A Wisconsin appeals court effectively struck down numerous municipal ordinances that have slowed the development of wind energy, lawyers said.
Local governments cannot pass broad rules dictating how far wind turbines must be from other buildings, how tall they can be or how much noise they can produce, the Waukesha-based District 2 Court of Appeals ruled.
Instead, municipalities must consider each project on a case-by-case basis and only restrict them to protect public health or in a way that does not affect a system's cost or efficiency, the court said.
The decision struck down a Calumet County ordinance that set height, noise and setback requirements for turbines, but lawyers said its impact would be felt statewide.
Curt Pawlisch, a Madison lawyer who lobbies on behalf of wind energy advocates, said the ruling effectively invalidates roughly a dozen different ordinances adopted by counties, towns and other municipalities.
"All the ordinances that tried to adopt standards of general applicability are out the window," he said.
Wind energy advocates say the local rules have stalled numerous projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars, slowing investment in a renewable energy and killing potential jobs. Supporters say they have protected nearby properties from a negative effects such as loud noise.
State lawmakers are considering a bill that would require the Public Service Commission to set uniform rules for the projects statewide and prohibit municipalities from adopting stricter regulations. Right now, the commission only approves the largest projects, those capable of producing more than 100 megawatts of electricity.
The Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities voted 10-2 last month for the bill, which is backed by business, labor, environmental and farm groups.
Rep. Jim Soletski, D-Green Bay and a bill sponsor, said he hoped it would pass both houses of the Legislature later this year and the recent ruling gives it more momentum. Some lawmakers from areas with restrictive ordinances had opposed the bill but now may have reason to support it, he said.
Uniform rules are still needed statewide because it's unclear how each municipality will apply the decision, Pawlisch said.
A group called the Coalition for Wisconsin Environmental Stewardship has formed to oppose a statewide standard. The group says improperly sited wind farms can hurt property values, create too much noise and even send constantly flickering shadows into homes.
The ruling involved farmers who wanted to add a few wind turbines to their farm so they could sell power back to a utility to generate income.
When Calumet County learned of the proposal in 2004, it put a moratorium on new wind turbines and then adopted an ordinance restricting them. The farmers filed a lawsuit claiming the county exceeded its authority.
The appeals court agreed, saying state law promotes alternative energy sources such as wind and discourages restrictive local regulations.
"The court got it right," said Elizabeth Rich, a lawyer for the farmers. "There is a strong policy favoring renewable energy sources like wind in Wisconsin and not favoring a crazy quilt of local ordinances trying to regulate wind in different ways in each municipality."
The wind turbines can't be built just yet in Calumet County. The case now goes back to a lower court for additional proceedings.
Alberta Capacity Market Overhaul faces scrutiny over electricity costs, reliability targets, investor certainty, and AESO design, as UCP reviews NDP reforms, renewables integration, and deregulated energy-only alternatives impacting generators, ratepayers, and future power price volatility.
Key Points
A shift paying generators for capacity and energy to improve reliability; critics warn of higher electricity costs.
✅ UCP reviewing NDP plan and subsidies amid market uncertainty
✅ AESO cites reliability needs as coal retires, renewables grow
✅ Critics predict overprocurement and premature launch cost spikes
Jason Kenney's government is facing renewed pressure to cancel a massive overhaul of Alberta's power market that one player says will needlessly spike costs by hundreds of millions of dollars, amid an electricity sector in profound change today.
Nick Clark, who owns the Calgary-based electricity retailer Spot Power, has sent the Alberta government an open letter urging it to walk away from the electricity market changes proposed by the former NDP government.
"How can you encourage new industry to open up when one of their raw material costs will increase so dramatically?" Clark said. "The capacity market will add more costs to the consumer and it will be a spiral downwards."
But NDP Leader Rachel Notley, whose government ushered in the changes, said fears over dramatic cost increases are unfounded.
"There are some players within the current electricity regime who have a vested interest in maintaining the current situation," Notley said
Kenney's UCP vowed during the recent election to review the current and proposed electricity market options, as the electricity market heads for a reshuffle, with plans to report on its findings within 90 days.
