TransAlta Corporation (formerly Calgary Power Company, Ltd.) is an
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
power generator and
wholesale marketing
The consumption and production of marketed food are spatially separated. Production is primarily in rural areas while consumption is mainly in urban areas. Agricultural marketing is the process that overcomes this separation, allowing produce to b ...
company headquartered in
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, Canada. It is a privately owned corporation and its shares are traded publicly. It operates 75
power plants
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many pow ...
in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. TransAlta operates
wind
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...
,
hydro
Hydro from Ancient Greek word ὕδωρ (húdōr), meaning ''water''.
Hydro may also refer to:
Energy technologies
* Water-derived power or energy:
** Hydropower, derived from water
** Hydroelectricity, in electrical form
* "Hydro", AC mains ...
,
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
, and
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
power generation facilities. The company has been recognized for its leadership in
sustainability
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...
by the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index, the FTSE4Good Index, and the Jantzi Social Index. TransAlta is Canada's largest investor-owned renewable energy provider. The company is not without controversy as the Alberta Utility Commission ruled in 2015 that TransAlta manipulated the price of electricity when it took outages at its Alberta coal-fired generating units in late 2010 and early 2011.
History
In 1909, TransAlta began the planning and construction of the Horseshoe Falls Hydro Plant in
Seebe
Seebe is a former hamlet in Alberta, Canada, within the Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8. It is a former Calgary Power Company Ltd. employee townsite that was closed on August 31, 2004.
The name Seebe comes from the Cree word for river.
...
, Alberta. Two years later, Calgary Power Company, Ltd. was born.
That first dam was built by a crew of about 200 with primitive tools such as picks and wheelbarrows. It initially had a 10 MW capacity (13,500
horsepower
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...
). A second dam was commissioned in 1913 at Kananaskis Falls and was built by close to 500 workers.
At the time, streetcars were responsible for a significant share of Calgary's electrical load. Residential power was just being introduced, and many homes were lit for the first time with electrical lamps because of Calgary Power. Calgary Power's cheap energy is credited with
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
's decision to locate its regional engine repair shop in
Ogden, Calgary
Ogden is a residential neighbourhood in the southeast quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. It includes the districts of ''Lynnwood'' and ''Millican Estates''. It is bounded by Glenmore Trail to the south, Deerfoot Trail and the Bow River to the west, a ...
, spurring the city's economic development.
Notable leaders from the company's early years included
W. Max Aitken (later known as Lord Beaverbrook) and
R.B. Bennett, who went on to become Canada's Prime Minister from 1930 to 1935.
The company's monopoly position and behaviour made its status as a private corporation unpopular among rural customers and some Calgary residents, and a move to nationalize it was converted to a province-wide referendum in 1948, which came down very narrowly on the side of maintaining its private ownership.
In 1981, the company changed its name to its current name of TransAlta Corporation.
At the end of 2010, TransAlta became the first company to own and operate more than 1,000 MW of installed wind capacity in Canada—almost 30 per cent of the country's total.
TransAlta has gradually been transitioning its energy-generating facilities away from coal, due to adverse environmental effects, towards natural gas. Its last remaining operational coal mine, in Highvale, AB, will cease mining operations on December 31, 2021, and transition to
mine reclamation
Mine reclamation is the process of modifying land that has been mined to ecologically functional or economically usable state. Although the process of mine reclamation occurs once mining is completed, the planning of mine reclamation activiti ...
in the years to follow.
Ghost River Reservoir
Since the
2013 Alberta floods, as a temporary partial solution to mitigate flood damage during those months when there is a greater risk of rising water that might cause flooding, the Government of Alberta entered into an agreement with TransAlta to manage water on the Bow River at its
Ghost Reservoir
Ghost Lake is a reservoir in Western Alberta, Canada, formed along the Bow River. It is located approximately west of the city of Calgary and immediately west of Cochrane. It has a water surface of and a drainage basin of The average depth o ...
facility. This was extended in 2016 with a new five-year agreement that included water management of its Kananaskis Lakes system (which includes Interlakes, Pocaterra and Barrier) for drought mitigation.
Controversies
On March 21, 2014, the Alberta Market Surveillance Administrator (MSA) filed an application with the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) alleging TransAlta manipulated the price of electricity when it took outages at its Alberta coal-fired generating units in late 2010 and early 2011.
While TransAlta disputed the MSA's allegations, the AUC ruled TransAlta's actions in relation to four outage events spanning 11 days in 2010 and 2011 restricted or prevented a competitive response from the associated Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) buyers and manipulated market prices away from a competitive market outcome.
On Sept. 30, 2015, TransAlta and the province's MSA reached an agreement to settle all outstanding proceedings before the AUC. The settlement, which is in the form of a consent order, was approved by the AUC on Oct. 29, 2015.
