After learning of my involvement with the utilities industry that lasted for more than 30 years, someone wrote to me and commented, “If you have some connections with some technical people in the utility business, that could be helpful.”

Yes, that is true. but only up to an extent, and most likely never to the extent where such connections would really matter.  Aside from that, it matters with which aspect of the utility business those technical people are involved.

I just read [1] an ad by ENMAX (a Calgary-City-owned utility company).  The ad is one of those intrusive, targeted ones imposed by Google that pop up when searching the Internet.  It popped up in this case when I looked up the weather forecast for Edmonton.  The ad is intended to indoctrinate me into accepting that “With renewable energy playing a larger role than ever, the environmental future of Alberta has never been brighter” and is part of a currently massive advertising campaign in the mainstream media for which TV shows many commercials and for which even small-town newspapers feature whole-page ads that cater to the same theme.

Should one believe anything that comes from those quarters?

[2] The mayor of Calgary concurs with ENMAX and with the theme of the massive propaganda campaign, but although his speech on energy issues was well received when he spoke at a recent ENMAX function (ENMAX is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the City of Calgary), he is not the best person to ask for an opinion on these issues.  He thinks that the pursuit of schemes for energy production from renewable sources is “the right thing to do”.

The Alberta government, which most definitely employs some technical people to be able to exercise its regulatory functions, is not likely to tell the truth about anything related to utilities.  They told me in 2001, when they deregulated the utility industry, that they were “committed to putting more money back into the pockets of Albertans.” I caught them out lying about many other issues. “The Alberta Advantage,” a slogan that Alberta politicians loved to mention on a daily basis and on every possible occasion, is not being mentioned much anymore these days, not since a number of businesses left the province or shut down on account of sky-rocketing energy prices.

How about someone in AltaLink?

As Canada’s only fully independent transmission company, we are responsible for the maintenance and operation of approximately 11,800 kilometres of transmission lines and 270 substations in Alberta. We own more than half of Alberta’s transmission grid and serve 85 per cent of its population. Additionally, we own the Alberta portion of the interconnection to British Columbia used to import and export electricity, connecting Alberta to the power grid in the Pacific Northwest. –[3] AltaLink

Sounds great, but what about this?

[4] AltaLink Enhances Reliability and Access to Green Power in 2010

February 25, 2011

During 2010, AltaLink improved system reliability by building and energizing new projects, and responding to increased demand from Albertans for wind generated electricity.

Sorry, they are neither an objective nor even an honest source of such information.  Then how about the [5] Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO)?  AESO is without a doubt very important, because, in their own words from their home page,

AESO leads the planning and operation of the power system, facilitates competitive electricity markets and ensures open access to the grid.

Well, if that would be a correct statement, then why the government- and industry-sponsored promotion of wind “farms” in Alberta that AESO facilitates?  Surely, with AESO “ensuring competitive electricity markets”, wind power would long ago have been laughed out of the market.  Of course, AESO is not an entirely independent organization.  [6] It owes its very existence to the government and therefore a considerable psychological debt, if nothing else.

However, at the very least it is possible to obtain from AESO data on trends in electricity generation and consumption.

As to wind power, one of AESO’s operators wrote to me some time ago and complained that he is not happy about wind power and the serious threat it poses to the security, stability and quality of the electricity grid.  However, I do not recall that AESO ever spoke up officially against the promotion of escalating construction of wind power generating capacity.

The AESO seem to be the right party to get in touch with.  As to the sort of technical person one may want to contact at AESO, these [7] search results for articles and papers on “wind power” at their website may provide ideas, but don’t get your hopes up too high.

The AESO is committed to integrating as much wind power as possible to the Alberta electric system without compromising reliability or the fair, efficient and openly competitive operation of the market. –AESO, Dec. 17, 2007 ([8] Guide to wind power in Alberta, bottom of page 2)

There is a fundamental principle involved in all of this head-long rush for the promotion of wind power and energy generation from renewable sources.  It is a principle whose primary aim appears to be to rationalize the abrogation of common sense.  It seems that a fitting name for it would be Affirmative Action for Energy from Renewable Sources (AAERS).

AAERS does away with the requirement to be rational, logical, objective and fair when promoting government schemes for escalating tax revenues through tailored energy policies.  Instead, the promotion of AAERS needs no rationalization other than the assertion that “it is the right thing to do.”  That could well make it the ideal tool for politicians, because all checks and balances based on objective science no longer matter in decision-making relating to the utility business.  Moreover, no one will ever be able to hold anyone to account on any of this.  After all, even the most atrocious and most expensive utility boondoggles can be justified, simply because “they were the right thing to do.”

How can anyone argue against such a powerful tool, a tool that permits politicians and anyone else who can reap a profit from the utility business to get away with robbing the public in full public view?

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For related information on this, see [9] Environmentalist Energy Concerns, February 25, 2011