The party also promised to scrap subsidies for renewable power, while ensuring "a market-based electricity system" that emphasizes competition in Alberta's electricity market for consumers.
The New Democrats had opted to scrap the current deregulated power market — in place since the Klein era — after phasing out coal-fired generation and ushering in new renewable power as part of changes in how Alberta produces and pays for electricity under their climate change strategy.
The Alberta Electric System Operator, which oversees the grid, says the province will need new sources of electricity to replace shuttered coal plants and backstop wind and solar generators, while meeting new consumer demand.
After consulting with power companies and investors, the AESO concluded in late 2016 the electricity market couldn't attract enough investment to build the needed power generation under the current model.
The AESO said at the time investors were concerned their revenues would be uncertain once new plants are running. It recommended what's known as a capacity market, which compensates power generators for having the ability to produce electricity, even when they're not producing it.
In other words, producers would collect revenue for selling electricity into the grid and, separately, for having the capacity to produce power as a backstop, ensuring the lights stay on. Power generators would use this second source of income to help cover plant construction costs.
Clark said the complex system introduces unnecessary costs, which he believes would hurt consumers in the end. He said what's preventing investment in the power market is uncertainty over how the market will be structured in the future.
"What investors need to see in this market is price certainty, regulatory ease, and where the money they're putting into the marketplace is not at risk," he said.
"They can risk their own money, but if in fact the government comes in and changes the policy as it was doing, then money stayed away from the province."
Notley said a capacity market would not increase power bills but would avoid big price swings, with protections like a consumer price cap on power bills also debated, while bringing greener sources of energy into Alberta's grid.
"Moving back to the [deregulated] energy-only market would make a lot of money for a few people, and put consumers, both industrial and residential, at great risk."
Clark disagrees, citing Enmax's recent submissions to the Alberta Utilities Commission, in which the utility argues the proposed design of the capacity market is flawed.
In its submissions to the commission, which is considering the future of Alberta's power market, Enmax says the proposed system would overestimate the amount of generation capacity the province will need in the future. It says the calculation could result in Alberta procuring too much capacity.
The City of Calgary-owned utility says this could drive up costs by anywhere from $147 million to $849 million a year. It says a more conservative calculation of future electricity demand could avoid the extra expense.
An analysis by a Calgary energy consulting firm suggests a different feature of the proposed power market overhaul could also lead to a massive spike in costs.
EDC Associates, hired by the Consumers' Coalition of Alberta, argues the proposal to launch the new system in November 2021 may be premature, because it could bring in additional supplies of electricity before they're needed.
The consultant's report, also filed with the Alberta Utilities Commission, estimates the early launch date could require customers to pay 40 per cent more for electricity amid rising electricity prices in the province — potentially an extra $1.4 billion — in 2021/22.
"The target implementation date is politically driven by the previous government," said Duane Reid-Carlson, president of EDC Associates.
Reid-Carlson recommends delaying the launch date by several years and making another tweak: reducing the proposed target for system reliability, which would scale back the amount of power generation needed to backstop renewable sources.
"You could get a result in the capacity market that would give a similar cost to consumers that the [deregulated] energy-only market design would have done otherwise," he said.
"You could have a better risk profile associated with the capacity market that would serve consumers better through lower cost, lower price volatility, and it would serve generators better by giving them better access to capital at lower costs."
The UCP government did not respond to a request for comment.
Ontario Comprehensive Electricity Plan delivers Global Adjustment reductions for industrial and commercial non-RPP customers, lowering electricity rates, shifting renewable energy costs, and enhancing competitiveness across Ontario businesses in 2022, with additional 4 percent savings.
Key Points
Ontario's plan lowers Global Adjustment by shifting renewable costs, cutting industrial and commercial bills 15-17%.
✅ Shifts above-market non-hydro renewable costs to the Province
✅ Reduces GA for industrial and commercial non-RPP customers
✅ Additional 4% savings on 2022 bills after GA deferral
As of January 1, 2022, industrial and commercial electricity customers will benefit from the full savings introduced through the Ontario government’s Comprehensive Electricity Plan, which supports stable electricity pricing for industrial and commercial companies, announced in Budget 2020, and first implemented in January 2021. This year customers could see an additional four percent savings compared to their bills last year, bringing the full savings from the Comprehensive Electricity Plan to between 15 and 17 per cent, making Ontario a more competitive place to do business.
