The long road to clean power for First Nations communities
Indigenous communities in oil sands country are taking the first steps to wean themselves off fossil-fuelled electricity. But even those who've made inroads are shying away from diesel-free ambition.
March 3, 2021
Chief Allan Adam, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (Courtesy of Nick Kendrick/Green Planet Energy Analytics/Green Energy Futures)
The tanker trucks normally come by the dozen over the winter road from Fort McMurray, Alta., during the few weeks the ice can hold their weight. They make the 4½-hour northbound trek laden with the same fossil fuel they burn—stuff that Fort Chipewyan, Alta., has long used to generate its electricity. But this summer, the 800-resident hamlet downstream from Alberta’s oil sands expects to shutter its diesel plant for the first time, and instead power its lights and TVs through the warm season with solar energy.