Your Alberta Blog

In the last few years, some landlords of large apartment buildings have started to use heat sub-meters to bill tenants. These sub-meters are connected directly to the hot water radiators in a tenant's suite and are intended to measure the heat from the hot water being used to heat the apartment.

However, there have been a lot of questions about the accuracy of these heat sub-meters and how they're used to bill tenants.

So, I've introduced a specific regulation that prevents landlords from using a heat sub-meter to bill their tenants unless the sub-meter is certified by Measurement Canada. Currently, no heat sub-meters are certified.

The new rules start Nov. 18 and apply both to existing heat sub-meters and new heat sub-meters. If a heat sub-meter does becomes certified in the future, landlords can only use it to bill tenants if they clearly disclose the sub-meter readings, the amount being charged for the energy, any extra fees, and the calculation methods.

This is good news for tenants. I certainly support the principle of a tenant paying for the actual energy he or she uses and being rewarded for conserving energy. But this only works if renters are confident that the devices used to measure their energy use are accurate and the amount they're being charged is clear and understandable.

That's exactly what this new regulation achieves.

More information on the new regulation is available here.

- Hon. Heather Klimchuk, Minister of Service Alberta

The last time YourAlberta Blog looked at a book it was in the context of what it offers to today's Internet-focused world.

Someday, no doubt, the accumulated knowledge of the world will be Google-able, but we're not quite there yet. It is people like Calgary businessman and engineer Gordon Kelly who bring us a little closer. Kelly's contribution is what looks to be the most accessible yet detailed account so far of the past, present and forecasted future of oil sands development, a 300-some page primer called The Oil Sands, Canada's Path to Clean Energy?

Having not yet read Satya Das' Green Oil, I except that book from this observation: Kelly has a wealth of detail that none of the other popular recent books on oil sands has, including Andrew Nikiforuk's Tar Sands and Bill Marsden's Stupid to the Last Drop.

It's also apart from the latter two by not jumping on the "Dirty Oil" bandwagon, but rather points out that wagon's papier mache axels.

Of course, in keeping with just about all such efforts to set the context for reasonable discussion of oil sands, Kelly's The Oil Sands is more sober in tone than the calls-to-arms it would seek to balance. (Some of its appeal is in that fact, in fact)

The back of the copy we found at Audrey's (anyone know where else it's on sale?) tells us this about author Gordon Kelly:

"President of Integrated Planners, Inc., a Calgary firm specializing in corporate intelligence and international marketing. He is an engineer from the University of Toronto and has an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He has more than 40 years of experience working in the oil industry with companies such as Imperial Oil, Dome Petroleum, and Arthur D. Little. His experience ranges from roustabout to supervising field operations to planning mega-projects. He has also consulted for major oil firms as well as OPEC. Gordon has worked in 24 countries around the globe, including China and Russia, and uses his experience to explain the oil sands in simple terms."

I believe strongly that one of the best ways to protect consumers is ensuring that they know and understand their rights. Service Alberta investigates and enforces a number of consumer protection laws, but knowledge can be a very powerful tool against businesses that try to mislead or take advantage of people.

Service Alberta's website is packed with helpful information, including consumer tips and descriptions of Alberta's laws on a variety of topics, ranging from renting an apartment to shopping on the Internet. It's not enough, though, for us to post the information on our website; people need to know it's there. Our staff are always looking at new and better ways we can inform Albertans about their rights as consumers.

You might have noticed the Alberta government is starting to use social media more widely. This blog is only one example. I am excited to announce that Service Alberta just launched the Alberta Youth Consumer Champions page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/youthconsumerchampions.

The page is a place for young Albertans to find information about consumer issues they might encounter, such as using a credit card, buying their first car, renting an apartment and managing money. The page will highlight rotating topics, but people are encouraged to ask questions and discuss consumer matters. Service Alberta staff will answer their concerns and direct them to resources where they can find out more.

The nature of social media means that we can adapt the page to meet your needs. If a certain topic keeps arising, it lets us know we need to provide more information about it. We are also looking at how we can improve the way we alert consumers, for instance when a scam artist is known to be operating in a community. Social media might help us do that.

I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts on how we can use services such as Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and other social media to do a better job educating consumers. I also encourage you to join our Facebook page or tell a young Albertan about it.

- Hon. Heather Klimchuk

There has been some discussion today about whether the Government of Alberta should bring back front licence plates for vehicles. This week, the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police recommended that the government bring them back.

I appreciate the association's advice and I consider the association a partner in public safety. However, we have no plans to reintroduce front plates. Albertans were clear on this matter during consultations in the past two years. Eighty per cent of respondents to an online survey and 60 per cent of respondents in a public opinion poll were opposed to front plates.

We are planning to introduce a new reflective Alberta plate in the years ahead when funding becomes available, but we are not reconsidering our decision about front plates.

- Hon. Heather Klimchuk, Minister of Service Alberta

In the heart of our province, Drayton Valley is earning a reputation as a green energy hub. The community's Bio-Mile Industrial Park is a cluster of businesses boosting Alberta's green credentials by turning wood waste into new products and clean energy fuels.

Today, the Government of Alberta announced a $25-million grant to build a first-of-its-kind waste-to-energy facility, the Drayton Valley Energy Campus. The Otoka Energy Corporation will take wood waste from neighbouring forestry facilities and turn it into electricity.

It's an Energy-Economy-Environment hat-trick: Reduce, reuse and create economic opportunities. When fully operational, the Drayton Valley Energy Campus will reduce Alberta's greenhouse gases by 400,000 tonnes per year by reusing 380,000 tonnes of scrap treetops, branches and wood waste to create energy and economic opportunities.

The Bio-Mile is approximately one square mile of land, where Drayton Valley's wood industry, power plant and future bio-industry will collaborate. Along with the Drayton Valley Energy Campus, the Bio-Mile will be home to a Tekle Technical Services plant, which will integrate 50 tonnes of wood and agricultural fibre into dozens of engineered fibre mat products like insulation and geotextiles.

Turning challenges into sustainable solutions is an Albertan trait we should all be proud of. That's why the Government of Alberta is allocating federal ecoTrust funds to home-grown projects that not only help Albertans, but make a big difference to our environment.

Read the news release here.

- Jessica Potter, for Alberta Environment