BONNYVILLE - “We want to make sure that we have adequate supply for the future. There are a number of developments out there that are still on the books and we don’t want those to be hindered.”
MD of Bonnyville Reeve Greg Sawchuk wants to guarantee there will be enough natural gas for future developments, whether they’re residential, commercial, or industrial.
That’s why during their Wednesday, Feb. 12 council meeting, they discussed a letter the municipality sent to the North East Gas Co-op as a follow-up to previous conversations they had regarding the supply of natural gas.
“We want to get a clearer picture on this, and that’s why we sent a letter to them, is to get confirmation,” noted Sawchuk. “We’re also going to be asking our residents if they have had any issues, just to get this cleared up, because we don’t want to stifle development in the future by not having one of the main utilities.”
In the letter, which is dated Jan. 9, the reeve explains that from the MD’s understanding, the natural gas distributor had elected against tying into the Trans Canada Pipeline, which would allow increased supply to local residents and commercial stakeholders.
North East Gas Co-op manager Ron Fox confirmed the company will be tapping into the line once it’s ready, which they believe will ignite new opportunities.
“The issue was, because the Trans Canada Pipeline had called this a restricted delivery area, we weren’t allowed to service some big industrial customers, but that’s going to be resolved when they build their new system,” he explained, adding at this time, there isn’t an issue supplying natural gas to any residential areas.
However, that’s not what the MD has heard from their residents.
“We’ve had residents say to us that they’ve been told there’s a limited gas supply,” Sawchuk told the Nouvelle.
Despite what the municipality has been told, Fox stressed there isn’t a shortage for these types of properties.
“Trans Canada Pipeline is upgrading their system and once that upgrading is done, there will be no issue with the supply of gas in this area.”
Fox said the North East Gas Co-op has since responded to the MD, but Sawchuk hasn’t had a letter come across his desk yet.
For the time being, the municipality is asking residents to reach out if they’ve experienced an issue with accessing the utility.
“We want to get it out there to our residents and find out if they’ve been told there is not a gas supply for them, especially if they’re building a shop on their acreage or if they have a business that requires a gas supply, that they’re able to get it, and that we don’t have any shortage,” Sawchuk noted.
