While all the plans of the four companies are not known, it's certain Alberta's deregulated electricity market, which provides generators with direct access to customers, is as attractive as the province's wind regime. The most is known about Canadian Hydro's 19.5 MW expansion to the 21 MW Cowley Ridge wind plant, to be complete by the fall. Right now, commercial and industrial consumers in the province don't want to speculate on the price of power beyond three years. TransAlta Corporation and Calgary Transit will buy the output of 14 of the new turbines. And I think that's part of what is at the forefront here.
Wind is now, finally, starting to be able to show competitively that it has added value.
The least is known about the plans of Benign Energy, which is partnered with Ireland's B9 Energy Services, a company with significant wind energy assets and development experience. President Allan Kettles is not prepared to comment on how his wind power will be marketed, but plans to build 35 to 42 turbines in the 1.3 to 1.8 MW range and hopes to be producing power by the end of the year. There's a massive demand for electricity in North America as a whole. There's an increased demand in Alberta, and there's the deregulation scenario. All four companies have also applied to the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board to proceed with their plans, and the provincial regulator's approval is one of the conditions on the municipal district's development permit.