This meeting was special meeting with a presentation by Bradley Maynes, Managing Director, Energy & Infrastructure for the City of Medicine Hat.
Bradley started his presentation by saying that the pricing for gas and electricity has been a hot topic in Medicine Hat. He also advised that COVID has been a dominating influence as well as the extreme weather...both hot and cold. Many people have been working from home which increased residential demands but this was offset by the reduction of demand from the commercial buildings.
He also showed graphs which outlined the cost of gas and electricity for the past few months as well as the estimate for the costs moving forward and how this influences the city's estimates. Brad talked about renewable resources and outlined the current supply generated by sources such as wind power, solar and other sources of power generation. The projection over the next 35 years outlines the continued growth of solar and wind generation and a reduced need for gas and oil generation facilities.
The new Thermal power generation system, called Unit 17 will be completed next month. This new facility has been built on budget and on time in spite of the restriction imposed by COVID. This new UNIT 17 will be the beginning of Medicine Hat being the "Renewable Heartland" for the new renewable energy solutions such a Green Hydrogen.
One major obstacle is the need for better storage or batteries for the power that is generated during the day by solar and for wind turbine power collected as the wind allows. Currently there are only two main power transmission lines from Medicine Hat and so these will have to be maximized as we move forward.
He also outlined the need for a new electric delivery system as the new demand for power for homes and business will dramatically increase with the charging stations required for these new electric vehicles and residential heating needs. There is also the need to deal with the new solar generation from residential roofs and how that influences the electric grid by either a demand during peak needs or the supply back to the system by over capacity created by the solar panels.
The export/sale of surplus energy needs to comply with the new standards set by the "Clean Energy Standards" that will be implemented by 2030.
Brad fielded several questions from the group.
This was an excellent presentation.