AltaLink publicly apologizes for land agent’s behaviour involving transmission-line project

Saturday, April 30, 2011

By Hanneke Brooymans, edmontonjournal.com

Epcor Utilities and AltaLink have submitted their application to the Alberta Utilities Commission to build the controversial Heartland high-voltage transmission line.

EDMONTON – AltaLink publicly apologized at the Heartland transmission project hearing Friday for the appalling conduct of a land agent it hired to make deals with landowners in the path of the transmission line.

Len Kozak, whose mother owns a farm near Gibbons, said a land agent visited the family farm on April 16 at their invitation to discuss a possible offer. The project team, consisting of AltaLink and Epcor, wants to put five towers on their land as part of a 500 kilovolt, double-circuit transmission line between south Edmonton and the industrial heartland northeast of the capital.

Kozak said his mother, who is 76, has poor hearing and won’t wear a hearing aid. She asked him to tape the conversation.

The project team has sent land agents out to landowners along the preferred route running east of Edmonton to try to reach tentative agreements. The alternate route runs around the western outskirts of Edmonton. Landowners in the preferred route were offered $10,000 if they signed an early access agreement, which would also prohibit them from intervening at the hearing.

“The statements and the things this employee said were nothing more than intimidation tactics to get us to sign our rights away,” Kozak said. “He said things like AltaLink had the support of the premier, had the support of the Progressive Conservative party, that the AUC had already made their minds up that this thing was going ahead. That the western route was nothing more than a bureaucratic optics show, that it was only a requirement that AltaLink had to fulfil and that ultimately if we didn’t sign and take this $10,000, it wouldn’t be available to us when the (Alberta Utilities Commission) made their decision.”

The conversation between the land agent and the Kozaks was professionally transcribed and submitted as evidence to the commission panel currently reviewing the project application.

Kozak and his mother didn’t take the money. Instead, Kozak on Friday cross-examined Darin Watson, AltaLink VicePresident, Major Projects.

“When I read through this transcript,” Watson told the hearing, “I was absolutely appalled at how this land agent represented us, represented the AUC, represented our partner Epcor, speculated on many, many things, misrepresented many things.”

The land agent in question works for Standard Land. Watson said the agent was terminated from all of AltaLink’s work and won’t be working for the company as long as he’s around. He also said Standard Land was suspended from further work, pending investigation. The company also plans to see who else the agent talked to and “ … see what the heck he might have said to them,” Watson said.

According to the transcript of the conversation with the family, the land agent said, “The main reason that (Stelmach) supports it is because he — he feels that the need is very obvious. He feels like there’s no need to actually debate whether or not we require this. He says let’s get it done. And the second reason he supports this is because the timing during the last two years of economic downturn has been brilliant, and this has employed a lot of people and generated a lot of jobs and a lot of work. So the timing of the line just so happens to be perfect, and he feels that the need for transmission is very obvious.”

Standard Land, based in Calgary, declined to comment.

Jim Law, a spokesman for the commission, said they couldn’t comment because the hearing was in progress.

Kozak said he believes the three people on the commission panel holding this hearing are honourable and have impeccable credentials. He doesn’t believe they’ve already made their decision.

But he believes that the land agent’s behaviour was a symptom of how poorly the landowner consultations have been conducted. And he wasn’t happy that the project team won’t admit that fact.

John Kristensen, technical vice-president of Responsible Electricity Transmission for Albertans, said he thought the way AltaLink handled the situation was professional and that Watson’s apology seemed sincere.

But overall, he agreed with Kozak that it was one more example of how poorly the public consultation has gone. An example, he said, is how the maximum height of the towers has changed throughout the process, from 60 metres to 77.

“They just tabled this week a brand new set route of the preferred route. All of a sudden they were able to move the preferred line 100 to 200 metres farther to the west within the Sherwood Park green belt, or the east (transportation utility corridor). So there’s just a constant state of amending the infrastructure they’re going to build or where they’re going to route it. … It’s the most confusing sort of application I’ve ever seen in my life and I’ve been involved with quite a few of them. So it’s been a moving target to the point where landowners aren’t sure what to comment on when they’re asked for their public input as directly affected and adversely affected landowners.”

The Heartland project hearing is expected to take another two weeks.

