Heartland transmission line gets go-ahead despite criticism from intended customers
By Christopher Walsh, editor
The first of a four-part, $16 billion transmission upgrade project that will be paid for on the backs of Alberta’s electricity consumers will be going ahead, despite calls to suspend the project from those thought to benefit from the power upgrades.
The Alberta Utilities Commission approved construction Tuesday on the Heartland transmission line that will service Edmonton and stretch to a substation in Fort Saskatchewan. Late last month, the province had suspended the AUC’s review of the Heartland line and two other proposed north-south running lines.
But Premier Alison Redford overturned that decision and told the AUC to rule on the Heartline line while suspending the other projects until further political review could be carried out.
“It’s a dark day for the competitiveness of the Alberta economy,” said Keith Wilson, a St. Albert lawyer who has been fighting the lines. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”
Before the line was approved by the AUC, the Alberta Heartland Industrial Association, a group comprised of local town councillors affected by the transmission line, sent a letter to Redford expressing their concerns about the construction of a line that is intended to be a connector for the other two suspended lines.
“It is absolutely critical to reassess the need for all three projects, including the Heartland Transmission Line,” the letter dated Oct. 31 states. It added that a “flawed” needs assessment was used by the government to determine the usefulness of the line.
“Notably, a much slower pace of industrial development in the region combined with major power users exploring co-generation options on site created a paradigm shift in electrical power transmission needs,” the letter reads. “This new reality appears to have been overlooked in the decision making process for the transmission lines.”
Wilson says the premier’s mishandling and influence over the entire project amounts to political interference on a transmission project that is an overbuild of what is necessary.
“Here’s what I don’t get: what the heck does Premier Redford know that the industrial heartland association doesn’t?” he said. “They’re the supposed recipients of the benefits of this line and they’re saying, ‘we don’t want it, it’s going to drive businesses away from the region, it’s not going to attract industrial development … because of the cost impacts’.
“Where’s the premier getting her facts?”
Jim Law, director of the AUC, says the utility regulator determined the project “was in the public interest”, and determined the preferred route asked for by Altalink and Epcor is acceptable with a few conditions.
Law added the commission did listen to the 170 witnesses who presented over 1,300 exhibits over the course of the 25 day hearing process earlier this year, including the Heartland Industrial Association.
“A number of people made arguments. In the end, what relative weight was given to that I don’t have in front of me,” he said.
The need for the Heartland line was determined by the government, Law says, through the passing of Bill 50 back in 2009. That bill that became law eliminated the need for a full public hearing into the necessity of projects like the Heartland line and the other two north-south running transmission lines.
“We looked at the social, the environmental and the economic impacts and decided it should go ahead with conditions,” Law said. “It met the need that was specified.”
Law says the commission did not look into future uses of the line, which opponents say will ultimately be used to export energy to the United States on the backs of Alberta consumers.
Wilson says he is expecting to file a lawsuit against the Heartline line within 30 days.
“Even if the appeal is a long shot, it has to be made. The consequences are [too great],” he said, adding Alberta power consumers across the province could expect to see their rates triple after all the other lines come on the grid.
“People need to understand we all pay for these powerlines, regardless of where they’re located.”
Construction of the line could begin as early as this winter.
Category: Business
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