By Sheila Pratt, edmontonjournal.com June 13, 2012

EDMONTON – The Alberta Utilities Commission decided Wednesday to proceed with long-awaited hearings into Altalink’s proposed $1.4-billion north-south transmission line, despite objections from landowners calling for delay to await an appeal court decision.

The decision left some landowners unhappy, accusing the AUC of trying to “railroad” the hearings and warned this could set the stage for another court battle.

On Monday, landowners opposed to the line urged the AUC to hold off until the court of appeal gives its ruling on the whether the commission has the jurisdiction to turn down a transmission project “in the public interest.” The court’s ruling might affect how the board interprets what is in the public interest when it comes to the new line, they argued.

But the AUC said it made sense to proceed and “will save time and reduce prejudice to landowners who have waited years” to get started on the hearing to determine the exact route of the 350-kilometre 500-kV, DC power line between Wabamun Lake and Calgary.

“The parties are ready to go, the evidence is relevant, regardless of the Alberta Court of Appeal decision,” said the AUC, adding that hearing will resume today.

Joe Anglin, who has fought against the line for years and is now a Wildrose MLA, said the board’s decision was “irresponsible.”

“To proceed with a hearing when a superior court is hearing the matter of public interest is arrogant,” said Anglin.

The appeal court case is a test of the Electric Statutes Amendment Act, which gives the provincial cabinet the power to designate critical transmission projects without a public hearing to determine need.

The appeal case arises from the battle last year over the Heartland transmission line from Wabamun Lake into Strathcona County. At the time, lawyer Keith Wilson argued the AUC interpreted the definition of public interest too narrowly in its decision to approve the line.

Wilson then asked the appeal court to rule on the scope of public interest jurisdiction. In late March, the appeal court agreed to hear the case but no date has been set.

In that case, Wilson will ask the appeal court to examine the question of whether the commission can turn down a Bill 50 transmission line when the evidence shows the proposed line will do more social and economic harm than good.

In February 2009, the government passed Bill 50 and declared five transmission projects, including two new north-south lines, as critical infrastructure needed to upgrade the power grid to meet growing demand for electricity in the province. No public hearing was held to determine the need for the line.

The hearing for the second north-south line, proposed by ATCO, is scheduled to begin in mid-July.

In granting leave to appeal, Justice Ronald Berger wrote: “In my opinion it is imperative in the interests of certainty and consistency that this court pronounce on the issues.”

Wilson said he’s asking for the case to be expedited.

The first hearings into the proposed Altalink line were suspended in 2007 after a spy scandal. The regulating authority had hired private investigators to monitor people opposed to the line.

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

By Sheila Pratt, edmontonjournal.com June 11, 2012

By John Cotter, The Canadian Press June 10, 2012

DICKSON — People downstream of an oil pipeline breach in west-central Alberta are worried but hopeful the spill won’t seriously damage the Red Deer River they depend on for water and recreation.

Andrew Van Oosten and his friends were hoping to go fishing Saturday but were told by Alberta Environment officials to stay away from the water.

“I was going to go fishing but they said, ‘No, you’re not allowed,’ ” he said as huddled with his friends underneath a tarp at his campsite near the Gleniffer reservoir.

“You are not allowed to go near the water because it (oil) is washing up on shore. I hope it just passes by in a week or two.”

Out on the lake that provides the water supply for the city of Red Deer and other communities downstream from Thursday’s spill, crews were busy spreading booms across the surface to skim away any sour crude.

Plains Midstream Canada estimates as much as 475,000 litres of oil spilled and then leaked into the river. The company says the oil spilled into Jackson Creek near the community of Sundre, about 100 kilometres from Red Deer.

In a news release Saturday, the company said the crude oil has been contained within two booms it placed on the Gleniffer Reservoir, and that an additional boom was being positioned on the west end of the reservoir to expedite the cleanup.

“We deeply regret any impact this incident may have on local residents,” the news release stated.

Randy Westergaard of the Gleniffer Lake Resort is doing his best to deal calmly with a calamity that came as residents prepare for the summer season. The marina has been closed until further notice, as have a number of campsites in the area.

