Renewable energy projects are money in the bank for counties

By Lethbridge Herald on November 19, 2025.

Nathan Reiter
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A new analysis from the Pembina Institute shows counties across Alberta brought in a record number of tax revenue from renewable energy projects—but they’re also missing out on more.

According to a media release, Alberta municipalities brought in $70 million from renewable energy projects this year compared to $54 million in 2024 and $28 million in 2023.

For the County of Warner, more than $1.3 million was generated from renewable energy projects.

Carson Fong is the program manager for the Business Renewables Centre-Canada and the Carbon Dioxide Removal Centre. In an interview with the Herald, Fong says that revenue can be very important for municipalities.

“We take a look at all of the active wind and solar projects across Alberta and we analyze in partnership with the county officials. We calculate how much tax revenue has been brought in by these wind and solar projects to the different counties. The point is to get an understanding of how much these projects contribute to a community’s bottom line. The highlight that we found this year was $70 million. Particularly for Warner County, we found there was $1.34 million in tax revenue. That’s significant revenue for a county that can go directly towards services or reduce costs for residents.”

In August of 2023, the Government of Alberta announced a seven-month pause on approvals for renewable energy projects that produced over 1 megawatt. That pause impacted all wind, solar and geothermal projects excluding microgeneration

Projects in Southern Alberta that were affected include Chinook DER Solar, Prominence Solar and Tempest Wind which were all to be located in the City of Lethbridge.

A total of 10 projects near the town of Fort Macleod were also impacted by the moratorium.

Fong says the impact of the moratorium can still be felt in terms of the investment into renewable energy projects.

“We are seeing quite a few projects since 2023 that were in the pipeline and in the queue for development get cancelled. We found $1.3 million worth in tax revenue cancelled in terms of what was in the pipeline for projects in Warner County. We’re concerned that Alberta communities and counties are missing out on potential future revenue due to the ongoing regulatory uncertainty and policy uncertainty.

“The result is that the market for new projects has really dried up over the last two years. We’re seeing investors wait on the sidelines until there’s some clarity around what these new regulations and rules are. AESO, the central system operator for Alberta’s electricity, they’ve announced the new design for these rules that we’re still waiting for details on how exactly these new rules will be implemented. We’re seeing a lot of investors wait and not go towards new projects in Alberta, which is concerning because we’re worried we’re seeing that investment go elsewhere and Alberta’s losing out on wind and solar projects.”

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