Even Though the Peace River Is In Alberta
Most Canadians picture the Peace River as a mighty northern Alberta waterway. So when people hear that Alberta gets only about 6–7 % of its electricity from hydroelectricity (one of the lowest shares in the country), the immediate reaction is confusion: “Wait, what about the Peace River? Isn’t that perfect for big dams?”
The short answer is: yes and no. The Peace is perfect for big dams … but almost all the good spots are in British Columbia.The Geography That Alberta Lost the Lottery OnThe Peace River starts in the Rocky Mountains of northeastern British Columbia. Over just 500 km it drops more than 1,000 metres through two spectacular canyons. That’s where the hydroelectric jackpot is.
By the time the river crosses the Alberta border (roughly at the 58th parallel), virtually all of that elevation has already been used. Inside Alberta the river becomes a slow, meandering prairie stream with almost no gradient left for the remaining 1,000+ km to Lake Athabasca. In hydro terms, the horse has already left the barn before it even gets to Alberta.The Three Giant Peace River Dams (All in BC)
Ownership: 100 % BC Hydro. Location: 100 % British Columbia.What Alberta Actually HasInside its own borders, Alberta operates:
British Columbia regularly exports large blocks of Peace River power across the intertie to Alberta, especially in deep winter when Alberta’s wind fleet often goes calm and gas plants have to run flat-out. In 2024–2025, those imports have repeatedly prevented blackouts and kept prices from spiking even higher.
So Albertans do consume a lot of Peace River electricity … they just don’t own the dams or get to claim the “hydro province” bragging rights.Could Alberta Ever Build Its Own Big Peace River Dam?The last big untapped site inside Alberta would be on the Slave River downstream of Fort Chipewyan (where the Peace and Athabasca meet). Studies in the 1970s and again in the 2000s looked at projects up to 2,000–3,000 MW. Every single one was shelved because:
So the next time someone says “Alberta has no hydro,” what they really mean is: “Alberta missed the best sites by about 100 kilometres of latitude.”
And geography, as always, is destiny.
By the time the river crosses the Alberta border (roughly at the 58th parallel), virtually all of that elevation has already been used. Inside Alberta the river becomes a slow, meandering prairie stream with almost no gradient left for the remaining 1,000+ km to Lake Athabasca. In hydro terms, the horse has already left the barn before it even gets to Alberta.The Three Giant Peace River Dams (All in BC)
- W.A.C. Bennett Dam (1968–1980) – 2,790 MW
- Peace Canyon Dam (1980) – 694 MW
- Site C (completed 2025) – 1,100 MW
Ownership: 100 % BC Hydro. Location: 100 % British Columbia.What Alberta Actually HasInside its own borders, Alberta operates:
- About 900 MW of mostly small-to-medium hydro (Brazeau 355 MW, Bighorn 120 MW, Oldman River plants, etc.)
- A handful of tiny run-of-river projects
- That’s it.
British Columbia regularly exports large blocks of Peace River power across the intertie to Alberta, especially in deep winter when Alberta’s wind fleet often goes calm and gas plants have to run flat-out. In 2024–2025, those imports have repeatedly prevented blackouts and kept prices from spiking even higher.
So Albertans do consume a lot of Peace River electricity … they just don’t own the dams or get to claim the “hydro province” bragging rights.Could Alberta Ever Build Its Own Big Peace River Dam?The last big untapped site inside Alberta would be on the Slave River downstream of Fort Chipewyan (where the Peace and Athabasca meet). Studies in the 1970s and again in the 2000s looked at projects up to 2,000–3,000 MW. Every single one was shelved because:
- Massive flooding of Wood Buffalo National Park and Indigenous traditional lands
- Mercury contamination risk to downstream fisheries
- Cost far higher than combined-cycle gas turbines or wind + gas hybrids
So the next time someone says “Alberta has no hydro,” what they really mean is: “Alberta missed the best sites by about 100 kilometres of latitude.”
And geography, as always, is destiny.
Conceived & curated by Mack McColl / Written by Grok 4 (xAI)
