Sharp Hills Wind Farm commences operations near Sedalia and New Brigden
EDP Renewables North America (EDPR NA), a leading renewable energy developer and a top five renewable energy operator in the United States, alongside EDP Renewables Canada Ltd. (EDPR Canada), celebrates Sharp Hills Wind Farm becoming operational near the hamlets of Sedalia and New Bridgen.
The energy offtaker for the project is Calgary-based TC Energy, one of North America’s leading energy infrastructure companies with operations in natural gas, oil, and power industries. The launch of the project follows an agreement made by EDPR NA when it joined Invest Alberta Corporation in signing a memorandum of understanding, committing both parties’ collaboration in spurring economic growth and high-quality job creation within the renewable energy sector in Alberta.
Sharp Hills Wind Farm represents an estimated capital investment of over $600M CAD and contributes to the local economy through job creation and funding to the community. During construction, the project created more than 400 full-time equivalent jobs and currently employs 7 permanent positions to operate and maintain the project. Sharp Hills has contributed millions of dollars of spending within 50 kilometres of the project, supporting local businesses such as restaurants, gas stations, hotels, shops, and service providers. In addition, the wind farm will disperse millions to landowners through land lease payments and pay millions more to the Special Areas Board and communities in the heart of eastern Alberta’s grasslands, enhancing funding for schools, emergency services, and infrastructure.
“Less than one year after Invest Alberta and EDP Renewables signed an agreement to spur economic growth and create high-quality jobs within the renewable energy sector in Alberta, we are celebrating the successful launch of the Sharp Hills Wind Farm. This $600 million project is a big win for Alberta’s economy, having created more than 400 new jobs that bring economic vitality to rural Alberta and diversification to Alberta’s energy industry,” stated Rick Christiaanse, Invest Alberta CEO.
The Sharp Hills Wind Project continues a long and rich legacy of energy production in the Special Areas of Alberta. Through the development of wind energy in the Special Areas, the project aims to elevate Alberta’s status as a renewable energy leader in Cana-
da as well as to diversify the energy resources in the province, through investment in its power infrastructure and empowerment of its energy security.
“I’m extremely proud of this milestone, as it marks the largest single-phase wind farm developed by EDP Renewables to date in North America,” stated Sandhya Ganapathy, CEO of EDPR NA.“Starting in 2015, we committed to our stakeholders to make this project operational, believing in its ability to spur the Special Areas’ local economy, provide workforce development, and build grid resiliency through Albertan home-grown energy.”
Sharp Hills Wind Farm is EDPR Canada’s third renewable energy site in Canada, with 427 MW of operating capacity in the country.
The energy generated by the wind farm will be transported to the Alberta Interconnected Electric System (AIES) grid through the new Sedalia 363S substation.
A S C A N A D I A N A S M A P L E S Y R U P
In the true spirit of being Canadian, conquer winter’s chill with these uniquely Northern activities that transform the cold into a canvas for unforgettable adventure
OUTDOOR RINK
Tie up those skates and relish the beauty of the great outdoors with a quintessentially Canadian activity! Gliding on the ice as a family not only offers excellent exercise but also serves as a beloved pastime, fostering social connections and pure enjoyment Lace up those skates, and let the winter fun begin!
