Opinion - Hatters Deserve Business Case for Saamis Solar Project

The Brooks Solar project. (File Photo)

There is a potentially good business case behind city administration’s Saamis Solar proposal. But it doesn’t appear city council wants to weigh in to ensure taxpayers are getting a bang for their buck.

At least not yet.

And council certainly hasn’t shown an appreciation for Hat taxpayers during its past multi-million energy investment failures while having no problem shouting out their successes.

There has never been a full accounting of the Manyberries oilfield purchase which was billed as a game changing initiative which would bolster city coffers in a few short years.

Not only did that $50 million purchase turn sour fast, but the city also expanded its losses by partnering with private operator LGX which went insolvent. Hat residents were and continue to be saddled with not only our clean-up cost of the field’s wells, pipelines and storage tanks but under provincial legislation, city taxpayers got stuck with LGX’s reclamation costs as well.

It’s a bill which will likely have the city taxpayer paying for years to come and one which was absolutely avoidable.

The focus of many criticisms of municipal investment in renewable energy has been the city’s experiment in its solar thermal project in criticisms of.

The costs associated with that project are likely chump change compared to what Hat taxpayers are and will continue to pay for the three wind turbines in Box Springs.

That project’s development process was the opposite of the Saamis Solar initiative.

The municipality did the regulatory footwork for the wind turbines with the initial intent to also operate the project with a capital cost of around $12 million.

Instead, the city entered into an agreement with a private company to build and operate the turbines in what was billed at the time as a super deal for Hatters.

One of the three turbines which make up the Box Springs Wind Farm - a public-private partnership involving the City of Medicine Hat. (File Photo)

Hat taxpayers may have ended up paying twice the initial capital cost of those turbines already while only halfway through a 20-year power-purchase contract. Maybe its less but politicians aren’t ones known to suppress success stories either way.

Try asking someone who knows the actual cost to taxpayers of those three turbines – especially councillors Robert Dumanowski and Darren Hirsch – and you’ll likely get a laundry list of reasons why they can’t tell Hatters.

Critics of the city’s past renewable energy forays have focused on the solar thermal project, demonstrating a lack of understanding of the city’s energy mix, choosing to engage in philosophical arguments rather than financial ones.

Likewise, renewable proponents have glossed over the bad decision making which turned a possible win for the taxpayer with the trio of north end turbines into a money losing play.

When it comes to the Saamis Solar project, Hatters have every right to be wary of platitudes which enhance the benefits and downplay the risks.

Regardless of whether a supporter or detractor of renewable energy, taxpayers need to be presented with the bottom-line financials of the Saamis project, an ongoing ability to compare those numbers to targets and be able to provide oversight.

As Hatters have none of that with its current operating renewable project, it’s hard to imagine a scenario which city hall will be forthcoming with such information with the Saamis Solar initiative.