Boston-based independent power producer Atlantic Power Corporation invested $23 million in Canadian Hills Wind, L.L.C., which owns a 298.45MW wind farm in Oklahoma. Atlantic Power now owns 51% of Canadian Hills Wind. The Canadian Hills Wind project is in the late stages of development under builder Apex Wind Energy Holdings, L.L.C. The news follows Southwestern Electric Power Company’s signing of a 20-year power purchase agreement to get electricity from Canadian Hills last week. A similar P.P.A. is currently in negotiation for the remaining 48 MW, Atlantic Power said. Commercial operation is expected in November 2012.

Researchers at MIT have developed photonic crystals that, in as little as two years, could enable the use of hydrocarbon and nuclear reactors in portable electronic devices. Photonic crystals are optical nanostructures that are tuned to specific wavelengths of light. If you understand how semiconductors affect the motion of electrons (i.e. the bandgap only allows electrons with a certain energy level to pass through), photonic crystals are the optical equivalent. In this case, MIT has created infrared-absorbing photonic crystals using metals such as tungsten and titanium. Because of their metallic roots, these photonic crystals can operate at temperatures up to 1200C. Once an object becomes red or white hot, some 99% of the radiation produced is infrared. MIT’s photonic crystals are perfectly tuned to absorb infrared radiation, and they can survive high temperatures. This captured energy can then be converted into electricity.

Alstom Grid has been selected by ATCO Electric, for the replacement and upgrade of control equipment at the McNeill Converter Station near Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. The Converter Station houses a 150MW back-to-back High Voltage Direct Current link that facilitates the efficient exchange of energy between several important North American electricity networks. This new contract will replace the now obsolete control equipment with the latest Alstom Grid Series V digital Control System which will improve the performance and will extend the life of the converter station.

Privately owned Genalta Power Inc. has reached a deal to generate electricity from waste gas being flared at a Husky Energy well in western Alberta. Genalta Power will build and operate the plant, expected to begin operations mid-2013.

American Electric Power has begun commercial operation of the Dresden natural gas-fired power plant, a nominal 580MW combined-cycle generating unit. The plant, located near Dresden, Ohio, provides 25 permanent jobs and employed 300 workers at the peak of construction…Fluor Corporation has been selected by a subsidiary of electricity generator LS Power Group to build a 125MW solar plant in Arizona. Fluor was also awarded a separate contract for ongoing operations and maintenance.

Let the election promises begin – a Wildrose government would repeal controversial Bill 50, force power generators to pay part of the cost of new transmission lines, reform electricity market price-setting mechanisms and hedge the volatile regulated electricity rate that most residential consumers pay. In the first of her five planned pre-election campaign commitments, Smith also promised to bury a portion of northern Alberta’s proposed Heartland line where it passes through neighborhoods and give consumers a tax credit for investing in “energy efficiency measures”. The Wildrose is now the third sitting opposition party to oppose the Progressive Conservative’s electrical deregulation policy and the free market system that many critics say isn’t working to the benefit of residential consumers. The NDP and Liberals have both called on the governing Tories to pull the plug on the electricity market and go back to a more regulated system. While her party wouldn’t eliminate the wholesale electricity market it would look at “the possible introduction” of a system where prices were set a day ahead, rather than hourly, to reduce price spikes.

Halifax, Nova Scotia-based developer Shear Wind reports that it no longer plans to sell the Willow Ridge wind farm to UEG-Green Energy Solutions/Alberta Inc. The company says it has evaluated its options and renewable electricity market conditions in Alberta, and has decided to continue with further development activities associated with the Willow Ridge assets.

On Jan. 17, the Public Utilities Board issued a press release saying evidence gathered at public hearings over the previous 11 months revealed the costs of Manitoba Hydro’s $20 billion capital development plan have risen dramatically while sales of electricity to the U.S. have fallen. The PUB expressed concern that, as a result, Manitobans are at risk of huge rate increases. While much attention has been paid to the $1 billion additional cost of moving Bipole III from east to the west side of Manitoba (which will reduce its reliability, create similar environmental impacts and greater farm impacts) that is just a part of the larger concern. The cost of the nearly complete Wuskwatim generating station has risen from the 2004 estimate of $900 million to $1.6 billion, an astonishing 78 per cent, and shows the higher cost estimates for the proposed projects are valid. Power generated from Wuskwatim will cost 7.2 cents per kilowatt hour (kW.h) to produce. Initially, it was being built for export sales. Now, Manitoba Hydro says it is needed for Manitoba customers and for justification compares the cost to alternative natural gas generation, a rationale needing review due to falling gas prices. While Manitoba Hydro blacks out all prices, the fall 2010 Minnesota contract extension was submitted to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission revealing Manitoba Hydro had to accept a reduction in the price and the volume of electricity it was selling..

A solar farm under construction in Memphis at Agricenter International will be among the first in the state to include a solar tracking system – the system will allow the panels to move so that they face the sun all day. For each kilowatt of electricity produced, it will receive a TVA subsidy of 12 cents above market rate. In 10 years, Agricenter will be given an option to purchase the array.

Maxim Power Corp. has struck a $12.95 million deal, selling its Alberta Power Project facilities to AltaGas Pipe-line Partnership. AltaGas has operated the four southern Alberta natural-gas power plants since 2007, and bought their total capacity of 26 megawatts since 2005 under a long-term tolling agreement. Proceeds from the sale would be funneled toward its Deerland, H.R. Milner coal-fired power plant expansion and Mine 14 projects.

A 15-year agreement that calls for Minnesota Power to buy hydroelectricity from Manitoba Hydro beginning in 2020 was unanimously approved today by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. The 250 megawatt (MW) power purchase agreement will provide a competitive energy resource for customers of Minnesota Power, a utility division of ALLETE. Additional hydropower will support Minnesota Power resource planning goals of more efficiency, flexibility and diversity while lessening its dependence on coal and lowering emissions from its generation fleet.

