AUC blocks Westlock solar project [Video]

A proposed solar plant north of Westlock was originally slated to be operational by December, but after months of review, the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) has decided the project won’t be built.

Acestes Power ULC applied to build the 24-megawatt solar plant in 2023, which it claimed would generate enough electricity annually to power about 7,000 homes.

On Oct. 11, the AUC ruled that the company had failed to demonstrate the benefits of the project outweighed its negative impacts and “that approval of the applications is not in the public interest.”

The AUC ruling, signed by Chair Carolyn Dahl Rees, says the commission assessed the social, environmental, and economic value of the project. The decision to deny Acestes’ application centred around the land the solar plant would have been constructed on.

“In particular, the Commission is concerned that the negative agricultural impacts have been well established in the evidence and …