Under the terms of the agreement, TransAlta paid a total amount of (CDN) $56 million that included approximately $27 million as a repayment of economic benefit, approximately $4 million to cover the MSA's legal and related costs, and a $25 million administrative penalty. As part of the settlement agreement, TransAlta agreed to discontinue its court appeal of the AUC's decision concerning the four outage events.
TransAlta's legal appeal came as a result of the AUC's determination in its ruling that the “MSA did not prove, on the balance of probabilities, that the company breached applicable legislation on the basis that its compliance policies, practices, and oversight thereof, were inadequate and deficient.”
In response to the dispute regarding its understanding of Alberta market rules governing forced outages, TransAlta implemented two independent, third-party reviews of its compliance procedures. The results of the reviews by McCarthy Tétrault and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP were publicly released, including recommendations for improvement.
Hydro facilities in British Columbia
Upper Mamquam, built by
Canadian Hydro Developers
Canadian Hydro Developers, Inc. was a Canadian company that operated 12 hydroelectric power sites, eight wind power sites and one biomass power site in Canada.
Canadian Hydro was founded by two brothers John and Ross Keating with Jack McCleary. I ...
and operational since 2005, is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric plant 5 km northeast of
Squamish, BC
Squamish (; Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim: Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, ; 2016 census population 19,512) is a community and a district municipality in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located at the north end of Howe Sound on the Sea to Sky Highway. ...
. The penstock is 1.6 km long, dropping 120 meters to the powerhouse containing two 12.5 MW Pelton wheel generators.
Bone Creek a hydroelectric plant constructed in 2011, has a 5 km penstock dropping 148 meters to a powerhouse with two 9.6MW Francis turbines. It is located 90 km south of
Valemount, BC and operated by Valisa Energy Inc. Approximately 72 GWh of power annually is sold to BC Hydro.
Akolkolex, built by
Canadian Hydro Developers
Canadian Hydro Developers, Inc. was a Canadian company that operated 12 hydroelectric power sites, eight wind power sites and one biomass power site in Canada.
Canadian Hydro was founded by two brothers John and Ross Keating with Jack McCleary. I ...
and operational since 1995, uses two Francis turbines in a 10 MW run-of-river hydroelectric plant discharging into
Arrow Lakes
The Arrow Lakes in British Columbia, Canada, divided into Upper Arrow Lake and Lower Arrow Lake, are widenings of the Columbia River. The lakes are situated between the Selkirk Mountains to the east and the Monashee Mountains to the west. Bea ...
. It is located 25 km SE of Revelstoke, B.C. The plant produces approximately 37 GWh of electricity annually.
Pingston Creek has a 12 meter high sheetpile rock-fill dam which diverts water to the western shore of
Arrow Lakes
The Arrow Lakes in British Columbia, Canada, divided into Upper Arrow Lake and Lower Arrow Lake, are widenings of the Columbia River. The lakes are situated between the Selkirk Mountains to the east and the Monashee Mountains to the west. Bea ...
. It was built by
Canadian Hydro Developers
Canadian Hydro Developers, Inc. was a Canadian company that operated 12 hydroelectric power sites, eight wind power sites and one biomass power site in Canada.
Canadian Hydro was founded by two brothers John and Ross Keating with Jack McCleary. I ...
and Brascan Power and began operation as Pingston Power Inc. in 2003. A 4 km tunnel achieves a huge drop of 557 meters to three 15 MW Pelton wheels to generate about 200 GWh annually.
The project is 53 km south of
Revelstoke, BC.
Energy generation summary
* 8,128 megawatts (MW) of aggregate generation capacity (2020).
* 24,980 gigawatt hours (GWh) were produced at an average plant availability of 90.3 per cent for the year ended December 31, 2020.
* 75 facilities in three geographies: Canada, U.S., Australia
* One surface coal mine in operation: Highvale in Alberta, Canada. Its operations will transition to 100 per cent mine reclamation effective Jan. 1, 2022.
Net Capacity Owned by Fuel Typebr />
(in operation and in development 2021)
Net Capacity Owned by Geographybr />
(in operation and development)
See also
*
References
Citations
Sources
TransAlta Annual Information Form – March 2, 2021*
ttp://www.transalta.com/about-us TransAlta QuickFacts*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120205120851/http://www.transalta.com/sustainability/report-sustainability TransAlta 2010 Report on SustainabilityTransAlta History: Celebrating 100 YearsAlberta Utilities Commission (AUC)Market Surveillance Administrator (MSA)Powering Generations: The TransAlta Story, 1911–2011
External links
Company websiteTransAlta Corporation Careers
{{Authority control
1911 establishments in Alberta
Companies based in Calgary
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange
Energy companies established in 1911
Electric power companies of Canada
Canadian companies established in 1911