The Heartland power line can be buried, finds a new report, but doing so would more than double its cost.
The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) published a study last week that looked at plans to bury part of the Heartland Transmission Project. If built, the project would string a double-circuit 500-kilovolt power line across Sturgeon County to connect the Alberta Industrial Heartland region to power plants near Edmonton. That line would follow one of two routes: one runs up the east side of Edmonton, while the other loops west of Morinville.
Critics have called for some or all of the line to be buried, citing the harmful effects of overhead lines on health and property values. Last year the AESO commissioned the UK-based Cable Consulting International to see if burial was possible.
The report found it was technically possible to bury part of the line, but doing so would make it about twice as expensive. Engineers would also have to test the lines to see if they could withstand Alberta's winters.
The news didn't sway Sturgeon County Coun. Karen Shaw's opposition to the project. "They still have not said how they're going to deal with Sturgeon County ratepayers fairly and equitably."
Technical challenge
The report looked at burying a 10- to 20-kilometre stretch of the line along the east route within Edmonton. It did not look at the west route.
Burying the entire line is impossible given current technology, the report found, and even a small stretch would be challenging due to the distance and power involved. Tokyo has a similar line, but it is in a temperature-controlled tunnel, not raw earth as is proposed here.
At issue is the splices between the lengths of cable, said Neil Brausen, spokesperson for AESO.
"It's a little more complicated than taping them together," he noted — even a tiny bit of dirt or moisture could cause a fault. Silicone-rubber connectors are supposed to squeeze the cable ends together, but those could fail in Alberta's winters. Any fault would take about 30 days to repair, the report found.
The Heartland line would cost about $382 million if built above ground, the report found. Burying 10 to 20 kilometres would raise the price to $730 million and $959 million, respectively, and delay the project by about a year.
Burial works out to about 40 cents per home a month, says Bruce Johnson, president of Responsible Electricity Transmission for Albertans. It's worth it, he argued, when you consider the health risks surface lines represent. "What would the cost of one child coming down with leukaemia that didn't need to be?"
Councillors unconvinced
The report didn't change Sturgeon Coun. Jerry Kaup's views about where the line should go.
"It's a real no-brainer that it should go in the [east] utility corridor," he said, as it was the cheapest overall option. "If some of it has to be underground, so be it."
Nor did the study look at burying the line within Sturgeon County, Shaw said.
"All of our ratepayers in this area will be affected by it," she said. "People put their heart and soul into their property and could end up with virtually nothing if that power line goes through their property."
The Heartland line should be buried whenever it runs by homes, Johnson said. If it's not, those homeowners should be fully compensated. "They did not choose to have their property devalued."
The Heartland team will include this information in its upcoming submission to the Alberta Utilities Commission, said Guy Bridgeman, senior vice-president of planning for Epcor. It will be up to the commission to decide if it's worth burying the line.
The study, plus numerous summaries, can be found at poweringalberta.com.
