nyse tac industry electricity founded 1911 headquarters calgary alberta canada key people dawn farrell president & ceo ambassador gordon d. giffin board chair products natural gas coal wind hydro geothermal revenue 2.8 billion cad 2010 total assets 9 billion cad 2010 number of employees 2 400 2011 website www.transalta.com transalta corporation formerly calgary power is an electricity power generator and wholesale marketing company headquartered in calgary alberta . it is a privately owned corporation and its shares are traded publicly . it operates over 70 power plants in canada the united states and australia . transalta operates geothermal wind hydro natural gas and coal power generation facilities . the company has been recognized for its leadership on 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 . transalta on several occasions illegally manipulated the energy market to drive up power prices . contents 1 early history 2 ghost river reservoir 3 controversies 4 references 5 external links early history edit in 1909 the company began the planning and construction of the horseshoe falls hydro plant in seebe . two years later calgary power company limited was born . that first dam was built by a crew of about 200 with primitive tools such as picks and wheelbarrows . it initially had a 10 mw capacity 13 500 horsepower . 1 its second dam was commissioned in 1913 at kananaskis falls and was built by close to 500 workers . at the time streetcars were responsible for a significant share of calgary s electrical load . residential power was just being introduced and many homes were lit for the first time with electrical lamps because of calgary power . calgary power s cheap power is credited with canadian pacific railway s decision to locate its regional engine repair shop in ogden calgary spurring calgary s economic development . 2 notable leaders from the company s early years included w. max aitken eventually lord beaverbrook and r.b. bennett who went on to become canada s prime minister from 1930 to 1935 . its monopoly position and behavior made its status as a private corporation unpopular among rural customers and some calgary residents and a move to nationalize it was converted to a province wide referendum in 1948 which came down very narrowly on the side of maintaining its private ownership . in 1981 the company changed its name to its current name of transalta corporation . generation summary 8 245 megawatts mw of net capacity in operation . 48 614 gigawatt hours gwh were produced at an average plant availability of 88.9 per cent for the year ended december 31 2010 . over 70 facilities in three geographies canada u.s. australia one surface coal mine in operation highvale in alberta canada net capacity owned by fuel type in operation and in development type net capacity coal 52 % gas 22 % wind 13 % hydro 11 % geothermal 2 % net capacity owned by geography in operation and development geography net capacity canada 74 % united states 23 % australia 3 % at the end of 2010 transalta became the first company to own and operate more than 1 000 mw of installed wind capacity in canada almost 30 per cent of the country s total . ghost river reservoir edit after the 2013 alberta floods as a temporary partial solution to mitigate flood damage during those months when there is a greater risk of rising water that might cause flooding the government pays transalta corporation 2 million to lower the level of water on its ghost reservoir . 3 a temporary deal between the government and transalta corp that pays the utility 2m to lower water levels on its ghost reservoir for two months this year when the risk of rising water looms largest offers a partial solution controversies edit in 2010 and 2011 transalta timed their power outages so as to drive up prices of electricity and increase their revenues . the alberta utilities commission declared these acts illegal in their review concluded on july 27 2015 . the commission has yet to determine penalties for this manipulation of the energy markets . 4 references edit jennings a. owen 1911 . merchants and manufacturers record of calgary . calgary jennings publishing company . p. 85 . foran max 1982 . calgary canada s frontier metropolis an illustrated history . windsor publications . p. 76 . isbn 0 89781 055 4 . mcclure matt 20 june 2015 residents upset over lack of plan for flooding threat calgary herald calgary retrieved 20 june 2015 transalta timed power outages to drive up prices alberta commission . global news . retrieved 28 july 2015 . transalta quickfacts transalta 2010 report on sustainability transalta history celebrating 100 years alberta utilities commission auc market surveillance administrator msa powering generations the transalta story 1911 2011 external links edit companies portal company website transalta corporation careers retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title transalta & oldid 714811126 categories companies listed on the new york stock exchangecompanies listed on the toronto stock exchangepower companies of canadacompanies based in calgarys & p tsx composite indexcompanies established in 1911 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutsch fran ais edit links this page was last modified on 12 april 2016 at 00 17 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view