LATITUDE
was supposed to be completed last May. In August, TransAlta asked for a time extension to 2023. A recent letter to the AUC says the company it will reapply “when economic conditions are more favourable.”
own two of Alberta’s largest and most efficient generating operations.
-Corinne Lutter
OIL PRICES ZAP SMALL BUSINESS ZEAL
-Corinne Lutter
The morale of Alberta’s small business owners has been dropping as quickly as the price of oil. In January, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business released its latest Small Business Confidence Index, a 100-point scale that measures the outlook business owners have for the coming year. Alberta’s small business confidence was the highest in the country last October at 74.6, but now it’s the lowest at 54.8. That’s Alberta’s worst rating since 2009.
WHERE WOULD YOU RATHER WALK? An iconic but grimy pedestrian underpass in Calgary is about to get a $3.5-million makeover. Top: an artist’s rendering of what it will look like when the upgrade is complete. Bottom: what the underpass looks like now. -images courtesy City of Calgary of Edmonton’s Capital Power and Calgary’s ENMAX, has received all major regulatory approvals. Construction timelines are flexible. Depending on market conditions, the first unit could be completed by late 2018. The second unit will either be built at the same time or up to two years later. Capital Power will lead construction and operate the facility. ENMAX and Capital Power also jointly own the Shepherd Energy Centre, a natural gas-fired plant about to begin operation in east Calgary. With Genesee 4 & 5, the companies will built using high-efficiency, gas turbine technology — the most advanced of the J-class technology in commercial operation. The project, a joint venture GAS-FUELED POWER PLANT WILL USE WORLD’S MOST ADVANCED TURBINE TECHNOLOGY Expansion of hydro power may be on hold in Alberta, but electrical generation fired by natural gas is still a going concern. Construction is expected to begin in mid-2015 on a $1.4-billion expansion at the Genesee power plant, 50 kilometres west of Edmonton near Warburg. Genesee 4 & 5 will be built next to the plant’s three existing coal-fired units and have a combined generating capacity of up to 1,060 MW. The new units will be
-Caitlin Crawshaw
CONSULTING ENGINEERS HAVE LEARNED FROM THE PAST, SAYS CEA CEO The morale of Alberta’s consulting engineers appears to be better than that of small business. “We’ve been down this road before,” Ken Pilip, P.Eng., CEO and Registrar of the Consulting Engineers of Alberta, told the Canadian Consulting Engineer in January. Past downturns have taught companies to diversify, says Mr. Pilip. He’s optimistic that infrastructure projects, like LRT expansion and sewer upgrades, will keep firms busy until the economy rebounds. It wasn’t long ago that studies were predicting shortages of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists in Alberta. That should mean that it makes sense for companies to do what they can to retain skilled employees during the oil downturn. The statistics don’t tell a clear story, but retaining professional staff may not always be possible in the current climate. Statistics Canada reported Alberta losing 11,000 jobs in professional, scientific and technical occupations in November. Yet the sector gained 6,500 jobs in December.
-Corinne Lutter
SPRING 2015 PEG | 55
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