Alberta
Low emissions, Indigenous-owned Cascade Power Project to boost Alberta electrical grid reliability
The Cascade Power Project. Photo courtesy Kinetcor
From the Canadian Energy Centre
By Will Gibson
New 900-megawatt natural gas-fired facility to supply more than eight per cent of Alberta’s power needs
Alberta’s electrical grid is about to get a boost in reliability from a major new natural gas-fired power plant owned in part by Indigenous communities.
Next month operations are scheduled to start at the Cascade Power Project, which will have enough capacity to supply more than eight per cent of Alberta’s energy needs.
It’s good news in a province where just over one month ago an emergency alert suddenly blared on cell phones and other electronic devices warning residents to immediately reduce electricity use to avoid outages.
“Living in an energy-rich province, we sometimes take electricity for granted,” says Chana Martineau, CEO of the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation (AIOC) and member of the Frog Lake First Nation.
“Given much of the province was dealing with -40C weather at the time, that alert was a vivid reminder of the importance of having a reliable electrical grid.”
Cascade Power was the first project to receive funding through the AIOC, the provincial corporation established in 2020 to provide loan guarantees for Indigenous groups seeking partnerships in major development projects.
So far, the AIOC has underwritten more than $500 million in support. This year it has $3 billion available, up from $2 billion in 2023.
In August 2020 it provided a $93 million loan guarantee to the Indigenous Communities Consortium — comprised of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, Enoch Cree Nation, Kehewin Cree Nation, O’Chiese First Nation, Paul First Nation, and Whitefish (Goodfish) Lake First Nation — to become equity owners.
The 900-megawatt, $1.5-billion facility is scheduled to come online in March.
“It’s personally gratifying for me to see how we moved from having Indigenous communities being seen as obstacles to partners in a generation,” says Martineau.
The added capacity brought by Cascade is welcomed by the Alberta Electrical System Operator (AESO), which is responsible for the province’s electrical grid. =
“The AESO welcomes all new forms of generation into the Alberta marketplace, including renewables, thermal, storage, and others,” said Diane Kossman, a spokeswoman for the agency.
“It is imperative that Alberta continue to have sufficient dispatchable generation to serve load during peak demand periods when other forms of generation are not able to contribute in a meaningful way.”
The Cascade project also provides environmental benefits. It is a so-called “combined cycle” power facility, meaning it uses both a gas turbine and a steam turbine simultaneously to produce up to 50 per cent more electricity from the same amount of fuel than a traditional facility.
Once complete, Cascade is expected to be the largest and most efficient combined cycle power plant in Alberta, producing 62 per cent less CO2 than a coal-fired power plant and 30 per cent less CO2 than a typical coal-to-gas conversion.
“This project really is aligned with the goals of Indigenous communities on environmental performance,” says Martineau.
The partnership behind the power plant includes Axium Infrastructure, DIF Capital Partners and Kineticor Resource Corp. along with the Indigenous Communities Consortium.
The nations invested through a partnership with OPTrust, one of Canada’s largest pension funds.
“Innovation is not just what we invest in, but it is also how we invest,” said James Davis, OPTrust’s chief investment officer.
“The participation of six First Nations in the Cascade Power Project is a prime example of what is possible when investors, the government and local communities work together.”
Alberta
Constitutional lawyer spearheading separation from Ottawa urges Albertans to lobby Premier Smith for referendum
Jeffrey Rath
FREE ALBERTA NOW!
If one recalls their history, revolutions have started over the rallying cry of “no taxation without representation.”
The facts referred to below were provided by a, well educated, fellow Albertan who has culled these facts and statistics from available public records.
In Canada, of the 338 Members of Parliament, Alberta gets 34 MPs. If Alberta received the MP per population ratio of the Maritime provinces, it would get 63 MPs. If Alberta followed the formula for the “Province of Prince Edward Island” it would have 107 MPs.
Representation in the Senate is more fair to regions than the House of Commons, but Senators are not elected (as requested by western provinces), they are appointed by the Prime Minister and they serve until age 75 with no term limits. As the Liberals have formed government more often than Conservatives, the Senate is dominated by Liberals bent on hollowing out the economy of Alberta for the benefit of non-Albertans.
The makeup of the Supreme Court discriminates against Alberta; of 9 judges, Quebec and Ontario get 6. Alberta seldom receives fair settlements from the Supreme Court (all 4 western provinces get only 2 Justices)
Alberta sends $3 Billion annually more to Ottawa for the pension plan than it gets back in benefits.
