 | |
 TransAlta's headquarters in Calgary | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| TSX: TA NYSE: TAC | |
| Industry | Power generation |
| Founded | 1911 |
| Headquarters | Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
Key people | John Kousinioris (President and CEO), John P. Dielwart (Board Chair) Appt’d April 21, 2020 |
| Products | Power Generation (8,128 MW aggregate generating capacity). |
| Revenue | CA$2.1 billion (2020) |
| Total assets | CA$9.7 billion (2020) |
Number of employees | 1,476 (Dec. 31, 2020) |
| Website | www.transalta.com |
TransAlta Corporation (formerly Calgary Power Company, Ltd.) is an electricity power generator and wholesale marketing company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is a privately owned corporation and its shares are traded publicly. It operates 76 power plants in Canada, the United States, and Australia. TransAlta operates wind, hydro, natural gas, and coal power generation facilities. The company has been recognized for its leadership in sustainability by the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index, the FTSE4Good Index, and the Jantzi Social Index. TransAlta is Canada's largest investor-owned renewable energy provider.[citation needed]
The company is not without controversy, as the Alberta Utility Commission ruled in 2015 that TransAlta manipulated the price of electricity when it took outages at its Alberta coal-fired generating units in late 2010 and early 2011.[1]
TransAlta operated Canada's largest surface strip coal mine from 1970 until 2021 through its subsidiary company Sunhills Mining. The 12,600-hectare mine produced 13 million tonnes of thermal grade coal a year. The company announced that it would be decommission the Highvale mine by 2021.[2]
On November 2, 2023, it was announced that TransAlta bought Heartland Generation (the third largest electricity generation company at the time) for $658 million. The purchase means that TransAlta now controls 46% of the electricity generation market in Alberta - a development that has been criticized by numerous academics and industry officials as "a catastrophe" and likely to lead to economic withholding.[3][4]
- ^ Alberta Utilities Commission (July 27, 2015). "Market Surveillance Administrator allegations against TransAlta Corporation (Phase 1)" (PDF). Alberta Utilities Commission.
- ^ Johnson, Lisa (4 November 2020). "TransAlta to end coal mining operations at Highvale in 2021, stop using coal in Canada". The Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- ^ Kinney, Duncan (November 27, 2023). "Proposed Transalta acquisition mean your electricity bills are somehow going to get even worse". Progress Report. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ^ Varcoe, Chris (November 2, 2023). "Alberta power market shakeup, as TransAlta buys Heartland Generation for $658M". Calgary Herald. Postmedia. Retrieved November 27, 2023.