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© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

 

By Dina O’Meara, Calgary Herald May 2, 2012

Alberta transmission operator AltaLink LP has awarded its parent, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., the contract to build a controversial $2-billion Edmonton-to-Calgary power line, the companies said Tuesday.

The Montreal-based engineering giant, which took full ownership of AltaLink a year ago, won an “open and competitive” bidding process to construct the Western Alberta Transmission Line, a deal estimated at $1.6 billion by industry analysts.

“We are proud to have success-fully competed for this new con-tract and we are pleased to have been able to demonstrate value for money through our proposal,” Patrick Lamarre, SNC-Lavalin executive vice-president, said in a statement.

The contract is to deliver engineering, procurement and construction for transmission lines and substations based on project need assessments and permitting.

The deal constitutes the bulk of AltaLink projects for the next five years, including about $1.4 billion for the high voltage direct current power line to link power generation west of Edmonton to demand loads in Calgary and southern Alberta.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

 By Elise Stolte, edmontonjournal.com May 2, 2012

EDMONTON – A First Nations “freedom train” protesting the planned pipeline through B.C. will stop Wednesday in Edmonton, as demonstrators march to the beat of 40 drums from the Alberta legislature to the Enbridge offices on Jasper Avenue.

The group of 60 First Nations representatives are travelling from B.C. to Toronto in time for the Enbridge shareholders’ meeting, stopping in Jasper, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg to hold rallies and build alliances with like-minded supporters.

“It’s not just a First Nations issue,” said Geraldine Thomas Flurer, co-ordinator for the Yinka Dene Alliance, which covers 25 per cent of the proposed pipeline route through the B.C. interior.

It’s an issue of clean water, she said. “We know it’s a guarantee. Wherever you have oil pipelines, there is going to be a leak. It’s going to get into the water.

“Enbridge takes very little responsibility for the cleanup. If you knew that your tax dollars were going to clear up their mess, I don’t think Canadians would agree to that.”

Enbridge Inc.’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline from Edmonton to Kitimat, B.C., is currently in the midst of a federal regulatory review. If approved, it would cross about 1,000 waterways and is bitterly opposed by B.C.’s First Nations and environmentalists. Opponents fear Ottawa’s recently proposed changes to the Fisheries Act will lessen oversight and make projects such as Northern Gateway easier to approve.

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twitter.com/estolte

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

 

 

By Darcy Henton May 1, 2012

EDMONTON — Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith unveiled her shadow cabinet Tuesday, giving all 17 Wildrose MLAs — including herself — assignments to critique the new Alison Redford Progressive Conservative regime.

Smith will take responsibility for monitoring issues related to the cities of Edmonton and Calgary as well as the country, world and Alberta First Nations while serving as critic for Intergovernmental, International and Aboriginal Relations.

As expected, Airdrie MLA Rob Anderson will continue as House Leader and serve as critic for Finance and Treasury Board.

Calgary-Fish Creek veteran MLA Heather Forsyth gets to important health portfolio to watch while Shayne Saskiw, who defeated PC transportation minister Ray Danyluk, will handle the duties of deputy house leader and serve as critic for Justice and the Solicitor General.

Kerry Towle, elected in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, will serve as caucus whip and Seniors critic while Bruce McAllister, who defeated PC giant Ted Morton in Chestermere-Rocky View, will serve as deputy whip and as Education critic.

Jason Hale, of Strathmore-Brooks, will be Energy critic, power line crusader Joe Anglin, of Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House, gets Environment, Water and Utilities and Drew Barnes, MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat, gets Infrastructure and Transportation.

Gary Bikman of Cardston-Taber-Warner is assigned to watch Advanced Education, Little Bow MLA Ian Donovan gets Agriculture and Rural Development and Rod Fox of Lacombe-Ponoka will serve as Service Alberta critic.

Calgary-Shaw MLA Jeff Wilson gets the biggest ministry to watch, Human Services, Livingstone-Macleod MLA Pat Stier gets Sustainable Resource Development, and Bruce Rowe, of Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, gets Municipal Affairs.

Medicine Hat MLA Blake Pedersen will serve as Arts, Culture and Community Services critic, and Rick Strankman of Drumheller-Stettler, will watch over Tourism, Parks and Recreation.

The list of critics was revealed late Tuesday following a candidate school for all new MLAs. The rookie MLAs heard a speech from outgoing speaker Ken Kowalski and received training on their duties and obligations as members of the Legislative Assembly.

