Dear Editor,
I am writing to express a concern about the proposed 500kv DC transmission lines proposed for the Eastern and Western portions of Alberta. Upon listening to Sheldon Fulton, Executive Director of Industrial Power Consumers Association of Alberta, in Vegreville on March 30, it was verified once more that the $16.5 billion overbuild that is proposed for our province will dramatically affect each and every Albertan who pays an electrical bill.
We all want reliable electricity, but do we want it at any cost? There has never been a cost/benefit analysis done on these lines and yet each Albertan is responsible for paying for them. I do not know if you have noticed, but the Alberta Utilities Commission has already approved an increase on your electrical bill for your transmission rates, and construction of the proposed transmission line has not even begun. No reasonable person would propose to spend $16 billion without first determining what the impacts of that cost burden will be on those that must bear it. The transmission system upgrades have been touted as necessary to power Alberta’s industrial future. However, Mr. Fulton stressed that the resulting increases in transmission costs will actually drive many industries out of Alberta. What will have been the point? These industrial consumers are also obviously looking for alternative solutions.
Some of the Alberta Electrical System Operator’s (AESO) rhetoric justifying the two Edmonton-Calgary lines was that the lines were needed to keep the lights on in Calgary, and yet Calgary will be generating much of their own electricity before these lines even get built. AESO’s own demand and generation growth forecasts predict that all areas of the province except Edmonton will be flush with electricity in absence of the Bill 50 infrastructure, so it is difficult to justify its need, let alone conclude that it is “critical.”
Every Albertan must research Bill 50 also to understand how we are bound to something that our cabinet ministers decided was critical without any recourse. I reiterate once more that I am not against upgrading Alberta’s electrical system. However, my concern lies in the fact that our government does not even want to entertain the fact that there may be other more cost-effective solutions to meet Alberta’s electricity needs than those proposed in Bill 50; that these solutions should be explored; that Alberta rate payers have a right to have those alternatives explained to them; and that Alberta ratepayers should have a voice in choosing the appropriate solution.
For more information, please visit landownersagainstbills.com. Click on ‘articles’ and you will read Sheldon Fulton’s PowerPoint presentation. Refer to pages 20-26 in particular.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Semotiuk, Willingdon
Member of the Vegreville Area Landowners Transmission-line Opposition Association