The resort includes 750 recreation lots and permanent homes purchased by people who love to go boating, fish, or just enjoy the clean air and pretty views.

Westergaard credits the company for moving quickly to deal with the mess, including trucking in drinking water to the resort.

“All I can say is that Plains Midstream stepped up to the plate immediately and as far as I can see are doing everything in their power,” he said.

“Who is to blame? The government are the ones who gave them approval in the first place. It’s unfortunate it had to happen.”

Alberta Premier Alison Redford assured Albertans on Saturday that the co-ordination to deal with the spill has been moving quickly.

“There was some concern that if the weather was difficult today that there might be a challenge,” Redford told reporters in Edmonton, immediately after speaking at the city’s gay pride festival.

“My understanding is the weather hasn’t impacted it and everything is on course.”

“We’re seeing some good containment.”

Redford has said this latest oil spill has raised questions about how oil pipelines are monitored and regulated.

She has promised a full investigation and said if there are safety shortfalls the government will make changes.

This is the second recent serious spill for Plains Midstream. In April of last year a company pipeline in northwestern Alberta ruptured, leaking more than 4.5 litres of oil. Just last week the company issued a release, showing clean up efforts near the spill are almost complete.

The Red Deer River spill comes at a time when Alberta-based pipelines such as Keystone XL in the proposed Northern gateway pipeline to the B.C. are under increasing public scrutiny.

Redford insisted on Saturday that the spills are not the norm.

“It’s actually an exception, if you think that we have hundreds of thousands of kilometres of pipelines across this province. There has been a leak and it has been contained,” Redford said.

“We have pipelines that criss-cross this province that are intact and work.”

Between the spill site and the Dickson dam, Plains Midstream is building a base of operations headquarters to stage and direct the cleanup effort that is to come.

On Saturday, a long line of transport trucks dropped off supplies at the camp as cranes and bulldozers laid down prefabricated flooring on the wet ground. Office trailers were being set up and clean-up equipment was being stockpiled as a helicopter buzzed overhead.

A company official said there is no official time line on when the clean up is expected to be complete on the fast moving river, which has been swollen in recent days by heavy rain.

The company said Saturday that an information centre has been set up for residents at a community hall in James River.

Closer to Sundre, within a few kilometres of the breached pipeline, a film of black ooze coats grass along the remote shoreline of the river. In pools and puddles away from the main river the oil has pooled, discolouring the water.

Back at Van Oosten’s campsite he and his friends sit around a fire, chatting and drinking beer.

“I hope to get fishing soon,” he says.

© Copyright (c)

By John Cotter, The Canadian Press, Calgary Herald June 10, 2012

CALGARY — A representative for the company whose pipeline spilled hundreds of thousands of litres of oil into an Alberta river suggests there were two strokes of luck that kept the problem from being worse.

Stephen Bart, the vice-president of crude-oil operations for Plains Midstream Canada, says the first piece of good luck was that the pipeline wasn’t flowing at the time.

He says the second was that the Red Deer River was swollen

with recent rain, which washed the oil to the Gleniffer Reservoir where it can be more easily contained by booms, leaving only localized pockets of oil on the river.

“While there is shoreline along the river that has been impacted, it has been confined largely to a number of these localized areas, that when we get cordoned off, we can address more fully,” Bart told reporters at a news conference on Sunday.

Plains Midstream Canada estimates between 1,000 and 3,000 barrels of oil spilled Thursday.

There’s no word yet on what caused the leak, but Bart told the news conference that the affected section of pipeline ran underneath the river.

Bart says there are people on foot who are looking for wildlife that may have been affected by the spill, but so far he says there have been few confirmed reports of injured animals so far.

He says some of the people on foot patrols have noise devices which can be used to scare birds away from landing on oil-affected areas.

Peter Hodson, a biology professor at Queen’s University and an expert on the effects of oil spills on fish and wildlife, says it’s promising that few struggling or injured animals have been spotted. He says it’s also good news for fish if the oil managed to get to the lake quickly before being churned up in the river.

But Hodson says the fact the water level in the river was high means grass and other land that’s further up on the riverbank is more likely to have been coated with oil.

