Alberta is putting a booming renewable energy industry at risk and setting a double standard in the way it treats renewable and fossil fuel development, clean energy groups said today, after the province slapped a seven-month moratorium on new solar and wind projects over a megawatt in size. The decision could erode investor confidence and undermine the “Alberta advantage” in the province that accounted for 75% of the growth in Canada’s renewable energy sector last year, the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA) warned in a release. The association is meeting with provincial politicians and regulators “with the aim of minimizing the duration of the moratorium and creating clarity on its consequences,” the release added. Other groups were sharper in their criticism “According to the Alberta Premier, massive tailings spillsthat endanger Indigenous communities don’t constitute an emergency—but the potential for expanding cost-effective and proven climate solutions at a time when Canada is burning somehow poses a threat,” added Climate Action Network-Canada Executive Director Caroline Brouillette. "Other Conservative premiers have recognized the vast opportunities and economic benefits of affordable renewable energy, and so have Alberta communities,” Brouillette said in an email. But Premier Danielle Smith “seems more interested in pursuing her own ideology than lowering energy costs for Albertans, no matter the lost job opportunities and the damage to investor confidence.” Binnu Jeyakumar, electricity director at the Calgary-based Pembina Institute, said the moratorium would put 91 projects worth C$25 billion at risk, during a summer when wildfires and smoke have made “the growing costs of climate change all too real for Albertans and Canadians.” The moratorium “creates uncertainty around future investments while adding unnecessary red tape to these projects,” Jeyakumar said in a release. “While other provinces with Conservative governments like Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario have created calls for new renewable investments, adding wind and solar to their grids to lower the costs of electricity for consumers, Alberta appears to be heading in the opposite direction.”            https://www.theenergymix.com/2023/08/03/alberta-slaps-6-month-moratorium-on-solar-and-wind-puts-booming-industry-at-risk/?utm_source=The+Energy+Mix&utm_campaign=881f537c61-TEM_RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_dc146fb5ca-881f537c61-509990701