Call it a case of making hay while the sun is shining.
A growing coalition of rural Alberta residents is mobilizing against the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) over its approval of a controversial solar farm.
The Rural Alberta Concerned Communities Group (RACCG), representing nearly 200 residents, has announced a public meeting at the Caroline Community Hall on Tuesday to rally opposition and strategize further action.
On Friday, it fired off a letter to the AUC “respectfully” asking it to reconsider its February 28 approval for the project.
But now the movement is now expanding beyond Caroline, with residents of Hanna, Alberta — and another site for a proposed solar farm — joining the fight, turning what began as a local dispute into a bonafide grassroots protest.
The developer of the Caroline project, PACE Canada — a partnership between UK-based private investment firm Pathfinder Energy and Germany's Golbeck Solar — is the same one proposing the $17.2 million Hanna project.
Both were shelved and then revived a part of the UCP governments renewable development moratorium that was lifted in February of 2024.
At the heart of the conflict is concern that large-scale solar projects are being approved with what the RACCG claims is little regard for municipal input, transforming prime agricultural land into industrial sites with potentially devastating long-term consequences.
Opponents argue that these projects could lead to land abandonment, loss of productive farmland and visual blight, issues they claim have been ignored in the AUC’s approval process.
“This is not just about one solar farm — it’s about the future of our rural communities,” the RACCG said in the letter. “The AUC is overriding municipal land use plans that were never designed to accommodate industrial-scale solar farms. Once this land is taken over, what happens when these companies walk away? Who will be left responsible for the cleanup?”
A major concern is the potential for abandoned solar farms to become derelict sites, similar to Alberta’s long-standing problem with orphaned oil and gas wells.
While the government has introduced new rules to require reclamation security for renewable energy projects, critics argue that the safeguards are inadequate, leaving local municipalities at risk of shouldering the burden if developers fail to meet their obligations.
The Caroline solar sarm’s approval relies on a financial security plan that doesn’t fully take effect until the second year of operation, raising fears that taxpayers could ultimately be left paying for land restoration.
The approved Caroline project will be built on land currently designated for future residential and agricultural use, a decision that many argue contradicts the provincial government’s own post-moratorium policies which emphasize protecting farmland and preserving Alberta’s rural viewscapes.
“The irony is that our land use plans were dismissed because they don’t explicitly mention solar farms — but how could they? These plans were written long before this kind of project was even considered possible,” said one Caroline resident. “By that logic, we might as well say we have no rules against building a nuclear power plant in the middle of town either.”
Hanna residents are facing similar concerns over an incoming solar project, and have joined forces with Caroline’s opposition group, underscoring the broader implications of the AUC’s decision-making process.
According to RACCG organizer Russell Barnett, Hanna has manged to gain more than 300 members for its own movement which it wants to merge into a broader anti-solar federation.
“This is just the beginning,” said Barnett. “We are calling on every rural community facing a similar threat to stand with us. If we don’t fight now, this will set a dangerous precedent for every town in Alberta.”