FOX
LAKE PARK
Just a short distance west of Hanna is a beautiful natural setting open to residents to visit Firepits can be accessed for warming up or even roasting hotdogs and marshmallows! (Bring your own wood!) Take in the fresh air, gorgeous views, or maybe a wildlife sighting as nature soothes the soul
Welcome to 2024
On behalf of Council, Happy New Year and all the best to everyone I trust that everyone was able to enjoy some quality family time and
recharge their batteries for the New Year This recent cold snap has shown us we are in winter, but it will be important to get some significant moisture before the spring
On that note the province has asked all municipalities to make some contingency plans in regards to potable water with the lack of snowfall and the drought the Province saw in 2023 This
plan may put restrictions on outdoor water use
Council approved its 2024 budget at its January 9, 2024, meeting This approval followed two separate budget meetings and with costs increasing for all goods and services Council has made the decision to approve a 2% Municipal Tax Increase. Please note this is the Municipal portion of the taxes collected and we are waiting to see the requisitions from the province for the school portion and Acadia Foundation for the Seniors Housing Requisition of which the Town has no control over The budget will be reviewed again in the spring before setting the tax rate This 2% increase will be the first increase in Municipal Tax since 2018 and will bring the amount collected closer to the Municipal Tax collected in 2020 but still under the municipal tax collected in 2018 & 2019 Below please find the Municipal Tax Revenue Collected since 2018:
2018 $2,877,924
2019 $2,873,373
2020 $2,840,599
2021 $2,793,684
2022 $2,793,640
2023 $2,798,138
2024 $2,855,101
January 1, 2024, is the date the Town of Hanna Land Use Bylaw comes into effect so prior to purchasing a property, building new or an addition, please feel free to contact the office and confirm the requirements for the land use district The Land Use Bylaw is also on the Town of Hanna website if you wish to review it on your own
Remember to reach with any concerns, issues or topics regarding the governance and operations of the Town of Hanna
Respectfully
Danny Povaschuk, Mayor
C C C O O O M M M I I I N N N G G Gevents
Thu Feb 1
Sun Feb 4 Conversation Cafe 10:00 am & 5:00 pm Parent and Tot Skating 10:30 am Drop-in Hockey 12:00 pm-1:00 pm
3:30 pm
EXPLORE ANTELOPE HILL PROVINCIAL PARK
Follow Range Road 144 a short 8 minute drive north of Hanna to enjoy 940 acres of undisturbed native grassland You can witness diverse wildlife including but not limited to the thirteen-lined ground squirrel, deer, elk and rare birds like the Sprague’s’ pipit and Baird’s sparrow. This park is a valuable addition to Alberta’s ecological provincial parks system You can also enjoy a number of snowshoe trails that have been set by users
CROSS COUNTRY SKIING
Cross-country skiing is one of the oldest winter sports, popular because of its simplicity and healthiness. It is gentle for the body’s joints compared to running, gets you into the cold fresh air cleaning your lungs & blood to enforce your immune system defense – plus the snowy landscapes relax your busy mind!
Sensory Hours Sensory Hours
Calming the lights and sounds to create a sensory inclusive environment for all ages
Hanna Youth Club AGM
Youth Club is gearing up for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and they invited you to be a part of the action. Join in Wed Feb 7 at 5:30 pm, at the Town Office.
New members welcome: Grade 7 & up. Be a voice for change, an integral part of a supportive network. Ideas, energy, and enthusiasm are exactly what is needed to make this upcoming year the best one yet.
Include your event in the community calendar: contact Town of Hanna Tue Feb 6 Wed Feb 7 Thu Feb 8
Parent and Tot Skating 10:30 am Drop-in Hockey 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Seniors Social 2:00 pm
Youth Club AGM 5:30 pm
Sensory Hours Library 4:00 pm
OPINION: Digital addiction - an under-discussed problem
BY JOAN JANZEN
While out for lunch at a restaurant, a wife watched her husband as he was preoccupied with his phone. When she suggested he was addicted, he replied, “I am soooo not addicted to my phone because I have an app that warns me if I’m turning into an addict, and it hasn’t gone off yet.”
But the reality is most of us have become glued to our phones, so much so that if I send certain people a text and do not receive a response within a half hour, I get concerned about their physical well-being. And social media statistics verify those concerns.
Statistics for 2023 reported the average Canadian spends two hours a day on social media, with 24-35-year-olds being the most active group. It also showed there are 33.1 million social media users in Canada, 36 million Canadians are on the Internet, and 72 percent of Canadians use Facebook.
So how can we ensure that technology in our lives brings a positive impact rather than a negative one? Well, a group of volunteers from the tech industry have produced a network in Canada that is providing service with a positive impact. The CEO and founder of Faith Tech, James Kelly, described how the network began in an interview on Faytene TV.
“About seven years ago, I discovered every month 8,000 people in Canada would search these words - ‘How to Kill myself,’” James recalled. He discovered the top result was an article entitled “7 Easy, Painless Ways to Kill Yourself”.
“I remember the moment so vividly and wondered if it was for real!” James said. Just a couple of months later, he was hosting a retreat for technology
geeks to get together and build technology. It was there that he presented his findings. While he had no idea what to do, he knew he had to do something.
“Amazingly, four people at the retreat got together: two developers, a communications manager and a psychotherapist,” he said. The foursome gave up their weekend and got to work.
