Medicine Hat – Shining in Southern Alberta

By Rebecca Calder

Powered by Communities is a storytelling platform designed to highlight community-level energy transition initiatives. So, when the opportunity came to report on a place that literally has community power… how could we not discuss Medicine Hat?

I grew up in northern Alberta, and Medicine Hat has inhabited a spot in my imagination for many, many years. I imagined it brilliantly sunshiny, with a crisp river running through it, and antelopes leaping through its suburbs. (There is a non-zero chance my vision was inspired by the Little House books.)

I finally got to visit Medicine Hat this past summer, and unlike many other times, my imagination didn’t disappoint. In fact, it was even better. The river valley was such an extraordinary beauty, so different to my experience of trees, trees, and more trees. I live in Edmonton now and it’s beautiful – but it is familiar.

So, there I was in Medicine Hat in August, sun beating down on me from a brilliantly blue sky, freckles popping out on my skin in real time, momentarily forgetting I was there on a work trip. Some colleagues and I were visiting to see some of the energy conservation and microgeneration projects we at the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre had helped them finance.

But I was also on another mission. Not the mission to reconcile my imagination with the actuality of the place; that was a bonus. My secondary mission was to learn more about Medicine Hat’s energy independence. With the City in charge of its own electricity production and distribution, they are in a uniquely flexible position to adapt to climate change and adopt energy conservation practices.

A long tradition of preparing for the future

Medicine Hat has been producing electricity and natural gas since the early 1900s (the only municipality in North America to do so) and their ownership of the production, distribution, and retail of electricity has given them a major cost-of-living advantage over other communities.

In my scope as a communicator about climate adaptation and mitigation, I tend to start conversations by talking about money. Revenue and expenditures are concepts with universal appeal and tangible and often immediate manifestations of success. Medicine Hat has leveraged its ownership of the power system and the natural gas wells to grow revenues while keeping costs lower for citizens.

However, this system includes one major drawback: they are responsible for all the infrastructure. That means maintaining it as it ages, and expanding it as the City and surrounding areas they service grow.

Despite having “all hell as a basement” (a Rudyard Kipling quote that is illegal to exclude from essays about Medicine Hat, referring to the shallow and abundant natural gas in the area), the City knows that firing generators to create electricity will not be sustainable forever. Already the warmest city in Alberta, Medicine Hat faces the results of climate change more acutely than elsewhere in the province. Temperatures are expected to rise to about 30°C on average for two months by 2051. This still feels like the distant future, but it’s only 25 years away.

And the City of Medicine Hat is aware of this. And they’re making efforts in climate mitigation and adaptation. They’ve invested in wind and solar power (especially wise as Medicine Hat is the sunniest city in Alberta). While this investment is small for now, they are “looking at it from a larger scale to support our municipal electric generation,” according to Adria Coombs, Manager – Environmental Strategy and Compliance at the City of Medicine Hat.

The City has developed an environmental framework that underscores its commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability. This strategic planning document outlines clear directions for resource management and climate risk mitigation, aligning with City Council’s strategic priorities and the Municipal Development Plan. A key component of this framework is the climate risk assessment, which provides guidance on how climate change impacts Medicine Hat and informs recommendations in the Environmental Framework for future adaptation measures.

Collaboration as a powerful tool

To advance climate mitigation efforts, Medicine Hat is collaborating with MCCAC, the Community Energy Association, through the Prairies Cohort of QUEST Canada’s Net-Zero Communities Accelerator program.

“By engaging in the program, the City has acquired baseline GHG data, conducted an economic impact assessment, and developed KPIs and implementation strategies,” says Coombs. “This data continues to guide the City’s investment and decision-making processes for various initiatives and actions. Particularly beneficial activities for the City of Medicine Hat include those that consolidate data or connect individuals to create a comprehensive overview, facilitate information sharing, and enhance communication across departments.”

The goal is to create a Community Energy and Emissions Strategy, further demonstrating Medicine Hat’s proactive approach to managing its energy grid and supporting the community.

For home, and business, commercial and industrial sectors

Medicine Hat has a long history of empowering its citizens, literally. Initiatives like the Clean Energy Improvement Program – which helps homeowners finance energy efficiency upgrades, and the long-standing HAT Smart program – offering rebates for energy-conscious improvements, put the power to act directly in the hands of residents.

Coombs is particularly proud of HAT Smart. With “incentives for existing homes, new homes, water conservation, EnerGuide evaluations, and various eligible small purchase items in Scratch & Win,” she explains, “we hope the HAT Smart program initially helps residents to financially support home improvement project costs. And then, ultimately helps to reduce their utility bills and energy/water consumption.”

Efforts extend to the commercial and industrial sectors as well. The Energy Innovation Challenge, a partnership with Decentralised Energy Canada, empowers small and medium-sized Canadian businesses to overcome commercialization barriers and bring energy innovations to market. These innovations focus on the critical areas of grid reliability and resiliency, energy affordability, and sustainability. Over two intakes to-date, five winners have been selected to drive forward solutions that will shape Alberta’s energy future.

Bringing it home

I started this story looking back at my childhood vision of Medicine Hat. Let’s close with Adria Coomb’s forward vision, of Medicine Hat’s energy future.

“Given ownership and operation of our energy utility generation and distribution, The City of Medicine Hat has opportunities that are not available for other municipalities. In looking toward the future, I would expect that the City continues to explore alternative clean energy sources for our power generation. This will help us transition into greener energy and ensure long term sustainability for our community.”

“Personally, I’m most proud of my work leading the development of the City of Medicine Hat’s Environmental Framework, which was adopted by City Council in June 2024. The 18-month initiative involved extensive stakeholder collaboration including the public, various local organizations and institutions, internal City experts, City leadership and City Council.”

“The resulting Framework successfully captures, reflects, and builds on the City’s current foundational environmental guidelines and objectives, while providing strategic direction for integrated resource management and climate risk mitigation. It delivers a cohesive flexible and adaptive 25-year long-range plan with emphasis on a series of short-term 5–10-year action plans.”

About QUEST Canada

QUEST Canada is a registered Canadian charity that supports communities in Canada on their pathway to net-zero. Since 2007, we’ve been facilitating connections, empowering community champions and advising decision-makers to implement energy use and emissions reduction solutions that best meet community needs and maximize local opportunities. We develop tools and resources, convene stakeholders and rights holders, and advise decision-makers — all with the goal of encouraging, assisting and enabling communities to contribute to Canada’s net-zero goals.