“That means some animals, particularly the ducks that are nesting on the banks, and some of the animals like muskrat and beaver that use the banks quite a bit, may be that much more exposed to oil,” Hodson says.

Gleniffer Lake provides the water supply for the City of Red Deer and is a popular recreation area for fishing and boating. The company has been providing bottled water to people who draw their drinking water directly from the river and the reservoir. The City of Red Deer indicated on its website that it didn’t expect the spill to cause any problems.

Alberta Environment officials have been telling people to stay away from the water.

Bart says the booms have contained the oil to the western tip of the reservoir.

“Our goal, obviously, is to preserve the water quality and drinking water quality and minimize the impact to wildlife, and get the spill cleaned up and the water and land restored as quickly as possible,” he said.

Hodson says the cleanup along the river has to be done carefully so as not to disrupt nests and other animal habitat. Again, he says because the water flow on the river was high and the oil is further up on the bank, the oil will have to be wiped or scraped off of grasslands or marsh.

“You often need big machines and that means you have fairly heavy equipment running over the riverbank,” Hodson explains.

“It’s one of those things where the cure can be worse than the disease so it has to be done with a great deal of care.”

This is the second recent serious spill for Plains Midstream. In April of last year a company pipeline in northwestern Alberta ruptured, leaking more than 4.5 million litres of oil. Just last week the company issued a release, showing clean up efforts near the spill are almost complete.

Alberta Premier Alison Redford assured Albertans over the weekend that the co-ordination to deal with the spill has been moving quickly, and she noted that spills are rare.

Redford has said this latest oil spill has raised questions about how oil pipelines are monitored and regulated. She has promised a full investigation and said if there are safety shortfalls the government will make changes.

Original source article: Pipeline owner says oil wasn’t flowing at time of leak into Alberta river

By Sheila Pratt, edmontonjournal.com June 10, 2012

EDMONTON – Five years after a shocking spy scandal derailed hearings, Calgary-based Altalink is making a new bid for approval of a $1.4-billion north-south electricity transmission line, a project that has caused major political headaches for the Conservative government.

A battle is already brewing at the Alberta Utilities Commission hearings beginning Monday in Red Deer. Intervener Gavin Fitch has filed a motion for adjournment with the support of a half-dozen other groups, including Enmax, because of a recent decision from the Alberta Court of Appeal.

The court said it “is imperative in the interest of certainty and consistency” that it consider the scope of the definition of “public interest” that the commission must consider in making its decisions.

The case arises from last year’s battle over the Edmonton-area Heartland transmission line, the first new power-line project approved under the new Electric Statutes Amendment Act, also known as Bill 50.

The court’s ruling on the scope of “public interest” could affect the north-south line hearings, Fitch said. (The date for the appeal court hearing has not been set.)

Fitch also said he’s hoping for a quick decision on adjournment so as not to waste time at the hearing.

The utilities commission maintains this week’s hearings into the Western Alberta Transmission Line are to determine the route only, as the need for the line was mandated by the government in 2009 with Bill 50. This is the first of two new north-south lines decreed essential by the provincial government. Hearings for the eastern line will start in July.

About 200 people are lined up to voice their objections to the route.

Altalink says it is “confident “is has found the “least-impact” route for the 350-kilometre, 500-kV DC power line between Wabamun Lake and Calgary after extensive consultation with area residents since 2010.

“We’ve done a lot of work to get the best information, the lowest-impact route,” said spokesman Scott Schreiner.

The line, which would carry 1,000 megawatts of electricity to the south, would be paid for by electricity consumers.

The cost has gone up substantially since the 2007 proposal as Altalink has shifted to more costly direct current technology, Schreiner noted. The DC technology is more efficient and makes it easier to increase capacity on the line, up to 4,000 megawatts if needed, says Law. “It’s more expensive, but there are significant benefits.”

Newly elected Wildrose MLA Joe Anglin, an area landowner and longtime opponent of the proposed line, says he continues to believe the project is an expensive overbuild that will mean higher utility bills for consumers and small business, and electricity for export.

“The battle isn’t over,”says Anglin, who was to attend the hearing Monday in Red Deer.