They purchased the website “How to kill yourself,” but on the website, they put the banner title “You’re Not Alone.” The website provided sources of help which people could contact.
About a month later, one of the web developers from the team had coffee with a friend and was telling her about the website she was building. Her friend interrupted her and asked for the website’s domain name. When she told her friend it was called “How to Kill Yourself,” her friend immediately started to cry. She said she had gone online the evening before and asked Google the question, “How to kill myself.”
“I found that website, and it saved my life,” was her friend’s tearful response.
Seven years later, Faith Tech has a network in 37 cities around the globe, is in 14 nations, and continues to grow. It consists of hundreds of people who work at Google, Facebook and other organizations and donate their time to create innovative technology.
“We’re very action-oriented. We’ve got about a hundred products being built, all by volunteers. It’s amazing!” James said. “The Faith Tech community loves to solve big problems. The solutions we bring are things most organizations aren’t thinking about.”
One of those organizations is Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), a charity that brings medicine, food, and doctors
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to help transform people’s lives in developing nations. They found their donors wanted to know how their funds were being used to affect change, but the organization also realized it was very difficult to measure impact. Faith Tech Developed an ultra simple-to-use app that gathered impact numbers.
A pilot from MAF said he was impressed with their dedication. “We record flight data, the hours we’ve flown and number of landings. It helps us focus on what we do,” he said. A member of MAF said he was impressed that a handful of volunteers got together and were committed to making the app, which otherwise would have cost the charity tens of thousands of dollars.
Volunteers who help at Faith Tech expressed different reasons for helping out. “I had the skills, but I didn’t really have the opportunity to apply them,” one volunteer stated.
James agreed, saying, “We saw there were tech people who were highly skilled but were not using their gifts.”
“We’ve done a ton of events on digital addiction, which is a very under-discussed but significantly present problem right now,” James continued. “We take drug addiction very seriously, and yet there’s this digital realm that has emerged so quickly. Hopefully, we can point people in the right direction. We may not be the experts, but we have many friends in our network who can help.”
The organizations’ volunteers all
come from different backgrounds, but they have one common goal that bonds them together. Faith Tech volunteers make sure they’re mastering tech and tech is not mastering them.
“Big tech is extraordinarily powerful; I don’t think we’ve ever seen this kind of power in an industry. It’s remarkable how powerful a few people can be in the world,” he noted.
James recognized concerns centred around Artificial Intelligence (AI), whereby people believe computer-generated images are real and share those images. “That’s a negative use of it,” he explained.
However, he said there’s also something called ‘Liars Dividend’, and he continued to explain. “Now it’s more common that a real thing gets questioned and gets claimed as fake. That’s the growing trend. Now, the truth becomes questioned more than things that are fake are assumed to be real. It undermines truth at the deepest level,” he explained.
But when asked how we can see transformation in big tech, he replied: “You can approach this from a legal perspective with regulations.” But James prefers the bottom-up approach. Instead of everyday people being focused on complaining about technology, Faith Tech is a group of volunteers who are passionate about transforming the industry. “I’m proud of the work we’ve done,” James concluded.
MISTY HART Freelance Photographer GWEN SNELL Freelance Journalist
ACADIA VALLEY
FEBRUARY 1-3
• Acadia Valley 2024 Ladies Bonspiel “Come On Barbie, Let’s Go Party.” To register call/text Jaime Didychuk at 403-664-7110. Deadline: Sunday, January 28.
- Gymnastics - Cactus Gym Club’s Fall Classes until November 4 at the Acadia Valley Event Centre. To register or for more info, contact Michelle Hutton at 403-502-3050.
- Adult drop-in Volleyball Wednesdays 7:30 PM at Warren Peers School. Contact Marie 403-664-8589 for more info.
BUFFALO
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10
• Buffalo Valentine’s Day Dance 7:00 PM at the Buffalo Community Hall.
BYEMOOR
MONDAY, JANUARY 29 - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3
• Byemoor Curling Club’s annual Farmer’s Bonspiel. Phone your entries to Eugene Nixon 403-742-9616 or Justin Jones 403-741-6784.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3
• Central Alberta Selects AA vs Medicine Hat AA 3:00 PM at the Endmoor Arena.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4
• Endmoor U9 vs Spruce View 9:30 AM at the Endmoor Arena.