In federal taxes, Alberta sends over $60 billion per year to Ottawa, and gets less than half of that back in “services”. These so called “services” include a Firearms Registry that exists only to strip Albertans of their rights to own personal property. Most so called “federal services” are seen by most Albertans as either being completely unnecessary or easily replaced by Alberta Government employees within current staffing levels.
Under the Equalization program Alberta has transferred at least $700 billion to Eastern Canada (2/3 to Quebec), and Quebec is guaranteed to receive $10 billion in payments per year regardless of Alberta’s fiscal status on an annual basis.
An interesting side note is regarding the Equalization program. Alberta, as a “have” province, gives Billions of dollars annually to “have not” provinces. In fact, Quebec and New Brunswick have huge natural gas reserves. Bureaucrats in those provinces decide it’s easier to receive welfare payments from Alberta than to develop and sell their own resources. The financial revenue is the same, but Equalization does not generate jobs. Residents of those provinces would benefit immensely from Alberta taking itself out of the present system.
Albertans are over taxed, over governed and over regulated by politicians that are clearly hostile to the interests of Alberta and the interests of the citizens of the soon to be independent Commonwealth of Alberta.
The day that Alberta leaves Canada Albertans will no longer be subject to Canadian Federal Income Tax, Carbon Tax, Excise Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Goods and Services Tax and all other Federal Levies and Tariffs including the dairy monopoly and price fixing scheme imposed by Ottawa on Alberta Farmers, Ranchers and Indigenous People. An Additional 60 BILLION a year in tax revenue will remain in Alberta kicking off economic growth in Alberta unseen in Alberta’s history. Alberta’s independence will create an independent Commonwealth with the highest GDP per capita of any country in the world. Albertans will be finally free from all of the debt and over taxation created by idiotic politicians from Quebec and Ontario who literally believe that punitive taxes on working Alberta families will change the weather.
Albertans will enjoy at LEAST a 30% jump in their standard of living and savings as a result of no longer having to support ungrateful, greedy politicians in Quebec, Ontario who take their marching orders from the self proclaimed “Laurentian Elite” and the World Economic Forum.
Every Albertan who cares about the prosperity of their family needs to write Premier Danielle Smith and request that she consult be with the Alberta Prosperity Project as to the form of the referendum question and set a referendum on independence PRIOR TO THE 15th of December of 2025.
Adult citizens of Alberta need to be allowed to vote THIS YEAR in a referendum to express their will as free, adult citizens as to whether they wish to continue to be misgoverned by politicians more beholden to foreign (non-Alberta) interests than they are to the interests of Alberta Families.
Jeffrey R.W. Rath B.A. (Hons.), LL.B. (Hons.)
Foothills, Alberta
March 17, 2025
Premier Danielle Smith issued the following statement on the swearing in of Canada’s 24th Prime Minister and his new federal cabinet.
“Now that Prime Minister Mark Carney has been officially sworn in, his first item of business should be to call a general election.
“I am extremely concerned that this cabinet includes most of same ministers responsible for the most damaging government policies levelled by Ottawa against Alberta in our over 100-year history. We are gravely concerned that plans to significantly increase the industrial carbon tax will be just as damaging to Alberta’s economy as the consumer carbon tax has been.
“The Prime Minister also has not yet condemned harmful policies such as:
- The proposed emissions cap which continues to threaten our energy sector.
- Bill C-69 which still hampers critical infrastructure projects.
- Failed bail policies which continue to put our communities at risk, undermining the safety and security that Albertans deserve.
- Gun bans that target law-abiding hunters and sport shooters.
- Open border policies which are allowing over two million people per year to enter Canada.
- The plastics ban which puts billions of dollars of investment and thousands of jobs at risk.
- Bill C-59 which bans businesses from communicating about their environmental goals.
- The electric vehicle mandate which calls for 100 percent of new vehicles sold to be electric by 2035.
- The Sustainable Jobs Act, which aims to transition energy workers to a net zero economy as they work to shut down the energy sector.
“Our province has always been a leader in innovation, economic growth, and responsible resource development. We will continue to stand up for our industries, push back against policies that unfairly target Alberta, and fight for a fair deal within Confederation.
“The Prime Minister must put Canada first and call an election immediately to ensure that whoever is leading this country has a four year mandate from all Canadians, especially in light of the ongoing tariff conflict with the U.S.”
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