didn’t get slowed down by outdated regulations. That’s why they installed solar faster. Funny thing is Alberta has a somewhat similar power market model. So we has a lot of solar projects. Until Danielle Smith decided to kill 33 billion of investment in renewable energy projects. All they had to do was nothing and they screwed it up. Never seen such incompetence, corruption and stupidity as the UPC.

Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise)'s avatar

Exactly Kalyrn... markets can work quickly when they’re left alone.

But the second policy starts shifting mid-stream, investors hit the brakes.

You don’t need to agree on politics to see that instability kills momentum.

Jim Veinot's avatar

Gee, I wonder where the electricity is going to come from to power those new data and AI centres Alberta is dreaming about. Maybe you only get out what you put in?

Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise)'s avatar

That’s the real question, Jim.

AI and data centres don’t run on wishful thinking... they need massive, reliable power.

The places that win this race will be the ones that build more capacity, not less… from every viable source.

Keith Williams's avatar

Turbines running on natural gas sucking up millions of gallons of water, co-located with the data centers.

Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise)'s avatar

There’s definitely a growing link between data centres and on-site power.

A lot of those setups use natural gas for reliability... and yes, cooling systems can be very water-intensive depending on the design.

That’s why the bigger conversation is about how to scale power + cooling efficiently as demand ramps up.

Sandi J Horton's avatar

As an Albertan, I realize that oil consumption will be around for awhile yet, but the hold up on renewables is absolutely criminal in my opinion. I would be happy to live in a house with solar panels but the cost is out of our reach. I live in a Condo Corp! So, we are investing in renewables with our extra cash!

Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise)'s avatar

That’s exactly it.

This isn’t about flipping a switch overnight... it’s about adding options over time.

When regular people want solar and can’t access it easily… that’s where something’s broken.

Jane Mattei's avatar

And Dumb Danielle and the Unfortunate Christian Party are doing what they do best - dragging the entire province of Alberta backward into a poisonous tailings pond. She already cost me and a bunch of other people as well as the City of Calgary a flagship plant that would have generated green energy and multiple other products from manure. We need to flush the damn toilet on these fringe freaks in Edmonton. Can't wait for an election.

Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise)'s avatar

That’s the part people don’t see Jane.

It’s easy to debate policy… until a real project disappears and takes economic upside with it.

That’s when it stops being theory.

Vinny's avatar

Just a thought . . . If birds can fly through the trees or in flocks of thousands without crashing, then how on earth are birds getting knocked out of the air with wind turbines. Just saying . . . Old Donny boy say there are lots of dead birds laying on the ground under these generators.

I have worries about Trumps followers in this world, not to mention his staff of ‘ring kissers’.

Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise)'s avatar

Fair question Vinny.

Bird strikes do happen with turbines...

but the data shows they’re a relatively small source compared to things like buildings, vehicles, and even domestic cats.

Like anything, it’s about mitigation and smart placement… not all-or-nothing thinking.

Andie Gast's avatar

Hey Canada! How about you trade Alberta for California. We would gladly become Canadians. And then Alberta can become the MAGA’s they’ve always wanted to be and worship the Orange turd up close and personal!

Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise)'s avatar

Careful Andie… Canada might ask for California’s sunshine and tax base as part of the deal 😄

In all seriousness, no place is one thing... it’s always a mix, and that’s where the real direction gets decided.

SickOfThis's avatar

Yep handed it to them with a pretty bow 🤦🏻‍♀️

Go Canada🇨🇦

Susan Moss's avatar

Canada so savvy!

Monica BC's avatar

We’re friendly that way 🇨🇦❤️

Jeff 🇨🇦's avatar

Maybe in other provinces, but definitely not in Doug Ford's Ontario.

Ford has spent more than $230 million of tax payer money to cancel renewable projects.

Ford talks a lot about protecting Ontario, but his actions (FOI changes, insider deals, grants to friends, etc.) are very Trump-like.

Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise)'s avatar

You’re right Jeff... this isn’t isolated to one province.

When projects get pulled after the fact, it sends a message to investors: nothing is guaranteed.

That uncertainty is what slows everything down.

Pasqualino's avatar

Ironically and Sadly…

America was well on the way…

To reducing our dependence on fossil fuels…

It takes a generation to change habits…

But DJT, the Orange Idiot…

Pulled us back almost 50 years…

To 1970s…

When long gas lines were an everyday occurrence…

America had a plan…

We weren’t getting there fast enough…

But we had a plan…

Wind, solar and even new nuclear energy…

Became viable and cost effective alternatives to oil…

And there’s no Straight of Hormuz…

Between here and the Sun…

But Trump and his billionaire buddies were not included…

Oil executives would lose their influence…

All the Middle East oil shahs and barons would lose their value…

All of Trump’s Saudi and Qatari business deals…

Would disappear…

America has a new Energy Crises…

And a new War…

Not an excursion…

Negotiated by unqualified Real Estate brokers…

Who have ulterior motives for their own wealth…

That’s what this mess is all about…

The War, The Energy Crises…

It’s all about making Trump and his billionaire buddies…

Richer and richer…

At the expense of everyone else in the world…

Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise)'s avatar

There’s definitely a bigger-picture issue in what you’re saying.

Energy transitions take time... and consistency.

When policy shifts back and forth, it slows everything down.

What I find more interesting is the result...

when one place pulls back, the investment doesn’t stop… it just moves somewhere else.

HowardNYC's avatar

facts?

footnotes linking to sources?

Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise)'s avatar

I write to make the signal clear... not to bury people in links.

Everything referenced here is based on publicly available information for anyone who wants to dig deeper.

HowardNYC's avatar

the problem being we have had so many claims of "fact" which turn out to without support from reality

also: being able to read further, get more understanding, find out what there is to be learned

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“Beauty of web-based content. By way of a hyperlink, easily leveraging everyone else’s hard effort to compose readable prose and we can turn all of that into background briefings for our own stuff. Any of your posts of a casual hundred words, anchored upon millions ‘n millions of words.”

—HowardNYC’s Seventeenth Rule of Blogging