The Alberta government has agreed to a $95 million settlement with an Australian coal company, as disclosed in a recent communication to the company’s shareholders. This settlement, which was agreed to earlier this year, resolves a legal dispute over changes to the province’s coal policy. Additionally, the province reached a $143 million settlement with another company, Atrum Coal, earlier in the year.
Evolve Power and Atrum were part of a group of coal companies that filed lawsuits against the province in 2023 due to alterations in Alberta’s coal policies. These changes included the rescinding of the longstanding coal policy in 2020, which had been in place since 1976 and had established environmental protections in the Rocky Mountains.
Following public outcry in 2021, the government temporarily reinstated the old policy and later decided to maintain the 1976 coal policy after consultations in 2022 but allowed four “advanced projects” to proceed through the regulatory process. The coal companies, including Evolve and Atrum, sued the government in 2023 for $15 billion, claiming that the policy changes had impacted their investments in coal mining projects.
In June 2024, Northback Holdings, the company behind the proposed Grassy Mountain coal project, initiated a separate claim for damages related to regulatory processes. Subsequently, the provincial government announced plans to alter the coal policy again in late 2024 and lifted a ban on coal exploration in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains in early 2025 to prevent significant legal payouts related to the lawsuits.
As part of the settlement agreement, Evolve Power agreed to surrender coal leases for two projects, Chinook and Greenfield, retaining only the Tent Mountain Project. The company had originally intended to mine coal at Tent Mountain but later shifted focus to developing a pumped-hydro energy storage facility before selling the project to TransAlta in early 2025.
Alberta NDP environment critic Sarah Elmeligi criticized the UCP government for its inconsistent decisions on coal exploration, stating that the lawsuits have cost Albertans over $200 million. She emphasized that the funds could have been used for various public services instead of benefiting another coal company. With ongoing legal actions from additional coal companies, the final financial impact remains uncertain.
Kennedy Halvorson from the Alberta Wilderness Association expressed disappointment over public funds being allocated for a substantial payout to a coal company, calling for more transparency on the coal lawsuits to ensure accountability to Albertans.
The spokesperson for Energy Minister Brian Jean’s office stated that the settlement terms are privileged, limiting the government’s ability to disclose further details beyond what the companies reveal. The government emphasized its commitment to concluding these matters fairly and in the best interests of Albertans, while citing correspondence from 2016 between the NDP government and the Alberta Energy Regulator as part of the coal companies’ legal arguments.