“The resumption of a hearing is ridiculous,” given there has still not been a public needs assessment, said Anglin.

Also, the biggest demand for new power is in the oilsands, and this western line will not serve that market, he added.

The utilities commission spent months meeting with residents along the line last year, explaining the process and encouraging people to come forward, says spokesman Jim Law.

The commission will take the hearings into several smaller communities to accommodate residents who have signed up to speak, and it is encouraging residents to submit written briefs. It will also provide a live audio stream of proceedings.

“We are very conscious of our reputation and process,” said Law. “We are trying to accommodate as many people as we can. ”

The Stelmach government revamped the approval process after the 2007 spy scandal. It disbanded the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, which had hired private investigators to spy on landowners opposed to the line.

The government set up the Alberta Utilities Commission to handle electricity projects. Security is now handled by the Solicitor General Department, not the hearing board.

Fitch, who represents residents north of Calgary, said Altalink has presented two alternative routes with some site-specific variations. That’s an improvement from the 2007 hearings, when only one option was offered, he said.

St. Albert lawyer Keith Wilson, who led the legal battle against the Heartland line, told the Journal he was pleased the court of appeal agreed to hear his case. He contends the commission used a narrower definition of public interest than Bill 50 calls for when it refused to consider socio-economic costs.

“The question is, can the commission say no to a proposed transmission line if the cost-benefit analysis is to the negative?” he said.

In his March 27 decision, Justice Ronald Berger wrote: “In my opinion, it is imperative in the interest of certainty and consistency that this court pronounce on the issues. ”

In the face of widespread opposition in rural Alberta last winter, which helped the Wildrose party become the official Opposition, Premier Alison Redford called for a review of the contentious grid expansion plans outlined in Bill 50.

Opponents are angry that Bill 50 removed the requirement for a public needs hearing for major electricity projects.

In February, the Critical Transmission Review Committee endorsed the government’s position that two new north-south lines are needed to meet the growing demand for power.

But it also recommended the province change its legislation to allow a public needs hearing on the last expansion mandated in Bill 50, a new line to Fort McMurray.

The first north-south line would include 1,000 towers and take two years to build. Approval could be granted early this fall.