A new speaker will be selected by secret ballot before the next sitting begins.

Redford is expected to name her new cabinet shortly, in advance of a planned late spring sitting. No date for the sitting has been released.

[email protected]

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Saturday, 28 April 2012 02:01 Letter to the Editor

Re: “Power generates lively debate at Lethbridge East forum,” April 4.
David Mabell opines that Alberta’s “troubled experiment with deregulated power” was a hot topic at the April 4 Lethbridge East all-candidates forum. For sure! Government plans to expand the transmission system were the focus of the power discussion.
Interestingly, none of the candidates talked about the underlying hot-potato issue that is driving transmission system expansion. That would be the experiment with wind-generated electricity that our government imposed on the Alberta Electric System Operator. The AESO’s transmission system plan is readily available to the public. It makes clear that a need for massive transmission system expansion follows from a 2007 government directive to “start working on ways to enable electricity producers to add more wind to Alberta’s power supply.”
This could be an expensive path to follow. How far have we gone down it? A review of my power bills from 2004 and 2012 reveals substantial changes to my unit electricity cost. The increase in the charge for, “Administration,” “Energy,” “Transmission Charge,” “Distribution,” and “Local Access Fee” was 81, 28, 236, 45 and 78 per cent, respectively, over the eight years. I’ve left out two add-ons which came in since 2004. These are the “Balancing Pool Allocation” and the “AESO Demand Service Transmission (DTS) Rider.” These two summed up to essentially zero over 2011, but may warrant future scrutiny.
Certainly, transmission charges and other delivery related add-ons are increasing at a much faster rate than electricity itself. The relative increase for the “Transmission” charge is already dramatically higher than for the electricity (“Energy”) itself. We’ve barely started on planned transmission line expansion.
Would it be timely to take a time-out on transmission system building, as some candidates indicated they would, and review the consequences of our “experiment with deregulated power”? I think so. Lessons learned, and applied, could possibly help to provide Albertans with an electricity system which delivers essential energy at reasonable cost to users.

Duane Pendergast

Lethbridge

Friday, 27 April 2012 02:01 Letter to the Editor

I would like to thank Mr. Torrie for his comments in the April 14 Lethbridge Herald. I too have seen a huge increase in my power bill, due only to transmission and maintenance fees.
Last fall I shut off power to my property, so any increases in my bill are the result of only maintaining a power pole and electrical box. Since 2010 my power bill has almost doubled. I am now forced to have the electricity completely removed and to use a portable generator when the need arises. This does not seem right to me.

Linda Olivier

Taber

Tuesday, 24 April 2012 02:01 Lethbridge Herald

Caroline Zentner

The Wildrose Party has put an end to a 25-year Conservative dynasty in the riding of Little Bow.
Ian Donovan, a grain farmer from the Mossleigh area, had a solid victory of more than 2,000 votes.
“I’m very excited. We poured our heart into this,” Donovan said in a telephone interview. “The candidates I ran against — John and Everett and Bev — truly it was a pleasure to run against them because we kept sticking to the policies and the parties and there was absolutely no personal comments, no personal attacks.”
Several issues were top of mind for voters in Little Bow, Donovan said. They included Bill 2, the Education Act, Bill 50, the Electric Statutes Amendment Act and  Bill 36, the Land Stewardship Act.
“Property owners are not happy with it so I hope to be able to bring that forward and either make some amendments or get the province to repeal them and we’ll figure out from there what happens,” he said.
Donovan brings 16 years of political experience as a councillor in the County of Vulcan. He was first elected when he was 19 years old and he said that track record stood him in good stead with voters.
“I’ve sat on county council for 16 years, I was reeve for two years, that came up very key to people because there’s a trust level,” he said.
Voters in Little Bow obviously felt it was time for a change and Conservative candidate John Kolk was quick to congratulate Donovan via text message.
The rural riding of Little Bow, which encompasses a large area that includes Coaldale, Enchant, Vulcan, Picture Butte and the Siksika Nation, has a history of giving elected politicians longtime support.
The Conservative riding was held by Barry McFarland for 20 years. He was first elected in 1992 and was elected to a sixth term in 2008 with 58 per cent of the vote. McFarland recently announced he would be retiring from provincial politics. Before McFarland, Ray Speaker had represented Little Bow as a Conservative since 1987.
“There was frustration with the Conservative party and they had an option and they took it,” Kolk said. “We worked hard, we ran a very above-board campaign with no poison and people had the opportunity to make a choice and they did. I have enough respect for democracy that I was honoured I could run. I enjoyed it and now I get to play with my grandchildren and do a little farming.”
Kolk said the Conservative majority was a good outcome for Alberta although he’s concerned that more than half of Alberta’s agricultural sector is now represented by members who aren’t part of the ruling party.
“We don’t have anybody who has a clue about irrigation, about the intense cropping that we do down here, in government and so for southern Alberta this is a bad news story,” he said.

