Alberta electricity prices spike to $450 / MWh at 8 PM last night. Spike occurred just as solar was winding down. Alberta briefly imported power before rising wind generation, and falling demand eased prices overnight.

Was great to speak with Markham from @energimedia.bsky.social today. Geothermal can play an key role meeting Canada's growing electricity demand, right-sizing the challenge grids face, and creating a new stream of high-tech exports as Canada diversifies its economy. Link below in the comments

Electricity prices spiked as demand rises and wind falls off, and gas steps in to fill the void.

Massive surge in wind power is driving extended zero and near-zero prices in Alberta over the past 24 hours - and massive exports to BC.

Weekly report on Alberta's electricity is now up. Last week saw renewables perform at peak times, putting downward pressure on prices despite steady demand. Link below

In Alberta, wind power production surged last night at 9 PM. As a result, prices fell significantly as simple cycle production fell off and exports to SK surged.

Fervo has generated first power. Phase 1 of the Cape Station project will produce 100 MW across three GeoBlock turbines. Today, Fervo announced that the first Geoblock is now producing power. The other two are expected to reach contractual operation by Jan 1, 2027

Alberta power prices rising early in the day. Somewhat unusual as prices tend to rise in the afternoon. Will be interesting to watch through the day - as price currently forecast to reach $250

Average power prices in Alberta doubled last week - but remain low relative to costs.

Weekly Report 2 - Alberta’s Electricity Market

September 11 - 18, 2026

petermassie.substack.com

Prices briefly spiked to $730 / MWh last night, as solar production fell and simple cycle (and some biomass!) production ramped up to meet demand.

After briefly becoming a net importer, Alberta has resumed net exports of electricity

Over the past 24 hours, we've seen gas ramp up to meet demand as wind and solar production evaporates. We've also seen prices rise from an average of ~$20/MWh over the past week to $52/MWh over the past 24 hours. We've also seen a transition towards net imports

Modest levels of volatility are returning to Alberta's power market after prices hit a ceiling of ~$60 / MWh last week.

I'm launching a weekly report on Alberta's electricity market. As a competitive market in cold climate - it provides the perfect case study to explore how power systems are growing and changing. Read the first report here: petermassie.substack.com/p/weekly-rep...

Weekly Report - Alberta’s Electricity Market

September 5 - September 12, 2026

petermassie.substack.com

The US DOE has launched a geothermal prize to identify undiscovered geothermal resources. $300K is available to competitors who can develop algorithms to predict and model subsurface conditions. Great example of how prizes should be used www.energy.gov/hgeo/geother...

Office of Geothermal Announces Geologic Enhanced Mapping System (GEMS) Prize

The $300,000 prize will help locate hidden geothermal systems.

energy.gov

Wind played an outsized role in Alberta's power system following the long weekend. That combination could be suppressing power prices. Highest price over the past week was just $65 / MWh, with an average price of $19, and considerable number of hours with a price of $0.

Wind currently meeting nearly 40% of Alberta's electricity demand. Over the past seven days, we've seen good alignment between wind generation and high demand - with wind generating at ~50% of total capacity. Expect to see an elevated role for wind through the Fall.

Electricity demand in Alberta was muted over the weekend - and fairly soft yesterday for the holiday Monday. But it's important to keep in mind just how flat the province's demand profile is given large share of industrial load.

Canada's North needs energy - and geothermal can provide it. Despite the cold, Whitehorse is an emerging geothermal hotspot. Read more in this @hilltimes.com op ed by Jax Jacobsen and myself. www.hilltimes.com/2026/09/02/c...

Canada has an energy conundrum in the north: geothermal energy is the answer - The Hill Times

Whitehorse sits atop a promising geothermal resource—maybe one of Canada’s best, and developing geothermal energy would strengthen this country’s national security by strengthening relations with Arct...

hilltimes.com

AESO has published its monthly update to the Connection Project List - an overview of what's around the corner in the province's power grid. Unsurprisingly, new load under review is overwhelmingly driven by data centres. TLDR: we're going to need more clean firm power. Check out the link below

Simple cycle gas plants look like a small share of generation - they're easy to overlook. But they play a key role balancing grids. These two plants are the same size (~100 MW). And while they behave very differently, both provide much needed flexibility to the power system.

leger poll shows nearly 1 in 4 Albertans have either not followed the Alberta Sovereignty and Separation Discussions closely or not at all. 48% are less motivated because they think their side can win. This is not about changing minds, it is a question of who will show up. Get your mail ballot

Alberta Referendum: Undecided Share Rises Significantly Alberta Referendum Poll: Undecided Share Rises to 10%

Leger’s August 2026 Alberta referendum poll finds 65% favour remaining a province of Canada, while the undecided share rises significantly to 10%.

leger360.com

Everybody's working for the weekend: Grid demand in Alberta noticeably lower over the weekend. Will be interesting to see how this trend extends into Labour Day next Monday.

Electricity trade between Alberta and neighboring grids over the past week

LOAD GROWTH ***CAN*** DRIVE DOWN RATES

John Smillie@johnsmillie42.bsky.social · last mo.

Indiana & Michigan Power is announcing a planned rate decrease - "The plan is made possible thanks to load growth and increased revenue from large customers including data centers." finance.yahoo.com/energy/artic...

Wind production in Alberta has been strong this week - but it's struggling to capture value. On average, wind captures ~50% of the average wholesale price. As more wind comes online, it drives down the market price. Good for ratepayers, but a challenge for the market.

Electricity is affordable *most* of the time. If we want to maintain affordability - we need to think about meeting demand in peak hours. Over the past week in Alberta, the most expensive 25% of hours were ~6X the next quartile, and ~9X the bottom quartile.

Real volatility overnight in Alberta's electricity market, as prices skyrocketed from around $0 before 9 PM to near the offer cap at midnight.

It’s a windy start to the week in Alberta, with wind providing 30% of the provinces electricity as of 7:30 AM. Most of the province’s largest facilities are at or near capacity.

What share of renewable capacity is available when it's needed most? That depends on the renewable. Solar performed well over the past week. Wind, less so. But it also depends on the season. Will be interesting to see how these patterns change as temperatures fall.