“Our Comprehensive Electricity Plan has helped reverse the trend of skyrocketing electricity prices that drove jobs out of Ontario,” said Todd Smith, Minister of Energy. “Over 50,000 customers are benefiting from our government’s plan which has reduced electricity rates on clean and reliable power, allowing them to focus on reinvesting in their operations and creating jobs here at home.”
Starting on January 1, 2021, the Comprehensive Electricity Plan reduced overall Global Adjustment (GA) costs for industrial and commercial customers who do not participate in the Regulated Price Plan (RPP) by shifting the forecast above-market costs of non-hydro renewable energy, such as wind, solar and bioenergy, from the rate base to the Province, alongside energy-efficiency programs that complement demand reduction efforts.
“Since taking office, our government has listened to job creators and worked to lower the costs of doing business in the province. Through these significant reductions in electricity prices through the Comprehensive Electricity Plan, customers all across Ontario will benefit from significant savings in their business operations in 2022,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “By continuing to reduce electricity costs, lowering taxes, and cutting red tape our government has reduced the cost of doing business in Ontario by nearly $7 billion annually to ensure that we remain competitive, innovative and poised for economic recovery.”
As part of its COVID response, including electricity relief for families and small businesses, Ontario had deferred a portion of GA between April and June 2020 for industrial and non-RPP commercial customers, with more than 50,000 customers benefiting. Those same businesses paid back these deferred GA costs over 12 months, between January 2021 and December 2021, while the province prepared to extend disconnect moratoriums for residential customers.
During the pandemic, residential electricity use rose even as overall consumption dropped, underscoring shifts in load patterns.
Now that the GA deferral repayment period is over, industrial and non-RPP commercial customers will benefit from the full cost reductions provided to them by the Comprehensive Electricity Plan, alongside temporary off-peak rate relief that supported families and small businesses. This means that, beginning January 1, 2022, these businesses could see an additional four per cent savings on their bills compared to 2021, as new ultra-low overnight pricing options emerge depending on their location and consumption.
Hydro One Power Restoration showcases outage recovery after a severe windstorm, with crews repairing downed power lines, broken poles and crossarms, partnering with utilities and contractors to boost grid resilience and promote emergency kit preparedness.
Key Points
A coordinated response by Hydro One and partners to repair storm damage, restore outages, strengthen grid resilience.
✅ Crews repaired downed lines, broken poles, and crossarms
✅ Partners and contractors aided rapid outage restoration
✅ Investments improve grid resilience and emergency readiness
Hydro One crews have restored power to more than 277,000 customers following back-to-back storms, with impacts felt in communities like Sudbury where local crews worked to reconnect service, including a damaging windstorm on that caused 57 broken poles, 27 broken crossarms, as well as downed power lines and fallen trees on lines. Hydro One crews restored power to more than 140,000 customers within 24 hours of Friday's windstorm, even as Toronto outages persisted for some customers elsewhere.
'We understand power outages bring life to a halt, which is why we are continuously improving our storm response, as employee COVID-19 support demonstrated, while making smart investments in a resilient, reliable and sustainable electricity system to energize life for families, businesses and communities for years to come,' said David Lebeter, Chief Operating Officer, Hydro One. 'We thank our customers for their patience as our crews worked tirelessly, alongside our utility partners and contractors, including Ontario crews in Florida, to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible.'
Hydro One thanks all of its utility partners and contractors who assisted with restoration efforts following the windstorm (alongside similar Quebec outages that highlighted the broader impact), including Durham High Voltage, EPCOR, ERTH Power, K-Line Construction Ltd., Lakeland Power Distribution Ltd., North Bay Hydro, Sproule Powerline Construction Ltd. and Valard Construction.
Hydro One encourages customers to restock their emergency kits following these storms, which utilities such as BC Hydro have also characterized as atypical, and to be aware of support programs like our pandemic relief fund that can help during difficult periods, to ensure they're prepared for an emergency or extended power outage.