 

Written by production

Tuesday, 24 April 2012 05:09

The blue wave that swept through Alberta during the federal election coloured the province again tonight — at least in Calgary and to the north.
Alberta’s largest city helped the Progressive Conservatives earn 62 seats to gain another majority government. The Wildrose Alliance came in second at 17 seats, while the NDP and LIberals pulled in four seats each.
Locally, the Cardston-Taber-Warner riding went Wildrose, like every other southern Alberta riding but three. Gary Bikman swept into office with 6,110 votes, as he upended Progressive Conservative candidate Pat Shimbashi, who earned 4,270 votes. Bikman was pleased with the win.
“We’re all here, obviously we’re celebrating, it’s great to win, and we recognize that it’s a team win,” he said from his campaign headquarters. “We had representatives on our team from all corners of the riding, and they really did a good job of representing their area’s needs and wishes to us, so that we could address them, and try to understand them.”
Bikman added his party spoke to people in this area.
“When people feel understood, they feel like they’ll have confidence in you to represent them. I really sensed that people felt that we were getting what their concerns were. Certainly in the rural parts of the riding — big concerns about property rights. They have not felt listened to, and over the course of the election, going out an meeting people, knocking on doors and talking to people, in all walks of life, we had a sense that these were true conservatives, they had true conservative values. And they felt disenfranchised within the PC party.”
The Wildrose MLA for Cardston-Taber-Warner added the area’s former PC MLA summed up the Wildrose rural influence well.
“I think Broyce Jacobs, the former PC MLA, expressed it as well as anyone did. He said when somebody asked him why did you switch from being a PC to being a Wildrose, he said ‘Because I’m a conservative.’ Well, what do you mean? ‘Because I’m a true conservative, and there’s only one party that’s representing true conservative values.’ Obviously, I was complimented and flattered by that, but he really has identified the main focus of Wildrose, and that’s to represent the people and to speak up for the people, to be grassroots and to recognizing that the leadership doesn’t have all the answers — we need to consult with all stakeholders — and that message resonated with the people in our riding.”
A message was left on the cellphone of PC candidate Pat Shimbashi, who did not return the call by 11 p.m. Monday night.

Tuesday, 24 April 2012 00:00 Alex Mccuaig

ALEX McCUAIG

It has to be considered an upset victory in Medicine Hat as the Wildrose Party and Blake Pedersen wrestled the city riding from the PCs after the Tory’s 35-year stranglehold on the constituency.
“You get into this and it’s a dream to try to chase something that may be out of reach — to be here today, standing where I am, it’s pretty amazing, awesome,” said Pedersen.
Pedersen’s lead was established within the first six polling stations reporting and it never let up.
While PC Darren Hirsch’s campaign office tracked and recorded the latest poll-by-poll results and the mood grew increasingly tense, Pedersen appeared relaxed and more than happy to forgo the polling board and watch the results trickle in on TV.
It wasn’t until Hirsch stepped inside the Wildrose campaign office to concede did it appear to sink in for Pedersen that he’d taken the seat.
As for the issue which played the most in his favour, Pedersen replied, “the fact the PCs made promises and broke them down here more than once and I think it was one of those things that resonated and we just didn’t seem to be getting the attention.
“I think voters just said we needed a change, at least in this part of the country.”
Pedersen said the race was a battle, something he gave credit to all candidates for fighting.
But he said it will be up to him and fellow Wildrose MLA Drew Barnes to stand up for southeastern Alberta in the provincial opposition.
“I know this election was a little bit divisive and I guess we’ll have to see how it all plays out,” said Pedersen.
“We don’t hold the government so we’re definitely going to have to hold the PCs accountable.”
The Hirsch camp appeared to share what the PC candidate called “shock” at the riding election result.
The one issue which played on the Medicine Hat voter, Hirsch said, was the ‘forgotten corner’ stigma that appeared to resonate with the electorate.
“I’m honestly not too surprised,” said Liberal candidate Matthew Sandford about the local results. While every candidate wants to win, Sandford said Pedersen has always been a friendly face throughout the campaign, always going out of his way to talk with him.
“To have someone as personable as Blake, I’m certainly happy for him.”
NDP riding president Wally Regehr said the disdain over land-use legislation was a particular reason for the area’s shift to the Wildrose.
“There’s no doubt the property rights issue was huge,” said Regehr.
“Danielle Smith was on that two years ago before it was even on the radar. They played it extremely well.
“I went to a meeting that had 400 people, and they were mad, yelling and screaming. With that kind of hatred — it was hatred plain and simple… there’s no point saying look at this clause or that clause (in the election). It was way too late for that.”
Unofficial final results are: Pedersen (Wildrose) 6,030 votes, Hirsch (PC) 5,341, Perrier (NDP) 1,168, Sandford (Liberal) 1,101, Graham Murray (EverGreen) 212.

