Irrigation · Grain Drying · Feedlots

The biggest line on an irrigation bill is not the energy.

It is the demand charge. We engineer solar, storage and pump control around how southern Alberta operations actually draw power — so one morning of simultaneous starts stops setting the cost of your whole month.

Request an Irrigation Energy Assessment
400+ MWpSolar delivered
175+ MWBattery storage integrated
14 yearsIndustry experience
3 countriesCanada · USA · Brazil

Figures reflect projects delivered by the One Energy Group. One Energy Canada Inc. is the group's Alberta corporation, incorporated in 2026.

The problem

Why irrigation bills behave the way they do

High-capacity pumping is one of the most demand-intensive loads on a farm. When several pivots start at once, inrush current can reach several times the running current.

In Alberta, distribution charges follow the highest 15-minute demand in the billing cycle. That means a few minutes of overlapping starts, once a month, can set the charge you pay for the entire month — even if your total consumption never changes.

A residential solar installer will quote you panels. Nothing about panels fixes a demand charge caused by how your pumps start.

How we approach it

  • Staged pump starts — PLC-level sequencing so pivots do not start together
  • VFDs and soft starters — controlled inrush, less mechanical stress, lower peaks
  • Behind-the-meter solar — sized to your irrigation load and to Alberta's micro-generation rules, not oversized to export
  • Battery storage — peak shaving through the pumping window, and backup where it matters

Land use

Arrays that do not cost you acres

Dry pivot corners — the ground a centre pivot never reaches — can host arrays of roughly three to five acres without competing with your cropped area.

That matters in Alberta, where renewable development on prime agricultural land faces an agriculture-first review. Designing into land you already cannot irrigate avoids the conflict entirely, and keeps the conversation with your irrigation district straightforward.

Centre pivot irrigation next to a ground-mounted solar array in southern Alberta
Illustrative rendering of a pivot-adjacent array layout — not a photograph of a specific site.

Where we work

Southern Alberta's irrigation corridor

We focus on the operations and districts along the Lethbridge–Medicine Hat axis.

LethbridgeTaberBrooks Medicine HatBow IslandVauxhall

Note: Lethbridge and Medicine Hat are served by municipally owned utilities rather than the province's competitive retail market. That changes what options apply to your site, and it is one of the first things we check.

Track record

We have built this exact system before

At AgroThaThi in Correntina, Brazil, the One Energy Group delivered an irrigation microgrid of roughly 3 MWp of solar combined with seven diesel generators, automatic transfer switching, Siemens PLC sequencing and DEIF controllers — integrated directly with centre pivot operation.

Cold-climate operation is a design input for us, not an afterthought. Our Alberta work is built around sub-zero performance, snow management and seasonal load patterns.

What that experience buys you

  • Pump control and sequencing designed together with generation, not bolted on afterwards
  • Hybrid operation with existing generators rather than replacing them
  • Automatic transfer so irrigation continues through grid events
  • Engineering delivered under an APEGA Permit to Practice

Get started

Tell us how your operation uses power

A useful conversation about energy starts with three things: what you pay, how you are billed, and when you draw the most power. Send those and we will come back with a view of what is actually achievable on your site — not a panel count.

  • Reviewed by an engineering team working under an APEGA Permit to Practice
  • Alberta rate classes, demand charges and micro-generation rules considered from the start
  • Clear next steps, whether or not we are the right fit

Prefer to talk?
+1 (587) 330-5648 · contact@oneenergycanada.ca

Calls are answered by our virtual assistant outside business hours, so your message reaches us the same day.

Request an Irrigation Energy Assessment

Send your bill, rate class and pivot count. We come back with what is achievable on your site.

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