Irrican is the little power company that could.

In October 1988, the provincial government introduced the Small Power Research and Development Program. The program assured a guaranteed price and market for power, thus making small power projects in Alberta viable. In order to benefit from this program, the Irrigation Canal Power Cooperative Ltd. (Irrican Power) was formed to develop hydropower projects on the existing irrigation infrastructure in southern Alberta. Irrican is owned by the the St. Mary Irrigation District and the Raymond Irrigation District. Today, Irrican owns 3 Hydro plants, 3 solar sites, and a Battery Energy Storage Site. Power produced at the three Irrican Hydro plants is Eco-Logo certified as green power.

The initial investment into Irrican was achieved through a loan from Alberta Capital Finance Authority. No funding was received from the Irrigation Districts, but as shareholders, the Irrigation Districts provided loan guarantees which enabled IRRICAN to start design and construction on the Raymond and Chin plants. In 2003, IRRICAN obtained it’s own financing to construct Drops 4, 5, 6.