FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2026

Medicine Hat Consultant Wesley Paterson, CMC, Wins 2026 ASTech Award for Energy Innovation

Best in Sector honour recognizes his work repurposing Alberta's orphan oil wells into community solar energy facilities, as he launches a new daily leadership book and publishes in Talent Canada

MEDICINE HAT, ALBERTA — Wesley Paterson, CMC, President and Senior Management Consultant of Paterson Consulting Inc., has received the 2026 ASTech Award for Best in Sector: Energy Innovation. The award recognizes his project, "Repurposing Orphan Oil Wells into Community Solar Energy Facilities," and was presented on November 6 at the 37th annual ASTech Awards gala in Edmonton. Paterson was named the winner from a field of seven Energy Innovation finalists that included research teams from the University of Alberta, University of Calgary and MacEwan University.

Alberta has more than 170,000 inactive oil and gas wells sitting on productive farmland, earning nothing for the landowners or municipalities around them. Through strategic consulting and business development, Paterson helped create a scalable model that converts these sites into micro-generation solar facilities. By reusing the roads and power connections already in place at each well site, the model cuts development costs by more than half.

Pilot projects in the Taber and Foremost areas of southern Alberta, developed with RenuWell Energy Solutions, now generate clean energy for crop irrigation across thousands of acres, delivering revenue to rural communities while advancing Alberta's energy transition.

"Every inactive well site in this province is either a liability or an opportunity, and the difference is what we choose to build on it," said Paterson. "We've proven that the roads, the power connections and the community relationships are already there. When landowners, municipalities and industry work together, an old well can become a source of clean power and local revenue for decades. I'm honoured that ASTech has recognized this work, and I'm grateful to everyone in southern Alberta who helped prove it out on the ground."

Building on proven results

The ASTech recognition adds to a growing track record for the project. The same work earned the 2025 CMC Canada Project of the Year Silver Award, the national management-consulting profession's recognition for client impact.

Paterson sees the model extending well beyond replacing a well with a solar array. Repurposed sites can support mixed-use energy projects that power manufacturing, agricultural operations and other local development, allowing municipalities, counties and regions to choose the energy mix that fits their needs.

"Change is uncomfortable, and change is hard, but Alberta is well positioned to lead," Paterson added. "The projects that succeed are the ones that bring the people on the ground into the work from day one, and that's what we'll keep doing as we take this model to more communities across the province."

Paterson welcomes conversations with landowners holding inactive well sites, and with municipalities, counties and agricultural operators interested in community solar.

New book: The Hero's Rope: 365 Days of Fire

The award arrives the same week as Paterson's new book, The Hero's Rope: 365 Days of Fire, released November 3, 2026, by Paterson Consulting Inc. The daily companion to The Hero's Rope, a #1 Amazon Best Seller in Organizational Change, gives leaders one two-minute entry for every day of the year: a short leadership argument, a pull quote and one practical action, called THE ROPE, to hand ownership back to their teams instead of carrying it for them. The year moves through four quarterly arcs: Awareness, Confrontation, Transformation and Mastery.

The book is available in Kindle, paperback (ISBN 978-1-0658454-3-0) and hardcover executive gift edition (ISBN 978-1-0658454-4-7) on Amazon.ca, and bookstores and libraries can order both print editions through IngramSpark wholesale.

Now in Talent Canada

Paterson's latest article, "Sick days are the smoke. Depleted energy is the fire.", appears in Talent Canada. Drawing a parallel between managing a power grid and managing workplace energy, the article outlines five HR strategies to reduce lost time: measure energy, not just absence; fix the workload before adding perks; retire the hero, starting at the top; plan returns from leave deliberately; and build recovery into the daily rhythm of work.

About the ASTech Awards

The ASTech Awards honour the best innovations in science and technology in Alberta. Since 1990, the awards have recognized more than 500 finalists and winners across sectors including energy, healthcare, technology and education.

About Wesley Paterson, CMC

Wesley Paterson, CMC, is President and Senior Management Consultant of Paterson Consulting Inc., a Southern Alberta management-consulting and corporate-training firm focused on leadership development, organizational culture, change management, process improvement and strategic growth. He serves as Vice Chair of CMC Alberta and is the author of The Hero's Rope and its daily leadership companion, The Hero's Rope: 365 Days of Fire. He is also a member of the Project Management Training Alliance and an associate member of IMC USA. Learn more at patersonconsulting.ca.

Photos: Wesley and Jennifer Paterson at the 2026 ASTech Awards gala in Edmonton; the 2026 ASTech Award, Best in Sector: Energy Innovation; and the Energy Innovation finalists announced at the gala.

Media contact

Wesley Paterson, CMC
President & Senior Management Consultant, Paterson Consulting Inc.
403-928-9606 | wes@patersonconsulting.ca | patersonconsulting.ca