BC-Alberta Electricity Restrictions spotlight interprovincial energy tensions, limiting power exports and affecting grid reliability, energy sharing, and climate goals, while raising questions about federal-provincial coordination, smart grids, and storage investments.
Key Points
Policies limiting Alberta's power exports to provinces like BC, prioritizing local demand and affecting grid reliability.
✅ Prioritizes Alberta load over interprovincial power exports
✅ Risks to BC peak demand support and outage resilience
✅ Pressures for federal-provincial coordination and smart-grid investment
In a move that underscores the complexities of Canada's interprovincial energy relationships, the government of British Columbia (B.C.) has formally expressed concerns over recent electricity restrictions imposed by Alberta after it suspended electricity purchase talks with B.C., amid ongoing regional coordination challenges.
Background: Alberta's Electricity Restrictions
Alberta, traditionally reliant on coal and natural gas for electricity generation, has been undergoing a transition towards more sustainable energy sources as it pursues a path to clean electricity in the province.
In response, Alberta introduced restrictions on electricity exports, aiming to prioritize local consumption and stabilize its energy market and has proposed electricity market changes to address structural issues.
B.C.'s Position: Ensuring Energy Reliability and Cooperation
British Columbia, with its diverse energy portfolio and commitment to sustainability, has historically relied on the ability to import electricity from Alberta, especially during periods of high demand or unforeseen shortfalls. The recent restrictions threaten this reliability, prompting B.C.'s government to take action amid an electricity market reshuffle now underway.
B.C. officials have articulated that access to Alberta's electricity is crucial, particularly during outages or times when local generation does not meet demand. The ability to share electricity among provinces ensures a stable and resilient energy system, benefiting consumers and supporting economic activities, including critical minerals operations, that depend on consistent power supply.
Moreover, B.C. has expressed concerns that Alberta's restrictions could set a precedent that might affect future interprovincial energy agreements. Such a precedent could complicate collaborative efforts aimed at achieving national energy goals, including sustainability targets and infrastructure development.
Broader Implications: National Energy Strategy and Climate Goals
The dispute between B.C. and Alberta over electricity exports highlights the absence of a cohesive national energy strategy, as external pressures, including electricity exports at risk, add complexity. While provinces have jurisdiction over their energy resources, the interconnected nature of Canada's power grids necessitates coordinated policies that balance local priorities with national interests.
This situation also underscores the challenges Canada faces in meeting its climate objectives. Transitioning to renewable energy sources requires not only technological innovation but also collaborative policies that ensure energy reliability and affordability across provincial boundaries, as rising electricity prices in Alberta demonstrate.
Potential Path Forward: Dialogue and Negotiation
Addressing the concerns arising from Alberta's electricity restrictions requires a nuanced approach that considers the interests of all stakeholders. Open dialogue between provincial governments is essential to identify solutions that uphold the principles of energy reliability, economic cooperation, and environmental sustainability.
One potential avenue is the establishment of a federal-provincial task force dedicated to energy coordination. Such a body could facilitate discussions on resource sharing, infrastructure investments, and policy harmonization, aiming to prevent conflicts and promote mutual benefits.
Additionally, exploring technological solutions, such as smart grids and energy storage systems, could enhance the flexibility and resilience of interprovincial energy exchanges. Investments in these technologies may reduce the dependency on traditional export mechanisms, offering more dynamic and responsive energy management strategies.
The tensions between British Columbia and Alberta over electricity restrictions serve as a microcosm of the broader challenges facing Canada's energy sector. Balancing provincial autonomy with national interests, ensuring equitable access to energy resources, and achieving climate goals require collaborative efforts and innovative solutions. As the situation develops, stakeholders across the political, economic, and environmental spectrums will need to engage constructively, fostering a Canadian energy landscape that is resilient, sustainable, and inclusive.
ITER Nuclear Fusion advances tokamak magnetic confinement, heating deuterium-tritium plasma with superconducting magnets, targeting net energy gain, tritium breeding, and steam-turbine power, while complementing laser inertial confinement milestones for grid-scale electricity and 2025 startup goals.
Key Points
ITER Nuclear Fusion is a tokamak project confining D-T plasma with magnets to achieve net energy gain and clean power.
