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“What bonehead executive scheduled three major coal-fired facilities to be off-line during a peak month?” asks letter writer

Dear Editor; EPCOR executive Jim Oosterbann is out on the propaganda trail again to rally support for a proposed 500 KV transmission line from Edmonton to Calgary (Edmonton Journal May 22, 2008). Using the age-old fear tactic that the lights are going to go out if this line is not built; Oosterbann told the Coal Association of Canada that a lightning strike in July 2006 nearly caused a total blackout in the province.

Dear Editor;

EPCOR executive Jim Oosterbann is out on the propaganda trail again to rally support for a proposed 500 KV transmission line from Edmonton to Calgary (Edmonton Journal May 22, 2008). Using the age-old fear tactic that the lights are going to go out if this line is not built; Oosterbann told the Coal Association of Canada that a lightning strike in July 2006 nearly caused a total blackout in the province. He went on to say, “The risk of power outages has never been greater”.

The risk of power outages has gone up in the province, but we disagree with Oosterbann’s assessment. The risk of power outages has risen due to the failed policies of deregulation and the greedy tactics employed by corporation such as EPCOR, to try and exploit an uninformed public.

The rolling blackout in July 2006 was not caused by a lightning strike it was triggered by a lightning strike. The difference being, in July 2006 there were three generators off-line for routine maintenance and two more (Sheerness) tripped off-line during a lightning storm. If Oosterbann wants to lay blame for the 2006 rolling blackouts, he only needs to ask himself what bonehead executive scheduled three major coal-fired facilities to be off-line during a peak month. Everyone knows it is irresponsible to schedule routine maintenance in peak months.

By the way, how much profit did EPCOR make when the Sheerness plant tripped off-line in 2006? I certainly would never believe a utility would deliberately schedule routine maintenance to increase the probability of an outage. I mean, who could possibly predict high demand for electricity and lightening occurring in July - simultaneously?

It doesn’t take a PhD or a million-dollar salary to figure out, if you turn off the generators, it doesn’t matter how many transmission lines you build. The lights will go out!

We agree the transmission grid needs upgrading. We are meeting with the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) now to discuss some options. There are options available to satisfy both the industry and the public. However we are at odds with EPCOR, TransAlta, and AltaLink if they try to make the public pay for an export line that will only raise our electricity rates and does not provide any additional electricity to Albertans. It is time we worked toward a solution.

Sincerely,

Joe Anglin

Chairman

Lavesta Area Group

Rimbey