Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
In other words, one is the loneliest number, again. Well it was, until it hit zero.
Wind power generation in Alberta and Saskatchewan has seen significant variations in recent days, from producing over half of their respective nameplate capacities, to next to nothing. And eventually it fell to exactly that – nothing.
Alberta’s wind output at 1:18 a.m. fell to zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
MC is maximum capacity, in megawatts. TNG is total net to grid. DCR is dispatched, and accepted, contingency reserve. This was at 1:18 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. AESO
According to data published by the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) and logged by X account @ReliableAB, At 1:59 p.m. on Dec. 30, Alberta’s wind fleet of 50 wind farms comprised of 1,760 wind turbines was producing 3,327 megawatts out of a nameplate capacity of 5,684 megawatts. That was 58.5 per cent of total wind capacity, making up 27.3 per cent of the province’s total generation at the time. Natural gas was accounting for 64.2 per cent, solar was 5.3 per cent, biomass was 2.1 per cent and hydro was 1 per cent.
Step forward to 9:33 p.m. on Jan. 1, and wind output was 3 megawatts out of a capacity of 5,684. That’s 0.05 per cent of capacity, or less than one half of one tenth of one per cent. The fraction can also be expressed as 4.691531785127844e-4. It stayed at that level for several minutes, and hovered in single digits for at least 3 hours. At 11:57 p.m., wind was at 5 megawatts. It was -14 C in Edmonton, and -8 C in Calgary. Fort McMurray was -25 C and Grande Prairie was -18 C.
And by 12:09 a.m, Friday, Jan. 2, wind output fell to 1 megawatt out of 5,684, and hovered between 1 and 2 megawatts for several minutes.
An an hour later, wind output hovered at 1 megawatt for at least 10 minutes before it fell to zero at 1:18 a.m.
One megawatt divided by the total nameplate wind capcity is 1.759324419422942e-4. That’s 0.0176 per cent, or less than one fifth of one tenth of one per cent capacity.
And zero, of course, needs no calculation. It’s zero. As in less than an iPhone charger.
And at 1:27 a.m., it hit zero again, and stayed there for five minutes. It would regain a megawatt, and fall to zero, again, at 1:36.
According to weather website Windy.com, at Lethbridge and Pincher Creek, in the heart of Alberta’s wind generation area, wind registered at 1 knot at midnight, with gusts of 8 and 4 knots, respectively.
And being night time, solar was producing zero power. At 1:32 a.m., natural gas was producing 9,906 megawatts of the 10,231 megawatts being produced on the Alberta grid, making up 96.8 per cent of all power generation at that moment.
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Saskatchewan context
In Saskatchewan, SaskPower puts out 24-hour averages per generation class once per day on its Where Your Power Comes From webpage, found here. That data is delayed two days, to protect SaskPower’s bargaining position in the wholesale electrical market. X account @SkElectricity logs that data.
On Dec. 30, wind produced an average 500 megawatts out of a capacity of 817 megawatts, or 61.1 per cent capacity. The previous day wind produced 503 megawatts as well.
As far as wind output goes, over 60 per cent output is generally a good day in Alberta or Saskatchewan.
But on Dec. 26, wind output averaged just 18 megawatts, or 2.2 per cent. That’s an average, meaning there were times the output was higher, and lower, than 18 megawatts. On that day, natural gas produced an average of 1,780 megawatts and coal produced 1,018 megawatts, with hydro at 335 megawatts. “Other” was 101 megawatts and solar was 1 megawatt. That meant natural gas and coal combined to produce 86.5 per cent of Saskatchewan’s power on Boxing Day.
Where our power came from⛄: pic.twitter.com/bt3KVDOnZR
— Saskatchewan Electricity Mix (@SkElectricity) December 28, 2025
Alberta signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the federal government which, if carried through, will carve out Alberta from the Clean Electricity Regulations. Those regulations seek to eliminate the burning of fossil fuels. Saskatchewan, however, is still very much exposed to those regulations. However, this province has chosen to ignore the federal coal regulations and the Clean Electricity Regulations, stipulating that electricity generation falls under provincial jurisdiction according to the Constitution.
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- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
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