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April 14, 1997

GREEN POWER ANNOUNCEMENT UNDERLINES FEDERAL DETERMINATION TO ENCOURAGE RENEWABLE ENERGY INDUSTRY, McLELLAN AND MARCHI SAY

OTTAWA — Anne McLellan, federal Minister of Natural Resources and Sergio Marchi, Minister of the Environment, today announced that the City of Calgary Electric System (CCES) is the successful bidder on their Request for Proposals for green power in Alberta. CCES will be participating in pilot projects to facilitate the development of green power for a number of federal facilities in Alberta.

CCES will provide up to 10,000 megawatt hours of electricity per year to Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and up to 3,100 megawatt hours per year to Environment Canada over the next 10 years. Minister McLellan made the announcement in a speech to the Renewable Energy Conference and Trade Show in Ottawa.

"Green power" refers to electricity generated from renewable energy sources, such as wind power, photovoltaic technologies (solar cells), biomass combustion (burning of wood chips) and small hydroelectric plants, which have limited environmental effects. It has not yet been decided which option or combination of options will be selected for this project.

"This announcement demonstrates federal leadership to encourage job creation in our growing renewable energy sector and contributes to Canada's international climate change commitments," Minister McLellan noted. "We are creating opportunities for this environmental sector and demonstrating leadership for other power consumers in Canada."

"The renewable energy sector has the potential to be an important part of the environmental technologies sector, which is one of the fastest growing sectors of our economy," Minister Marchi said. "Environment Canada will be greening up to 20 per cent of its nation-wide electrical consumption before 2010 to assist the growth of this sector while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions caused by the department's use of electricity."

Al Duerr, Mayor of Calgary, says that this is indeed good news for The City of Calgary. "We're pleased to be involved with Natural Resources Canada and Environment Canada in these joint projects to facilitate the development of a new green power initiative in Alberta. Both the federal ministers and the City of Calgary Electrical System recognize the benefits of playing an active role in protecting the environment here in Alberta."

CCES will facilitate the development of green power to meet all the requirements of the two departments at their facilities in Alberta. NRCan's facilities include the Forestry Research Station in Edmonton, the Western Research Centre in Devon, the Sedimentary and Petroleum Geology Research Laboratory in Calgary and a storage space in Calgary. Environment Canada's facilities include its regional headquarters offices in the Twin Atria Building in Edmonton and its offices in the Harry Hays Building and the Shell Aerocentre in Calgary, as well as several smaller facilities throughout the province.

McLellan noted that this green power announcement complements the range of other federal efforts to support the renewable energy sector, including tax changes and re-allocation of R&D funding.

For further information, please contact:
Pierre Gratton
Press Secretary to the Minister
Natural Resources Canada
(613) 996-2007

or

Roger White
Press Secretary to the Minister
Environment Canada
(819) 997-1441