Line proponents and the province should have to prove the need for the Heartland Transmission Project before they build it, said county residents.
About 100 Sturgeon County residents crowded into the Redwater Legion Hall Sept. 8 for a forum on transmission lines in Alberta.
County councillor Karen Shaw said she organized the session out of frustration with the Heartland Transmission Project and Bill 50, the law that exempts that line from a needs assessment hearing. "The need for that transmission line has never been determined," she said. "Not only that, we've never been allowed to question the need."
Residents have been frustrated with the consultation process, she continued, as power company officials have given them incomplete or conflicting answers to their questions. "You're going in circles."
The meeting featured talks from Joe Anglin of the Lavesta Area Group and lawyer Keith Wilson, both vocal critics of Bill 50. Atco, AltaLink, the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO, which manages the power grid), and local MLA Jeff Johnson all declined to attend the meeting as they were busy at others.
Shaw criticized their absence and was incredulous that those big organizations couldn't find someone to attend. "If they're telling the truth, why would [they] be afraid to come?"
Prove it's needed
The Heartland Transmission Project is a 500-kilovolt double-circuit transmission line designed to link Wabamun power plants to upgraders near Fort Saskatchewan. Two routes are under consideration and both run through Sturgeon County. It's one of four lines designated as "critical" under Bill 50, which means that companies do not have to prove the line is needed.
Lauri Kugler, who lives near Gibbons and one of the proposed heartland routes, was one of many residents who expressed frustration over the line. She was concerned about its effect on her cattle and property values and was not convinced that it was needed. "We went to a seminar in Bon Accord and every person we asked had a different answer."
This line is needed to meet future power demands in the industrial heartland, according to AESO spokesperson Dawn Delaney. Upgrader construction has slowed, the group found, but is projected to grow significantly in the future.
The Alberta Industrial Heartland Association looked at the AESO's demand projections and found them lacking, said Sturgeon County Mayor Don Rigney, who arrived near the end of the session and chairs that association. "The heartland association's most optimistic power demand was a fifth to a third of the AESO's base case," he said. "It's way out of line."
Blasting Bill 50 as "the worst legislation in Alberta history," he said that eliminating the needs assessment gave companies a free pass to gouge consumers. "Bill 50 essentially hands the big companies a machine gun and tells them to got into a bar brawl."
The government might claim that industry will bear 61 per cent of the cost of the new lines, Rigney said, but those costs will just be passed onto consumers. "If power costs double at Agrium [which has a plant in the county], you don't think they'll pass on the cost to me?"
Johnson, reached later by phone, said he was disappointed by Rigney's remarks as the county had previously supported the line. "We have not done any significant work to our transmission system in 20 years," he said, and there is a "compelling" need for these lines.
Many of the lines in Bill 50 had been bogged down for years, Johnson said, and putting them through a needs hearing could delay them for five to six more. "We've got the responsibility to ensure this infrastructure is in place for future generations."
While companies can spend years preparing for a needs assessment hearing, most hearings last less than a week according to the AESO.
The Heartland power line is expected to go before the Alberta Utilities Commission for approval next year.