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Written by Trevor Busch

Thursday, 07 June 2012 21:55

A proposed transmission line project which was planned to pass through the western area of the M.D. of Taber could now be re-designated to a different route farther west in the County of Lethbridge.
Recently, AltaLink announced that after assessing additional input from stakeholders, it is considering switching the original preferred route with the alternate route for the Picture Butte to Etzikom Coulee Transmission Project.
“I think that’s positive from my point of view — I’m sure the folks over in the County of Lethbridge wouldn’t say that,” said Coun. Don Johnson, who represents the southwest area of the M.D. of Taber. “And I understand that, just the same as our folks. As we dug into this thing, this is not truly an M.D. of Taber issue, but if it affects our ratepayers, then it becomes an M.D. issue.”
Under the current preferred routing, the transmission project would transect the western area of the M.D. of Taber, making a north-south crossing of Highway 3 near the hamlet of Cranford. The project would see a new transmission line connect the Picture Butte Substation to a proposed substation in the area north of Wrentham. From that point the proposed Etzikom Coulee to Whitla Transmission Project would head east and connect to the Whitla Substation (east of Highway 885 and south of Township Road 80).
The current alternate route, which is now being considered by AltaLink as the preferred route, would travel through the eastern area of the County of Lethbridge and make a north-south crossing of Highway 3 just west of  Tempest.
Johnson outlined some of the issues of concern that were raised by the M.D. of Taber with AltaLink over the preferred routing for the transmission project.
“We got fairly aggressive on this thing. As a council, we actually brought in some of the folks with AltaLink to come and meet with us. We had Shawn Kinniburgh in on the aerial spraying, which is a big issue. We talked about various alternatives, or profiled towers, that would allow them to get a little bit closer. Shawn actually came back in and did a presentation to us and showed us some of the challenges that they face in flying. Unless they have really experienced pilots, they don’t want somebody flying anywhere close to them. So you’re going to lose some crop production there, because ground spraying is not really an effective option, given the number of passes that you’re making with the potato crops.”
In conjunction with efforts made by the M.D. of Taber, Johnson also met with officials from AltaLink in Calgary and hashed out some of the problems with the proposed project which may not have been impressed upon the transmission provider through stakeholder consultations.
“I think that’s something that AltaLink had not thought about (aerial spraying), and we made that point very strongly when we met with AltaLink here in Taber. I did a follow up, I went to Calgary and met with some of their senior people up there, and I was fairly aggressive with them with regard to needing to understand what the financial implications are for these families who are farming. They’ve invested significant dollars there, they’ve been farming there for generations. You’re telling someone after all of that investment that they can’t grow underneath there? I don’t think so. We went back and forth, and they looked at the number of families, and I said there’s fewer families on the alternate route, and there’s not many potato growers on that alternate route — I think there’s one.”
The Picture Butte to Etzikom Coulee Transmission project would be a 240 kV double circuit transmission line approximately 66 to 80 kilometres in length. The estimated cost is approximately $160 to $250 million, which would amount to 16 to 25 cents on the typical residential utility bill.
AltaLink hosted open houses in January 2011 for the projects and has since been working to refine their original routing options using information gathered from landowners and environmental work. In December 2011 open houses were held in Coaldale, Stirling and Foremost.
Johnson admitted that during the meeting he presented the views of his ratepayers and the M.D. of Taber in no small terms.
“I made a very strong case, I had facts and figures and numbers on the cost of production. It turned out to be a very fruitful meeting, and to be honest, I had a very positive reception from those guys. They know the position I had provincially, and still have that influence. I made it very clear to them — if you don’t resolve this, then it will become a political issue. I’m glad to have played a small part — at the end of the day, it’s the M.D. of Taber that went to bat for their ratepayers.”
After consultation is complete, AltaLink will submit an application to the Alberta Utilities Commission for approval to build the new transmission facilities. If approved, construction is scheduled to begin in the summer or fall of 2013.
As AltaLink has only announced that they are considering switching the preferred and alternate routes, nothing has yet been finalized, but Johnson is hopeful of a favourable outcome.
“I’m really pleased for our guys. I think the M.D. of Taber probably played a positive role in encouraging AltaLink to re-think this. I’m really pleased, first of all on behalf of my ratepayers, and farmers and growers and producers in that area, because I think that it’s a good positive solution. And I think the impact on the alternate line is far less — I really believe that. I think the thing that people can take away from this in my opinion is that the council of the M.D. of Taber takes seriously a responsibility to try to help our ratepayers.”
More information on the project can be found at www.altalink.ca.