✅ Tokamak magnetic confinement with high-temp superconducting coils
✅ Deuterium-tritium fuel cycle with on-site tritium breeding
✅ Targets net energy gain and grid-scale, low-carbon electricity
It sounds like the stuff of dreams: a virtually limitless source of energy that doesn’t produce greenhouse gases or radioactive waste. That’s the promise of nuclear fusion, often described as the holy grail of clean energy by proponents, which for decades has been nothing more than a fantasy due to insurmountable technical challenges. But things are heating up in what has turned into a race to create what amounts to an artificial sun here on Earth, one that can provide power for our kettles, cars and light bulbs.
Today’s nuclear power plants create electricity through nuclear fission, in which atoms are split, with next-gen nuclear power exploring smaller, cheaper, safer designs that remain distinct from fusion. Nuclear fusion however, involves combining atomic nuclei to release energy. It’s the same reaction that’s taking place at the Sun’s core. But overcoming the natural repulsion between atomic nuclei and maintaining the right conditions for fusion to occur isn’t straightforward. And doing so in a way that produces more energy than the reaction consumes has been beyond the grasp of the finest minds in physics for decades.
But perhaps not for much longer. Some major technical challenges have been overcome in the past few years and governments around the world have been pouring money into fusion power research as part of a broader green industrial revolution under way in several regions. There are also over 20 private ventures in the UK, US, Europe, China and Australia vying to be the first to make fusion energy production a reality.
“People are saying, ‘If it really is the ultimate solution, let’s find out whether it works or not,’” says Dr Tim Luce, head of science and operation at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), being built in southeast France. ITER is the biggest throw of the fusion dice yet.
Its $22bn (£15.9bn) build cost is being met by the governments of two-thirds of the world’s population, including the EU, the US, China and Russia, at a time when Europe is losing nuclear power and needs energy, and when it’s fired up in 2025 it’ll be the world’s largest fusion reactor. If it works, ITER will transform fusion power from being the stuff of dreams into a viable energy source.
Constructing a nuclear fusion reactor ITER will be a tokamak reactor – thought to be the best hope for fusion power. Inside a tokamak, a gas, often a hydrogen isotope called deuterium, is subjected to intense heat and pressure, forcing electrons out of the atoms. This creates a plasma – a superheated, ionised gas – that has to be contained by intense magnetic fields.
The containment is vital, as no material on Earth could withstand the intense heat (100,000,000°C and above) that the plasma has to reach so that fusion can begin. It’s close to 10 times the heat at the Sun’s core, and temperatures like that are needed in a tokamak because the gravitational pressure within the Sun can’t be recreated.
When atomic nuclei do start to fuse, vast amounts of energy are released. While the experimental reactors currently in operation release that energy as heat, in a fusion reactor power plant, the heat would be used to produce steam that would drive turbines to generate electricity, even as some envision nuclear beyond electricity for industrial heat and fuels.
Tokamaks aren’t the only fusion reactors being tried. Another type of reactor uses lasers to heat and compress a hydrogen fuel to initiate fusion. In August 2021, one such device at the National Ignition Facility, at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, generated 1.35 megajoules of energy. This record-breaking figure brings fusion power a step closer to net energy gain, but most hopes are still pinned on tokamak reactors rather than lasers.
In June 2021, China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) reactor maintained a plasma for 101 seconds at 120,000,000°C. Before that, the record was 20 seconds. Ultimately, a fusion reactor would need to sustain the plasma indefinitely – or at least for eight-hour ‘pulses’ during periods of peak electricity demand.
A real game-changer for tokamaks has been the magnets used to produce the magnetic field. “We know how to make magnets that generate a very high magnetic field from copper or other kinds of metal, but you would pay a fortune for the electricity. It wouldn’t be a net energy gain from the plant,” says Luce.
One route for nuclear fusion is to use atoms of deuterium and tritium, both isotopes of hydrogen. They fuse under incredible heat and pressure, and the resulting products release energy as heat
The solution is to use high-temperature, superconducting magnets made from superconducting wire, or ‘tape’, that has no electrical resistance. These magnets can create intense magnetic fields and don’t lose energy as heat.
