Date Adjustment for the October Workshop | Oct. 8, 2025

With the Oct. 21-22 Ancillary Services Cost Allocation workshop being postponed, we will now host the Transmission Reinforcement Payment (TRP) & Amendments for the Connection Process Workshop on Oct. 22-23.

You have until Tuesday, Oct. 14 to submit or adjust your request to attend in-person, and will receive a confirmation of your attendance afterwards.

OTP & TRP Concurrent Engagements | April, 2025

The AESO has heard from stakeholders about how its approach to Optimal Transmission Planning (OTP) could include other elements that would inform the decision on whether to proceed with transmission development, like the payment of a Transmission Reinforcement Payment (TRP) by new generators. The AESO will engage and develop OTP and TRP concurrently to ensure that the signals and decisions driven by each set a transmission framework that supports Alberta’s affordability, reliability, and sustainability objectives. As part of the TRP engagement, the AESO will also engage on how this new transmission framework works with the Restructured Energy Market (REM) to provide siting signals for generations in a manner that recognizes incumbency and supports investability and economic efficiency.

For the TRP engagement, the AESO will propose and seek feedback on TRP starting points and options, as well as provide an opportunity for stakeholders to submit their TRP proposals.

Relevant Government Direction

On July 2024, the Minister of Affordability and Utilities (MAU) provided the AESO with a direction letter noting that the government decided to move away from zero-congestion transmission planning standard to an optimally planned transmission planning standard and allocate new transmission infrastructure costs and all ancillary services costs based on cost causation principles.

In a letter dated December 10, 2024, the Minister further directed the AESO to “implement a cost allocation framework for new transmission infrastructure based on cost-causation principles by requiring new generators to contribute to transmission infrastructure costs by replacing the Generating Unit Owner’s Contribution (GUOC) with an upfront and non-refundable Transmission Reinforcement Payment (TRP).

• These payments will have no upper limit, a floor of $0/megawatt, and will apply to both transmission-connected and distribution-connected generators.
• TRP rates will be calculated as a function of the suppliers’ proximity to transmission capacity, their technical attributes and characteristics, and the cost of reinforcing the transmission system.”

Transmission Reinforcement Payment (TRP)

By removing the cap and refundability requirements TRP can be used to send out effective price signals.

Supply System Access Service (SAS)

Moving away from a zero-congestion transmission planning standard means that generators may have to deal with congestion during the life of their project. Changes may have to be made to the terms and conditions of the tariff to reflect the level of SAS on a transmission system that allows congestion.

The AESO has been directed to recover line losses through a system wide average starting on January 1, 2027. The current methodology for line losses is very complex and creates a lot of volatility as new entrants connect and changes are made to the transmission system. Moving to system wide average transmission losses will reduce the complexity and volatility.

Purpose

We are holding a four-day in-person block of sessions with stakeholders on May 12- 15, 2025 as the first of our OTP & TRP sprint weeks. We will discuss proposed options, review alternative approaches, build on written feedback and what we have heard, and work together with stakeholders to prioritize key focus areas and discussion topics for the OTP & TRP framework development.

The subsequent sprint will be held on June 23 - 26, 2025

Thank you for your interest, registration is due April 25, 2025. We will confirm your in-person attendance in early May.

Note: virtual registration will be listen-only and available closer to the sprints.

Click here to complete the form or scan the QR code below

Purpose

We held a virtual Optimal Transmission (OTP) and Transmission Reinforcement Payment (TRP) Kick-Off Session on April 16, from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

The stakeholder session provided overall details and address:

• OTP Framework Options paper highlights
• Overview of objectives and foundation for TRP
• OTP and TRP engagement plan details
• Associated timelines and participation opportunities
• Upcoming OTP/TRP sprint sessions scope

Stakeholders had an opportunity to ask questions throughout the session.

Materials

Are available under AESO Materials.