Sussex Strategy Group reports that on March 3 the Alberta Electricity System Operator (AESO) announced its intended next steps with respect to the implementation of a Renewable Electricity Program (REP) under the terms of the Government of Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan.
The AESO has been identified to lead the development of the REP and has been asked to provide its recommendations to the government no later than end of May 2016. The AESO’s mandate letter is available at http://www.aeso.ca/downloads/goa_letter_jan26.pdf, here. Following government review and approvals of the AESO’s plan, the AESO intends to continue development of the REP through the summer and early fall with a view to launch the first competitive process in Q4 2016. The current goal is to see REP projects in service by 2019.
AESO Anticipated Timeline
| Information gathering and analysis Completed questionnaires due March 25 | Q1-Q2 2016 |
| Draft Recommendations provided to Government | May 2016 |
| Program development | Q2-Q3 2016 |
| Launch of first REP competition | Q4 2016 |
| First REP projects in service | Q2 2019 |
To help guide these recommendations the AESO is seeking input from interested stakeholders on the design and structure of the REP. A questionnaire has been developed for interested parties to provide insight and data back to the AESO. This can be downloaded on the AESO’s REP website http://www.aeso.ca/rep/ or directly here. Responses are due by March 24, 2016.
Source: Sussex Strategy Group, sussex-strategy.com, March 4