Five new renewable energy projects are slated to be fully operational by the middle of 2021 and, according to the provincial government, will ensure the energy bills of Albertans remain among the lowest in the country.

“Albertans are the biggest beneficiary,” said Shannon Phillips, Alberta’s Minister of Environment and Parks, during Monday morning’s announcement. “We know now that we are going to be able to procure renewable energy at a low cost, that it will form part of the energy mix."

"When you have renewables bidding into the pool to offset other forms of energy, you end up with lower costs for consumers.”

Private companies, in partnership with First Nations, will be investing a total of approximately $1.2 billion into the five projects that include:

Potentia Renewables Inc.’s 113-megawatt Stirling Wind project near Lethbridge (in partnership with Paul First Nation and Greengate Power Corp.)

TransAlta’s Coporation’s 207-megawatt Windrise project near Fort Macleod

EDF Renewables Canada’s 202-megawatt Cypress Wind Power project near Medicine Hat (in partnership with Kainai First Nation)

Capstone Infrastructure Corp.’s 48-megawatt Buffalo Atlee wind farms near Brooks (in partnership with Sawridge First Nation)

Potentia Renewables Inc.’s 193-megawatt Jenner Wind Project (two phases) near Brooks

The wind farms will each have at least 25 per cent Indigenous ownership and are expected to collectively generate 760 megawatts of energy, enough to power up to 300,000 homes each year.

“The Kainai, the Blood Tribe, has been looking at participating in business initiatives where the creator has given us some natural resources,” explained Chief Roy Fox of Kainai First Nation. “We’ve been in the oil and gas sector for about seven decades. No damage to the soil, water, people, animals or air. This is another opportunity that we feel the creator has given us. He has provided wind in our traditional territory, most of southern Alberta, and this is the area that has the most wind, the most sunshine. So we thought it would be good if we were business partners in taking advantage with this business opportunity.”

“For too long Indigenous communities have been left out of the overall economic developments,” said Phillips. “With this program we are making sure as we build on our traditional strengths and the new economy that we also have new opportunities for Indigenous peoples.”

The provincial government commends its Renewable Electricity Program for paving the way for the new projects that are expected to create, in total, as many as 1,000 jobs.

“It will put people to work in southern Alberta. It will deliver returns for local landowners certainly throughout southern Alberta, stabilizing those farm incomes, and incomes for rural municipalities,” said Phillips. “It also provides a real economic development opportunity for Indigenous peoples in the province and makes good a promise we made through the climate leadership process.”

While Phillips admits that no energy project is environmentally benign, she says Alberta’s wind energy wildlife directives are the best in North America and the province will ensure mitigation measures are in place to protect the safety of wildlife including migratory birds.

With files from CTV’s Bill Macfarlane