Alberta Energy Watch is our Friday companion to the Monday Alberta Energy Market Report: Monday is prices, Friday is the context behind them. Three stories from this week that touch an Alberta household or small business, in our own words, with the original sources linked at the bottom.
Verified against the original filings, notices and releases on November 13, 2026.
1. A 3,600 MW data-centre request, called Lynx, sits on the AESO’s connection list
The Alberta Electric System Operator’s November 2026 Connection Project List includes two requests named Lynx Data Load in the Fort Saskatchewan planning area, northeast of Edmonton: 1,800 MW for a first phase, filed February 27, 2026, and 1,800 MW for a second phase, filed May 7. Both are at the first stage of the connection process, and the AESO lists their in-service dates as under review. The same list shows two gas generation requests in the same planning area, Sturgeon Gas and Sturgeon Gas 2, filed August 6 at 1,864 MW each. On November 11, The Logic reported that a company linked to Pembina Pipeline bought about 134 acres in the area, next to the Greenlight power plant Pembina and its partners are building for Meta’s data centre, and connected the gas requests to Lynx; the AESO list itself does not name a developer. For scale, Alberta’s peak demand in early November was about 11,500 MW, and the same AESO list carries more than 60 data-centre load requests adding up to roughly 27,600 MW.
What it means for you: a connection request is a place in line, not a project. The AESO’s first round for large loads allocated only 1,200 MW in total, and requests on this list come and go. What is worth watching is the pattern: the biggest new proposals now arrive paired with their own gas generation, the “bring your own generation” approach the province and the AESO have been building rules around. Whether very large loads pay their full share of the grid they use is the question that matters for every other bill in the province, and it is still being worked out.
2. Cochrane’s electricity franchise fee is set to rise to 20% in January
FortisAlberta will ask the Alberta Utilities Commission to acknowledge a new franchise fee for the Town of Cochrane, at the town’s direction. The fee would go from 17% to 20% on January 1, 2027. A franchise fee is the charge a municipality collects through your electricity bill for letting the utility use its land and roads, and it is calculated as a percentage of your delivery charges (distribution and transmission), not your energy charge. According to the public notice, a typical Cochrane home using 625 kWh a month would pay about $2.65 more, bringing its average monthly franchise fee to $16.00. Comments, objections or support can be sent in writing to the Town of Cochrane or FortisAlberta by November 17, 2026.
What it means for you: if you live or run a business in Cochrane, expect this line on your bill to rise in January no matter which retailer you buy from, because it rides on delivery charges, not on your energy rate. Elsewhere, the same thing can happen any year: Edmonton’s fee also rises in January, and changes go through a public notice and an AUC filing like this one. If you are comparing bills, look at the energy charge separately from delivery, riders and the franchise fee.
3. AltaLink says cheaper financing on a new transmission line saves Albertans more than $60 million
In its third-quarter results on November 10, AltaLink said it made its final draw, $18.8 million on September 25, on a Canada Infrastructure Bank loan for the Central East Transfer-Out project, known as CETO. CETO is a 130-kilometre, 240 kV transmission line between substations near Red Deer and Stettler, built with ATCO Energy Systems and energized in June 2026. AltaLink says the bank’s interest rate is about three percentage points lower than a conventional 30-year AltaLink bond, and that its share of the loan will save Albertans more than $60 million over the 30-year financing period. When the line was completed in June, the two companies put the combined savings on both their portions at about $135 million.
What it means for you: transmission costs, including what utilities pay to borrow, are passed through to every Alberta electricity customer in the transmission charge on the bill. Spread across the whole province over 30 years, the saving per household is small, but as Alberta builds more lines for new generation and load, what that building costs to finance shows up on bills for decades. The same results note that AltaLink’s approved return on equity rose to 9.02% for 2026, from 8.97% in 2025, which also feeds into transmission rates.
On the calendar: the AESO holds its window 2 session on restructured energy market rules on November 17 (written feedback due December 4) and a market readiness update on November 19. The AUC’s virtual meeting on utility distribution system plans is November 17. The UCA’s free noon Power Hour webinars continue November 18 (understanding utilities in Alberta) and November 25. Stettler County’s Municipal Planning Commission considers the development permit for the Red Willow battery storage project on November 18 at 1 p.m.
Sources
- Alberta Electric System Operator — Connection Project List, November 2026 (projects P3198, P3204, P3215, P3217; data-load entries), retrieved November 13, 2026: aeso.ca
- Alberta Electric System Operator — Large Load Projects (Phase 1, 1,200 MW allocated): aeso.ca
- The Logic — “Another giant data centre is in the works for northern Alberta—right next to Meta’s,” November 11, 2026 (land purchase and Pembina link): thelogic.co
- Get Energy — Alberta Energy Market Report, week of November 2–8, 2026 (AESO peak load): getenergy.ca
- Alberta Utilities Commission / FortisAlberta — “Notice of amendment to franchise fee for the Town of Cochrane,” issued November 3, 2026: cochrane.ca (PDF)
- AltaLink — “AltaLink loan from Canada Infrastructure Bank will save more than $60 million for Albertans,” November 10, 2026: altalink.ca
- AltaLink — “ATCO and AltaLink Complete Major Transmission Project to Boost Alberta’s Energy Infrastructure,” June 30, 2026: altalink.ca
- AESO Engage — REM ISO Rules engagement (window 2 dates): aesoengage.aeso.ca
- Alberta Utilities Commission — Announcement, “Distribution system plans released and future process,” October 20, 2026: auc.ab.ca (PDF)
- Utilities Consumer Advocate — Power Hour webinars: ucahelps.alberta.ca
- Stettler County — Red Willow Solar + Energy Storage Project development permit: stettlercounty.ca
All figures verified against the sources above, November 13, 2026. The data-centre total is our own sum of the data-load entries in the AESO’s November 2026 list, across all stages; requested capacity is not the same as approved or operating load. Project sizes and savings are the companies’ own figures and can change.
Get Energy is a competitive retailer in Alberta, a tradename of Utility Network & Partners Inc. Alberta has no residential time-of-use pricing. Nothing here is advice about your own contract.
Recent Comments