Cowley Ridge Wind Farm begins operations near Pincher Creek.Ĭowley Ridge was Canada’s first commercial wind farm.Source: Image courtesy of Peel’ Prairie Provinces, a digital initiative of the University of Alberta Libraries In the end, the vote was extremely close, with public ownership defeated by a mere 151 votes. Rural areas largely voted in favour of public ownership, while urban voters (particularly in southern Alberta) supported a continuation of private ownership. The 1948 provincial election included a plebiscite concerning ownership of electricity utilities in Alberta. Voters of Alberta narrowly reject proposal for public ownership of electricity utilities.These organizations would play a crucial role in the spread of electricity to rural Alberta. Over the next two decades, a total of 416 REAs would be established across the province. The first Rural Electrification Association (REA) in Alberta is established in Springbank.The Ghost Power Plant more than doubled the amount of electricity generated by Calgary Power, which was already the province’s main energy supplier. This massive facility was the largest hydroelectric dam in Alberta at the time it was built. The Ghost Hydroelectric Dam begins operations.A second hydroelectric dam began operations at Kananaskis Falls in 1913. Owned and operated by Calgary Power, the Horseshoe Falls Dam was the first of two such facilities built on the Bow River system prior to the First World War. Alberta’s First hydroelectric dam opens at Horseshoe Falls.In 1981, the company changed its name to TransAlta Utilities Corporation, in order to better reflect its provincial reach. The company would develop into Canada’s largest investor-owned utility. The founder of the company, Max Aitken, was initially drawn to the region by its vast hydroelectricity potential. Edmonton was the first major urban centre in Canada to own its own electricity utility. The decision in favour of public ownership was made after repeated disruptions in service from the privately-owned utility. The City of Edmonton purchases the Edmonton Electric Lighting Company.From 1894 to 1905, the company was the major electricity provider for the city of Calgary. The company was owned by entrepreneur Peter Prince, who also ran the Eau Claire & Bow River Lumber Company. The Calgary Water Power Company opens Alberta’s first hydroelectric plant.Source: Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, v263-na-3562 Tourists flocked to the site to take advantage of the water’s supposed therapeutic healing powers. The luxurious Banff Springs Hotel, built by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1888, pumped water from the hot springs into its swimming pools and treatment rooms. One of the main attractions of the new park was the site’s natural hot springs. Rocky Mountains National Park is established by the Canadian government.The adoption of the horse had a significant impact on the hunting/transportation patterns of Plains First Nations peoples. From the Spanish colony of New Mexico, horses spread across North America, reaching present-day Alberta in the 1730s. Horses were brought to North America by Spanish colonists in the sixteenth century. The ‘Horse Revolution’ begins in present-day Alberta.Source: Courtesy of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump The bow and arrow was ideally suited for use in the wide open spaces of the Great Plains, and was widely adopted across the region. Bow and arrow technology reaches present-day Alberta.īow and arrow technology in North America appears to have developed first in the Arctic before spreading south throughout the continent.Spears or darts thrown with an atlatl could deliver devastating wounds to an animal, allowing the hunter to kill the animal from a safe distance. Atlatl (spear-thrower) technology emerges in present-day Alberta.Ītlatls were used by early hunter’s to increase the velocity of their projectile weapons.Source: Historical Resources Management Branch, Archaeological Survey These fluted, jagged stone points would be attached to a bone or wooden shaft and used to hunt enormous prey such as mammoths and mastodons. Clovis phase spear points used in present-day Alberta.Ĭlovis phase spear points represent the oldest hunting technology in Alberta, and indeed all of North America.
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