Bat fatalities at wind energy facilities are a growing concern in North America. The wind industry and wildlife agencies are seeking tools to reduce fatalities while continuing to generate clean energy to address climate change. Most bats are killed on low wind speed nights. Increasing the speed at which blades rotate and wind-generated electricity enters the power grid from the manufactured speed (‘blanket curtailment’; BC) greatly reduces bat fatalities, but also reduces annual energy production (AEP). Detection-based ‘smart curtailment’ (DBSC), which deactivates turbine blades only when bats are acoustically detected during high-risk periods, can potentially reduce bat fatalities and AEP loss to acceptable levels. We modeled wind variables, curtailment thresholds, and simulated bat activity patterns to determine AEP under BC and DBSC scenarios at six wind energy facilities in Alberta. Both approaches to curtailment yielded relatively low AEP loss, with DBSC losing less than 1% AEP and reducing losses approximately 50 to 100% compared to BC scenarios. Scenarios of low bat activity—common in the west—often resulted in close to zero energy loss. Our results demonstrate how DBSC can be a useful tool for reducing the impacts of wind energy facilities on bat populations while minimizing unnecessary production losses.