Shear Wind Inc has asked the Nova Scotia government for environmental approvals for a proposed expansion. Glen Dhu, the largest wind farm in Nova Scotia, has been in operation since March. The 62-megawatt first phase has been producing more power than expected. Shear Wind will also be proposing a 50MW wind project in the Canaan Mountains area in northern Nova Scotia. However, developers can only be awarded one project under the competitive bidding process, which is being overseen by an independent renewable energy administrator.

enXco Service Canada Inc. has secured a multi-year agreement with Suncor Energy and Teck Resources Limited to provide operations and maintenance services for the Wintering Hills Wind Power Project. Commissioned in 2011, the 88MW Wintering Hills Wind Power Project located near Drumheller, Alberta is comprised of 55 General Electric 1.6MW wind turbines.

Gulf Oil LP, the fastest growing branded US marketer of petroleum products; yesterday announced its entry into the retail electricity market via the launch of Gulf Electricity. Beginning in Connecticut in March 2012, Gulf Electricity will offer residents and commercial customers the opportunity to save as much as 10 percent on the energy portion of their power bills by switching from their traditional utility suppliers. There is no fee to switch to Gulf Electricity. Customers will continue to receive their bills from their current utility, which will continue to handle power delivery and repair services. Beginning in March 2012, customers can sign up with Gulf Electricity. The process takes less than five minutes and can be done by visiting www.gulfelectricity.com.

This month marks ten years of de-regulation in the Texas electricity market. One complaint has been that Texas has numerous retail electrical providers who really add no value to this system. By law they can’t own wires. They don’t own the distribution system, they don’t own the meter. By law they can’t own any distribution sources. So they are truly an unnecessary intermediary. Defenders of deregulation argue that Texas has seen unprecedented growth in the past ten years. Despite that, Texas has one of the lowest electric reserve margins in the country. That means they are at a greater risk of rolling blackouts during times of high energy use. If you compare this industry restructuring with what happened in telecommunications, it was in the early 80s that they started that process it wasn’t until the mid to late 90s that the Internet really took off and it was only recently that the internet has gone mobile.

Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited reports that at approximately 5 p.m. yesterday, power was restored to 28 St. Albans Road, 15 and 25 Viking Lane, and 5229 and 5233 Dundas Avenue West. As a result of failed equipment, the power was interrupted at 5:07am. Power was rerouted for some customers but for crews to do repairs, power to these buildings could not be restored until the repairs were complete.

Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited was awarded the “Smart Metering Project of the Year” yesterday by the editors at POWERGRID International magazine and PennWell Corp. at DistribuTECH 2012 in San Antonio. Toronto Hydro first piloted an Elster Smart Metering solution in 2004 to comply with the Ontario government’s Smart Metering initiative. Since that first deployment, the project has grown and the company is utilizing Elster’s EnergyAxis Smart Grid systems to read approximately 650,000 electricity endpoints.

Renewable Energy Systems Canada Inc. has been awarded the Balance of Plant construction contract for the 150MW Capital Power Halkirk Wind Project, the largest wind project currently under construction in Alberta.

SkyFire Energy Inc. announced that as the standard cost of electricity continues to reach record levels in Alberta, the opposite is true for solar energy which is now, in most cases, better than buying power from your utility. While there is still an upfront cost to investing in a solar system, there are financing options available through most banking institutions at historically low rates. Unlike most home improvements, which depreciate in value with age, solar panels will increase in value over time if electricity prices continue to rise. Calgary is the sunniest major city in Canada and solar customers receive the additional benefit of receiving credit for any excess power returned to the grid.

A new patent for a system for generating electricity – the system includes a platform having a top surface; the platform floats on a body of water and includes a plurality of energy modules. Each energy module produces electricity from a different source of energy and is affixed to the platform. Each module contributes produced electricity to the system for storage and distribution. Modules may include wind turbines for generating electricity from wind, water-driven generators for generating electricity from water currents, solar panels for generating electricity from solar energy, an apparatus which floats on water and converts kinetic energy of wave movements into electricity, and an apparatus which extends below the water where the platform is located upon and generates electricity from differences in water temperature at various levels of water depth. An apparatus may be mounted on the platform which produces hydrogen and oxygen gases through a process of electrolysis.

Building two north-south power lines will help Atco Power’s plan to build large hydro projects on two northern Alberta rivers to replace aging coal-fired electricity plants. Old coal plants are being phased out to meet new federal greenhouse-gas regulations and the company hopes to replace them with hydro, natural gas and more cogeneration. The company has completed soil testing and other technical work on the two sites on the Athabasca River and is also looking at an 800 megawatt plant on the Slave River though the project is on hold after an area aboriginal band opposed hydro development. The company was “shocked” when hydro power was not included in the AESO’s recent forecast for electricity generation for the base load. Atco said that converting older coal plants to natural gas will still not meet current federal greenhouse-gas standards, which makes large-scale hydro projects attractive.

Industrial and commercial power consumers urged provincial regulators to let them intervene before ruling on how much Trans Alta Corp. should pay for gaming Alberta’s electricity market. The groups argued to the Alberta Utilities Commission they should be able to present evidence about the effect of the November 2010 incidents that resulted in inflated provincial electricity prices.

Direct Energy is cutting 500 jobs in Canada as the company shifts its headquarters from Toronto to Houston in order to concentrate on key growth markets in the northeastern United States and Texas. In total, Direct Energy, one of North America’s largest energy and energy-related services providers, will still have about 2,000 employees in Ontario and roughly 6,000 across North America.