Written by Greg Price

Wednesday, 22 February 2012 15:14

There are locals none too happy about the preferred route that has been announced for a proposed AltaLink transmission project in southern Alberta.
Under proposed routing, the Picture Butte to Etzikom Coulee Transmission Project will transect the western area of the M.D. of Taber, making a north-south crossing of Highway 3 near the hamlet of Cranford.
“It’s ludicrous — the preferred route goes through some of the highest-priced farmland in Alberta. There are sections and half sections right in the middle and you’ve got pivots in there. Also, crossing the lake, this preferred route has more twists and turns in it,” said Darrell Kuryvial, one of a handful of concerned citizens in a delegation to M.D. of Taber council at its Feb. 14 meeting, asking council for its support in opposing the preferred route of the project. “Some places where there are existing powerlines and canals that already have right of ways, people feel those towers would be moved quite a way into their quarters because of existing right of ways already. I wish AltaLink would give us the same consideration as they did the province.”
The project would see a new transmission line connect the Picture Butte Substation to a proposed substation in the area north of Wrentham. From that point the proposed Etzikom Coulee to Whitla Transmission Project would head east and connect to the Whitla Substation (east of Highway 885 and south of Township Road 80).
The Picture Butte to Etzikom Coulee Transmission project would be a 240 kV double circuit transmission line approximately 66 to 80 kilometres in length. The estimated cost is approximately $160 to $250 million, which would amount to 16 to 25 cents on the typical residential utility bill.
AltaLink hosted open houses in January 2011 for the projects and has since been working to refine their original routing options using information gathered from landowners and environmental work. To date, 600 one-on-one consultations have been completed with landowners.
According to the delegation, those open houses have fallen on deaf ears.
“We’ve all met with their representatives and the frustrating part is we all live within arm’s length of each other and we never get the same representative. They don’t what to know how everyone is feeling I guess,” said Kuryvial. “The open houses, I’ve gone to them and all that is, is going through the motions because they are required to.”
The Potato Growers of Alberta set up a meeting with AltaLink officials last Thursday to voice their concerns as well with how much of an impact the project will have in the area.
“Twenty per cent of our potato acres are affected,” said delegation member Bill Tamminga to council. “In regards to spraying, we as potato growers are nervous, when planting and growing towards the line, if they don’t get sprayed for fungicide, the west wind could take out the whole field and the neighbour’s field.”
Kuryvial added when spraying issues were brought up to AltaLink members at open houses, they replied that drifting over could be utilized.
“For Kinniburgh or any other aerial applicator, that’s the worst thing they want to do is drift,” said Kuryvial in explaining the buffer zone aerial spray planes require near powerlines which affects row crop acres. “We brought up the property values of how that is going to affect them and of course their answer is it’s not going to impact them at all. It’s total arrogance.”
Other concerns the delegation cited with the project is the health risk to people and animals with possible links to cancer being near powerlines, highly productive soil being taken out of production, safety issues working farm equipment around towers and power lines, and further development being hindered.
In AltaLinks’s original routing options from January was a proposed crossing over the Chin Coulee Dam, which was discovered to be a sensitive pelican feeding area.
“They (pelicans) are not even native to this country, that has just happened in the last 10 or 20 years,” said councillor Dwight Tolton, voicing his preference that the alternate AltaLink route or the proposed crossing over Chin Coulee Dam should be used instead. “People should be given as many rights as pelicans.”
Coun. Don Johnson added there can be a disconnect when people who are making decisions come out of Calgary and Edmonton. They do not have a clue about the agriculture southern Alberta has that services the rest of the province.
“We keep telling them all the time we have four or five per cent of the arable land in the province under irrigation, we produce 20 per cent of the gross dollars in agriculture out of this area, that is very significant,” said Johnson.
“Yes, we need power, but there has to be a better balance to deal with that.”
After consultation is complete, AltaLink will submit an application to the Alberta Utilities Commission for approval to build the new transmission facilities. If approved, construction is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2013.
POWER PLAY: M.D. council was represented at the PGA’s meeting with AltaLink on Thursday. M.D. of Taber Reeve Brian Brewin attended the PGA’s meeting with AltaLink officials and came away with the impression the writing was already on the wall.
Brewin added council will be doing some letter writing opposing the project route and will seek an audience with Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Evan Berger to see if a reprieve can be made.
“These high power lines affect their ability to spray. You get these big high towers around their potato areas and it limits their ability to aerial spray,” said Brewin in an interview with The Times after the scheduled meeting with AltaLink. “To be honest with you, I was a little disappointed, I think AltaLink came with their mind already made up that this was the (preferred) route they were going to take which they relayed back. Agriculture is a big part of our municipality and potato growers are one of our bigger industries so we take it seriously.”

