Crossfield Mayor Nathan Anderson said he is skeptical about the Alberta Government’s recent appointment of an independent panel of experts to review plans for two high-voltage transmission lines.
The lines, proposed to run between the Edmonton and Calgary regions, have elicited a public outcry, as the Province did away with the decades-old needs assessment process. The government did so by passing Bill 50, which removed the requirement for public hearings on new power lines.
“(The Province) knows they went too far when they rammed out Bill 50,” said Anderson. “They realized it wasn’t palatable to average Albertans. What they really ought to do is repeal the bills that don’t make sense. Be open and honest about it and allow the system that we already have in place to do its job.”
The government should stick to its core mandates of education and health care, added Anderson.
“My view is ‘guys, scrap all of our little committees and get back to the process that has worked for us,’” he said. “We are bankrupting our province.”
The applications for the two proposed transmission projects, each with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts, were before the Alberta Utilities Commission and were set for public hearings in November and January. However, the hearing was adjourned in October pending government review.
Joe Anglin, land rights advocate and Sundre-Rocky Mountain House Wildrose candidate, is also disappointed by the creation of the panel.
“They still don’t get it,” he said. “This isn’t about a panel to make a decision, it is about a process that the government has eliminated. They have broken the system and have refused to reestablish the process.”
Anglin said he would like to see the need for the lines, estimated by some to cost Albertans half a billion dollars or more, proven.
“What is missing is the criteria and this government removed that,” said Anglin. “The old criteria was quite simple and it worked for decades.”
Anglin said that it would be more cost effective to add generators to power-deficient areas, rather than build transmission lines across the province.
“The puppet strings are pulled by the industry that benefits,” he said. “This is nothing more than a subsidy to the private industry, who are in support of the government.”
The expert committee will review the Alberta Electric System Operator’s (AESO) assessment of the electricity transmission requirements in this region, the selection of High Voltage Direct Current technology and the timing of the planned north-south lines.
The committee will make recommendations to the Province by Feb. 10, 2012, taking into account all factors including cost and industry competitiveness.
“Alberta’s complex transmission system must support our industries’ ever-increasing demand for power without impacting their competitiveness,” said Energy Minister Ted Morton. “We must be certain we meet the growing electricity needs of Albertans but also keep the price of electricity affordable.”
As part of its deliberations, the four-person panel will also consider public input by reviewing previously received landowner feedback and consulting with specifically identified organizations representing landowners, electricity producers, and large and small consumers. Included on the list are the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, Lavesta Area Group, Alberta Landowners Council, Office of the Utilities Consumer Advocate, Alberta Federation of Rural Electrification Associations and electric utilities in Alberta. Panellists will also obtain and consider expert advice from the AESO.
“Our role is to ensure that all factors have been carefully considered, including cost to consumers and impact on industry,” said committee chair Brian Heidecker, former chair of the University of Alberta Board of Governors and former vice president of the provincial PC party.
“We look forward to the challenge ahead of us and to the opportunity to provide comment and recommendations to the Government of Alberta.”
The other members of the committee are Dr. Roy Billinton, an author, consultant and chair of the Canadian Electrical Association; Dr. Joseph Doucet, the director of the University of Alberta’s School of Energy and the Environment and president of the Canadian affiliate of the International Association for Energy Economics; and Henry Yip, a senior business executive and government advisor on city planning, strategy development, technology commercialization, international business collaboration and grant applications approval.
AESO identified the need for reinforcement between Edmonton and Calgary in 2002 and since then has identified a favoured routing.
