Where We Started 1891 – 1901
On October 23, 1891, the Edmonton Electric Lighting and Power Company was granted Letters Patent by Queen Victoria’s representative to the North West Territories. Founded and operated by a group of Edmonton pioneers, the EEL&PC launched its first power plant on December 22, 1891. Powered by a hand-stoked, coal-fired steam boiler on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, the generator supplied the fledgling community of 700 people with street and building lighting during the evening hours.
The Next Century 1902-1995
In May 1902, a second wave of pioneers took over, as EEL&PC became the first municipally owned electric utility in Canada. During the new century, the utility grew from operating 75 kW of power generation to 1,050 MW by 1979. Along the way it developed one of the world’s first 10,000 KW turbo-generators (1928), Canada’s largest steam boiler (1931) and Canada’s largest thermal plant (1941). In 1970, the still municipally owned operation became Edmonton Power and opened the first North American power plant to have a spring-supported foundation.
Edmonton Power became a regional leader in fossil fuel power generation over the next 25 years, expanding its natural gas-fired Clover Bar plant to 660 MW and developing the first two coal-fired units at Genesee, Alberta with a gross capacity of 820 MW. These two facilities are still in operation today.
Edmonton Power Corporation (EPCOR) 1995-2009
In the summer of 1995, EPCOR Utilities Inc. was incorporated as a standalone entity with the City of Edmonton as shareholder. Governed independently by a board of directors, EPCOR moved to capitalize on the deregulation of wholesale and retail power markets in Alberta, and began to invest in power generation facilities in B.C., Ontario and in the United States. In its first 10 years, EPCOR tripled its consolidated assets and revenues while delivering superior returns for its shareholder.
At the dawn of 2009, EPCOR owned and/or operated 3,100 MW of generation capacity in North America from 31 separate generating stations and had an additional 650 MW of power generation capacity under construction.
Capital Power 2009 – Present Day
Capital Power became a company through an Initial Public Offering (IPO), and the power generating assets and business of EPCOR were moved to Capital Power as a new, separate, independent, and publicly traded company. Capital Power commenced trading on the TSX, and its new era as a North American wholesale power generator, on July 9, 2009.
In our first five years, 2009-2013, our focus was establishing our footing and repositioning our power-generating portfolio. As a new company with a fleet of inherited assets, we worked hard to produce growing and stable investment returns through our innovative expertise and committed leadership. During this period, we added new generating facilities in B.C. and Alberta, and set the stage for our growth and expansion into the U.S.
The next five years, 2014-2018, were about reducing risk through operational excellence, growth and diversification. While our Alberta-based facilities and portfolio were, and remain, central to our strategy and success, we pursued and executed on opportunities for contracted renewable and natural gas generation assets in Ontario, British Columbia and across the U.S. to achieve our growth targets and minimize risk associated with low Alberta power prices. As a result, we doubled our investment in renewable energy sources and quadrupled the natural gas assets in our portfolio delivering on both our sustainability and value promise to our shareholders.
From 2019-2021, we accelerated our plans to be net zero by 2045 through announcing the repowering of our Genesee Generating Station and expanding our renewables portfolio. We continued our growth, acquiring the Goreway Power Station in Ontario and Buckthorn Wind in Texas. We constructed Whitla Wind in Alberta and Cardinal Point Wind in Illinois and began construction on our first Canadian solar projects in Alberta – the Strathmore and Enchant Solar projects. We also progressed development on solar projects in North Carolina and acquired 20 solar development sites in the U.S., totaling 1,298 MW of capacity with over 1,200 MW of battery storage potential.
2022-2023
In 2022, consistent with our strategy of acquiring mid-life contracted natural gas assets strategically positioned within their power markets and critical to supporting grid reliability during the energy transition, we partnered with Manulife Investment Management to acquire Midland Cogeneration Venture (MCV) in Michigan. MCV is the largest gas-fired cogeneration facility in the United States and adds 816.5 MW of capacity to our fleet. Later that year, we released our inaugural Green Financing Framework to outline our approach to sustainability-focused financing to fund the development of clean energy technology.
In 2023, we delivered on our strategy with momentum as we demonstrated our leadership in the energy transition as a critical North American power producer. We strategically expanded our fleet in the U.S. Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) region as we entered into agreements to acquire ownership interests in the 1,062 MW La Paloma facility in California and 1,092 MW Harquahala facility in Arizona and acquired the 265 MW Frederickson 1 facility in Washington. These acquisitions mark a significant milestone in our strategic growth by positioning us as the fifth largest natural gas independent power producer (IPP) in North America. Additionally, we secured five new contracts for our Ontario natural gas fleet, including two battery energy storage system projects, an expansion, and two upgrades – resulting in Capital Power having more than 1,500 MW of contracted capacity in Ontario. We also continued to advance our Genesee Repowering project that, once complete, will deliver an additional 512 MW of net capacity for Alberta and reduce CO2 emissions by 3.4 million tonnes annually (from 2019 levels).
Tomorrow
We’re prioritizing delivering reliable, affordable and decarbonized power that communities can depend on, building decarbonized power systems needed for tomorrow, and creating real net zero solutions on our journey to net zero by 2045. We are focused on optimizing and repowering our existing assets, growing our renewables fleet, pursuing carbon capture and removal technology opportunities to abate emissions from grid-critical natural gas generation, exploring opportunities for alternative sources of carbon-free dispatchable baseload, and monitoring emerging technologies to seize upon opportunities for early mover advantage when these technologies become technically and economically viable.
Our resilient, leading strategy empowers us to make net zero a reality while preserving the reliability and affordability of our grids and ensuring strong returns for all our stakeholders. As we continue to optimize our business into 2024 and beyond, we remain committed to financial strength, stability and disciplined growth to fund a net zero future.