Written by Trevor Busch

Wednesday, 25 January 2012 15:49

The preferred and alternate routes have been announced for a proposed AltaLink transmission project in southern Alberta.
Under proposed routing, the Picture Butte to Etzikom Coulee Transmission Project will transect the western area of the M.D. of Taber, making a north-south crossing of Highway 3 near the hamlet of Cranford. The project would see a new transmission line connect the Picture Butte Substation to a proposed substation in the area north of Wrentham. From that point the proposed Etzikom Coulee to Whitla Transmission Project would head east and connect to the Whitla Substation (east of Highway 885 and south of Township Road 80).
“The preferred routes for both projects represent the lowest potential impact when compared to other options,” said AltaLink director of siting, Hudson Foley, in a press release. “We have taken a close look at the options and compared them in terms of potential impacts like residential and environmental, to name just a few.”
The Picture Butte to Etzikom Coulee Transmission project would be a 240 kV double circuit transmission line approximately 66 to 80 kilometres in length. The estimated cost is approximately $160 to $250 million, which would amount to 16 to 25 cents on the typical residential utility bill.
AltaLink hosted open houses in January 2011 for the projects and has since been working to refine their original routing options using information gathered from landowners and environmental work. To date, 600 one-on-one consultations have been completed with landowners.
“Our staff has certainly had some discussions, and we’ve had discussions as a council,” said Coun. Don Johnson, who represents the southwest area of the M.D. of Taber. “They had some open house stuff last fall, and invited people to it. We’ve had ongoing discussions with them, and they usually keep us pretty well apprised.”
With the amount of agricultural lands in the project area, Foley said it was clear from the outset placing a line that would minimize agricultural impacts was important.
“This area of the province has a lot of specialized agricultural practices, such as aerial spraying and irrigation,” said Foley. “So it was crucial that we really did out homework. This took some time but it allowed us to fully understand possible impacts, and how they could potentially be mitigated.”
Coulee crossings were another area where mitigation strategies needed to be prepared. In AltaLinks’s original routing options from January was a proposed crossing over the Chin Coulee Dam, which was discovered to be a sensitive pelican feeding area.
“After consulting with landowners in the area we were made aware of the pelican feeding site and have changed routing to cross Chin Coulee about one kilometre to the west. This move to the west reduces the potential environmental impact, and also reduces the number of residences near the line,” said Foley.
Johnson had also been made aware of the concerns of residents in the area with regard to pelican habitation.
“The biggest issue that I’ve heard is down at Stafford Lake subdivision. There’s half a dozen permanent residents down there. They’ve called and talked to me, and I’ve told them I’d be happy to get together with them — they were worried about the pelicans, and what the impact of that was going to be. Before there were any reservoirs around there were some natural bodies of water, but not a lot of them in this part of the country. When we put these irrigation reservoirs in, we seemed to attract some of those kinds of birds — and these people were concerned about them.”
Both projects are part of the Southern Alberta Transmission Reinforcement and are needed as existing transmission lines and substations in the southern part of the province do not currently have the capacity to connect power generated from new wind farm projects.
AltaLink hosted open houses for both projects in December 2011 in Coaldale, Stirling and Foremost.
Information about preferred and alternate routes was presented, and project teams were on hand to answer questions.
Coun. Johnson offered his view it would be unlikely the proposed transmission line would meet with much landowner opposition in the M.D. of Taber due to routing.
“I haven’t heard anything from any of the farmers. Usually farmers, when they run a line — our rule is two feet outside the property line for an M.D. right of way. If it’s any bigger than just a telephone pole, then you’re talking a whole different ball game — when they’ve got those bigger ones, then they need to go into a landowner’s property. They secure permission and consideration — I don’t know that there would be a lot of opposition out in that area, to be honest.”
After consultation is complete, AltaLink will submit an application to the Alberta Utilities Commission for approval to build the new transmission facilities. If approved, construction is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2013.
More information on the projects can be found at www.altalink.ca.

Thursday, 31 May 2012 02:01 Letter to the Editor

I must admit I am getting very tired of hearing ads on the radio from AltaLink and the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) telling us how much we need new transmission lines and how wonderful they are.
I asked myself why they would be advertising on the radio. Advertising is normally used by someone trying to sell something. Then I realized this is exactly what they are trying to do. They are trying to sell me something I don’t need. Why would they bother to do this? Because AltaLink stands to profit immensely from the planned transmission lines that Albertans don’t really need.
Interest rates today are amazingly low. The Canada Treasury Bill rate is currently under one per cent. Five-year mortgages at three per cent. Government of Canada 10-year bonds yielding 2.6 per cent. So we must be paying a low rate on these new transmission lines, right? Wrong! The generic return on equity for 2011 and 2012 is set at 8.75 per cent by the utility board.
Wow. How do I get a piece of that action? No wonder AltaLink is advertising. I would be doing everything I could, too, if I could get an 8.75 per cent return.
It is time for Albertans to rise up and be heard. Contact your MLAs and tell them that you are tired of big business profiting at the expense or ordinary Albertans.
John R. Davies
President, Lethbridge Iron Works Co. Ltd.