Tuesday, 24 April 2012 00:00 Gillian Slade

GILLIAN SLADE

It was a bittersweet moment for the two frontrunners in the Cypress Medicine Hat race. Wildrose candidate Drew Barnes won but without the Wildrose majority government and PC incumbent Len Mitzel lost his seat even though his party won a large majority.
“It has finally sunk in that I’ve won,” said Barnes, who picked up 5,372 votes through 70 polls of 82 reporting, 1,600 more than Mitzel. Jon Mastel of the Liberals finished third and Manual Martinez of the NDP was fourth.
“I promised to give my best and I look forward to fulfilling that. I am excited about going to the Legislature to fulfill my campaign promises.”
He listened to the sound of his new title — MLA Drew Barnes — and smiled.
The disappointment Mitzel was feeling at not being personally re-elected was evident.
“I’ve lost my seat. The vote did surprise me. I did not expect to lose my seat,” said a sombre Mitzel. “It goes to show pollsters don’t necessarily know what they’re doing.”
The enthusiasm at the Barnes campaign party at Turner’s Restaurant on Monday night was tempered with disappointment at not having won the majority government the Wildrose had expected.
“I am totally surprised at the PC majority,” said a Barnes campaign volunteer, Marco Jansen. “I’m not sure what effect the recent ‘moral issues’ had on how people voted.”
Barnes supporter Glen Ebel said he had had a sneaky suspicion the PCs would win a majority.
“People don’t like change. It would have been a very big swing for the Wildrose to get a majority government,” said Ebel. “There were so many Wildrose candidates that are rookies. If they’d got a majority government without experience there was the possibility of them failing.”
When Wildrose leader Danielle Smith appeared on the television,there was a surge of excitement from Barnes’ supporters.
Smith’s assertion that she was not discouraged drew applause as did her comment that it was time for Wildrose to prove itself as the official opposition.
Any joy at the PCs winning a majority government was overshadowed by the personal loss for Mitzel. He reflected on his significant accomplishments since he was elected in 2004.
“I am proud I could represent my constituents and I have no regrets,” said Mitzel. “I thank my team and everyone who voted for me and in fact the people who did not vote for me too because I have got my life back.”
Long working hours, lots of travel and being away from home so much is something Mitzel says he will not miss. Reflecting on the campaign Mitzel says he was not aware of a tide turning that would have suggested the loss of his seat.
“Did people forget all that I did?” he asked.
Mitzel said it was too early to reflect on what he will do in future or whether he will run again.
Wally Regehr, the president of the local NDP Constituency Association, said the PCs didn’t handle land-use legislation controversies well. The Wildrose Party made a major issue out of it for years leading up to the election, and the Tories didn’t help themselves on other local issues.
“You can’t forget about the flood (in June 2010), from the PCs point of view I don’t know why they didn’t handle that better,” said Regher. “Saskatchewan did a simple thing, they immediately sent out $3,500 cheques and said let’s sort it out later. It was an act of good will. I don’t care what your political affiliation is, just good common sense says ‘help these people.'”
Jon Mastel Liberal candidate indicated he wasn’t surprised about the local results.
“They’ve made a change and hopefully it’s for the better,” said Mastel.