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  • February 18, 2025
Nearby landowners are concerned about Saamis Solar’s timeframe

Nearby landowners are concerned about Saamis Solar’s timeframe

By Collin Gallant on December 7, 2024.

A map of the northeast corner of the planned Saamis Solar Park in Medicine Hat shows the proximity of three landowners applying to intervene in an application by the city of Medicine Hat to purchase and build the 1,600-acre project in phases . the Alberta Utilities Commission

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Private landowners near the Saamis Solar Park site are joining the regulatory challenge to the city of Medicine Hat’s bid to buy the project, but appear to be arguing that the entire 1,600-acre facility would not be built quickly enough. Last month, a group of concerned citizens registered with the Alberta Utilities Commission, arguing that it should not be built at all by the city’s power company. On the same day and last month through the same Calgary law firm, members of the “Medicine Hat Land Developers” group signed up to participate in an AUC hearing on the city’s current purchase application. They argue that the original permit hearing, led by DP Energy, which developed the project, was overlooked by the likely fact that the city was already planning to purchase the project. Furthermore, a new proposal to build in phases would effectively block utilities on their property for much longer than if the project were to proceed in full. “This would change one of the fundamental bases on which the AUC (originally) approved the solar project,” reads a submission from law firm McLennan Ross. The group includes local construction chief Rick Wahl, real estate developer Gary Stimson and two other men with interests in a parcel near the northeast project. McLennan Ross also represents the Medicine Hat Utility Ratepayers Association, which has joined the AUC to argue that the project is not economically viable and that the city failed to consult stakeholders. The city has not officially responded to the allegations, but has said the project is worthwhile and that more information will be made public following an AUC decision. Approval of phased construction and the transfer itself are conditions of the purchase agreement with DP Energy announced in August, after DP obtained the project’s initial AUC approval in July. At that hearing, the developers group argued that the scope of the 1,600-acre proposal should be cut in half to keep routes open for future utilities to their land, which they eventually hope to develop or sell as potential residential areas. But without any expectation that this could happen for decades, the AUC approved the entire footprint. Now the city of Medicine Hat is applying to purchase the project and build it in smaller phases, likely from the west (furthest from the parcels) to the east. That could potentially add five to 10 years to the timeline by which the project could be dismantled and the land put to other uses. City officials say the plan is to build the solar panels in manageable phases, starting with an array of about a quarter, depending on economic conditions and power plant operations. Once built, solar energy installations have an expected operational life of 25 to 30 years. A city-issued municipal development permit for the project, issued to DP Energy, refers to a 40-year period for planning purposes, while landowners now say any delay in solar construction will also delay their ability to maintain their land . “The substantial impact on the development potential of the MHLD group’s lands … could not be raised or addressed during the (initial) approval process,” MHLD argues in its submission. “Instead, the city waited behind the scenes while DP Energy went through the approval process … and is now asking the commission to let it step into DP Energy’s shoes.” Before the AUC, DP Energy successfully argued against concerns from environmentalists, an oil company and the developers that the land could not be used simultaneously for oil extraction, as natural space and as a housing project. Since there were plans to build subdivisions currently or within a 30-year time frame, the Saamis proposal should proceed, the AUC decided. The project was originally proposed by DP Energy and primarily involved a capped manure residue pond left over from the Westco plant north of Crescent Heights and now owned by Viterra. That was given initial development permission because renewable energy facilities can be used on land designated as ‘future urban’ zones – a collective term for land with no fixed purpose or other use. However, in 2020 the plan expanded from a 200-megawatt array to 325 MW when, the AUC hearing heard, Viterra opened talks to lease more land in the area. The City Council approved $7 million in reserve spending in April 2023, likely related to the purchase price of the solar farm plan. 24
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