This is the second article in a series about the growth of green energy in Canada.

Alberta is best known for its huge oil sands projects, but Albertans are starting to take a look at adding alternative energy to the province's energy portfolio.

While Alberta's green power industry is still only in its infancy, Edmonton Local 424 is getting ready to begin renewable energy training at its new 14,000-square-foot training center. The local hosts a 9,000-watt solar array—one of Alberta's largest.

"The government is essentially dominated by oil companies so it has been slow to respond to changing energy priorities, but even here in Alberta we are beginning to see a shift by the public toward green power," said Edmonton Local 424 Business Manager Tim Brower.

IBEW members have also been working closely with the Greater Edmonton Alliance, a progressive network of labour, religious and community organizations, to retrofit homes in the Edmonton area to make them more energy efficient.

While Alberta's move to renewable energy has been slower than in many parts of Canada, the labour movement is preparing its members for green jobs, hosting David Foster, executive director of the Blue-Green Alliance in the United States at the Alberta Federation of Labour's convention in April. The labour federation also recently issued a joint report on green jobs with the Sierra Club.

"(Alberta) can become a leader in...the development of a new green economy," said the study.

Neighboring Saskatchewan is also beginning to see the emergence of a new green economy. Recently it has become one of the largest producers of wind power in Canada, which is translating into green work for the IBEW.

The first wind power project in the province debuted in 2002 and since then, three more wind farms have opened. The farms are owned by SaskPower, the provincial utility that employs 1,500 members of Regina Local 2067. Through this relationship, the IBEW won an agreement to maintain and operate the turbines.

More than 10 Local 2067 members began maintenance on the Cypress Wind Power facility last year. The wind farm, located more than 300 kilometers west of Regina, is made up of 16 turbines, and produces enough energy for 9,000 homes.

An agreement to maintain more than 80 turbines at the Centennial Wind Power facility in southwestern Saskatchewan—which supplies 64,000 homes annually—will kick in in 2011, but staffing for maintenance will start next year.

"We never negotiated a wind turbine maintenance agreement before this, so we turned to other IBEW locals that had experience with it for help," said Local 2067 Business Manager Neil Collins. Some of the locals that assisted 2067 in negotiating agreement language were Diamond Bar, Calif., Local 47; Des Moines, Iowa, Local 499 and Madison, Wis., Local 965.

Collins is hopeful the experience Local 2067 has developed working with wind turbines will make it a resource for other locals across Canada looking to break into wind. "We're looking at setting up a wind turbine maintenance training program in the near future," Collins said. "We've really cut our teeth and we look forward to having other locals that are developing their first wind agreements turn to us for help."

Nuclear power could also soon become part of the province's energy portfolio. "(We're) optimistic about the opportunity in Saskatchewan for a new nuclear plant that could create employment and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Duncan Hawthorne, Chief Executive Officer of Bruce Power, one of Canada's largest nuclear power companies.

Local 2067 entered an agreement with Bruce Power in April that states that if the company gets permission from government officials to build a plant in Saskatchewan, the IBEW will operate and maintain it. It is expected the plant will require between 1,000 and 2,000 workers to operate and maintain the facility, Collins said.

"We're making sure that the IBEW is ready to meet the growing demand for energy diversification throughout Canada," said First District Vice President Phil Flemming.

Despite abundant natural resources and a new push by the provincial government for an environmentally-friendly energy policy, British Columbia remains largely uncharted territory when it comes to wind and solar. "There's not much up here at the moment," said Vancouver Local 213 Business Manager Rick Dowling. He added the local does have a partnership with a contractor—United Power Ltd.—that is doing training in solar energy.