“High temperature superconductivity has been known about for 35 years. But the manufacturing capability to make tape in the lengths that would be required to make a reasonable fusion coil has just recently been developed,” says Luce. One of ITER’s magnets, the central solenoid, will produce a field of 13 tesla – 280,000 times Earth’s magnetic field.
The inner walls of ITER’s vacuum vessel, where the fusion will occur, will be lined with beryllium, a metal that won’t contaminate the plasma much if they touch. At the bottom is the divertor that will keep the temperature inside the reactor under control.
“The heat load on the divertor can be as large as in a rocket nozzle,” says Luce. “Rocket nozzles work because you can get into orbit within minutes and in space it’s really cold.” In a fusion reactor, a divertor would need to withstand this heat indefinitely and at ITER they’ll be testing one made out of tungsten.
Meanwhile, in the US, the National Spherical Torus Experiment – Upgrade (NSTX-U) fusion reactor will be fired up in the autumn of 2022, while efforts in advanced fission such as a mini-reactor design are also progressing. One of its priorities will be to see whether lining the reactor with lithium helps to keep the plasma stable.
Choosing a fuel Instead of just using deuterium as the fusion fuel, ITER will use deuterium mixed with tritium, another hydrogen isotope. The deuterium-tritium blend offers the best chance of getting significantly more power out than is put in. Proponents of fusion power say one reason the technology is safe is that the fuel needs to be constantly fed into the reactor to keep fusion happening, making a runaway reaction impossible.
Deuterium can be extracted from seawater, so there’s a virtually limitless supply of it. But only 20kg of tritium are thought to exist worldwide, so fusion power plants will have to produce it (ITER will develop technology to ‘breed’ tritium). While some radioactive waste will be produced in a fusion plant, it’ll have a lifetime of around 100 years, rather than the thousands of years from fission.
At the time of writing in September, researchers at the Joint European Torus (JET) fusion reactor in Oxfordshire were due to start their deuterium-tritium fusion reactions. “JET will help ITER prepare a choice of machine parameters to optimise the fusion power,” says Dr Joelle Mailloux, one of the scientific programme leaders at JET. These parameters will include finding the best combination of deuterium and tritium, and establishing how the current is increased in the magnets before fusion starts.
The groundwork laid down at JET should accelerate ITER’s efforts to accomplish net energy gain. ITER will produce ‘first plasma’ in December 2025 and be cranked up to full power over the following decade. Its plasma temperature will reach 150,000,000°C and its target is to produce 500 megawatts of fusion power for every 50 megawatts of input heating power.
“If ITER is successful, it’ll eliminate most, if not all, doubts about the science and liberate money for technology development,” says Luce. That technology development will be demonstration fusion power plants that actually produce electricity, where advanced reactors can build on decades of expertise. “ITER is opening the door and saying, yeah, this works – the science is there.”
Edmonton Electricity Rate Increase signals Alberta RRO changes as the UCP ends the NDP price cap; kilowatt-hour rises to 7.5 cents, raising energy bills for typical households by 3.9 percent in December.
Key Points
The end of Alberta’s RRO cap lifts kWh to 7.5 cents, raising an average Edmonton home’s bill about 3.9% in December.
✅ RRO price cap scrapped; kWh set at 7.5 cents in December.
✅ Average 600 kWh home pays about $7.37 more vs November.
✅ UCP ends NDP-era cap after stakeholder and consumer feedback.
Electricity will be more expensive for some Edmontonians in December after the UCP government scrapped a program that capped rates amid prices spiking in Alberta this year.
Effective Nov. 30, the province got rid of the consumer price cap program for Regulated Rate Option customers.
In 2017, the NDP government capped the kilowatt per hour price at 6.8 cents under a consumer price cap policy, meaning Edmontonians would pay the market rate and not more than the capped price.
In December, kWh will cost 7.5 cents amid expert warnings to lock in rates across Alberta. Typical Edmonton homes use an average of 600 kWh, increasing bills by $7.37, or 3.9 per cent, compared to November.
Energy Minister Sonya Savage said the UCP decided to scrap it after "overwhelming" feedback from consumers and industry stakeholders, as the province introduced new electricity rules earlier this year.
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