• Endmoor U11 vs Oyen 11:00 AM at the Endmoor Arena.
CEREAL
- Tuesdays - Cereal Cottages Weekly
Coffee Time 9:30 AM
- Wednesdays - Quilting Days 10 AM4 PM $10.00
- Thursdays -Chase the Ace every Thursday 7:00-9:00 PM at the Cereal Hotel & Bar. Weekly cash prizes.
CESSFORD
- Tuesday from 7:00 - 9:00 PM Pickleball in Gym and Craft Night in Library Berry Creek Community School (except school holidays)
CRAIGMYLE
- Wednesdays - 9:30 AM Coffee at Craigmyle Historic Church
DELIA
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8
• The Delia and District Historical Society AGM at the Drop In Centre. Potluck supper at 6:00 PM. Meeting to follow at 7:30 PM.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11
• Elks annual Mother’s Day Breakfast at the Community Hall.
- Tuesdays & Thursdays - 9:00 AM Coffee & Cards at the Drop in Centre
- Wednesdays - 7:00 PM Cards & Pool at the Drop in Centre
- Thursdays - Pickleball 6:30 PM at the Delia Gym
- Thursdays - Drop in Curling 7:00 PM
- Fridays - Public Skating at the Delia Arena 3:30-5:30 PM
- Sundays - 10:30 AM DCF Morning Service
- Sundays - Public Skating at the Delia Arena 2:00-4:00 PM
- Teens Only Crafts & Cookie at the Delia Library 4:30-6:30 PM
ENDIANG
- Mondays - 1:00 PM Endiang Floor Curling
HANNA
Hanna Senior Circle
- Wednesdays 1:00 PM Cards (Spades)
- Thursdays 1:00 PM Cards (Five Hundred)
- Seniors Circle Bingo will be held February 8, 22, March 7 & 21 at 7:30 PM
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31
At Centennial Place
• Youth Drop-In. Open Gym. Drop-in fee applies. 3:30-5:30 PM
• Pickleball for 16+. Drop-in or access fee applies. 7:00-9:00 PM.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1
At Centennial Place
• Pickleball for all ages. Sponsored by the Town of Hanna. No fee. 10:00 AM
- Noon.
• Youth Drop-In. Open gym. Drop-in fee applies. 3:30-5:30 PM.
• Basketball (16+) Drop-in fee applies. 7:00-9:00 PM.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2
At Centennial Place
• Tot n Me. (0-6 yrs and their family/ caregiver. Supported by the Town of Hanna. No Fee. 10:30 AM - Noon.
• Youth Drop-In. Open gym. Drop-in fee applies. 3:30-5:30 PM.
- Hanna Harvesters Lacrosse 2024 Registration Now Open for U7, U9, U11, U15 and U17. Contact hannalacrosse@gmail.com or talk to Ricky Boyce or Matt Devereux.
OYEN
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3
• Oyen Curling Club Jr. Spiel Gr. 4 - Gr. 12. Enter teams to Jackie Dick 403664-0157.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6
• Regular Pot Luck Supper and Meet-
ing for Oyen and District Seniors 6:00 PM at the Seniors Recreation Centre.
FEBRUARY 17 & 18
• Big Country Ag Society Beef Expo 2024 - Pen Show and Youth Show at the Crossroads Centre.
- Oyen Town Council meet 2nd Tuesday of every month 6:00 PM in Council Chambers
- Oyen & District Curling Club Fun League runs Tuesday evenings and starts first week of November. Contact Kari 403-664-1001 to enter a team.
- Oyen & District Curling Club Cash League runs Wednesday evenings and starts first week of November. Contact Brett 403-664-8868 to enter a team.
RICHDALE
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2
• Card Night at the Hall starting at 7:00 PM. Enjoy a fun night of cards - just need to bring an appetizer.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6
• General Meeting at the Richdale Community Hall 7:00 PM. Everyone welcome.
SEDALIA
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31
• Community Strategies for a Changing World presents speaker, Tanner Hinder, on “Stress and Anxiety Management in a Changing World/Strategies to Keep Grounded.” At the Sedalia Hall 6:30 PM. Q & A, coffee and snacks to follow. Everyone welcome!
YOUNGSTOWN
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24
• Youngstown Sterling Curling Bonspiel. 2 man teams. Everyone welcome. Maximum 12 teams.