Review staff
Round 2 of an on-going dispute between the electrical industry and the Lavesta Group over proposed power lines running through Rimbey was held last Monday at the Community Centre, however unlike Round 1 held approximately one year ago, this was a much-less confrontational affair.
“We’re inviting people’s input on our Calgary-Edmonton transmission reinforcement project,” said Senior Director of Strategic Projects Dick Way of the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), “We have some displays set up that show people the need for the reinforcement, the reliability concerns we have, the efficiency gains that we can make through our reinforcement and the market-access benefits which leads to more competitive electricity prices.”
Way said the open house was intended to inform the public of several options being considered by AESO who are in the process of planning a route for overhead power lines from the Edmonton area to Calgary.
“We have two sets of options that we walk people through – one is what we call technology options which are higher or more moderate capacity lines and the second option, what actually people get most interested in at these open houses, is the question of where this should go,” Way said. “We show them some of our options that range from the Rimbey area in the west all the way over to the Camrose area in the east.”
Besides the two routes on the extreme west and east sides of the proposed area, Way said two more options are also being considered including a central corridor that would run from Devon south to Red Deer possibly along the Queen Elizabeth II Highway and another – known as the Heartland Option, which would see the power lines run from the southeast corner of Edmonton to Sherwood Park and then head south.
According to Way, a decision will be partially based on feedback and input from the public, which they hope to gather through a number of open houses to be held throughout prospective power line areas.
“We’ve got 20 people here that are gathering information and we’re very structured to try and listen hard and take down concerns and ask people to fill out their exit interviews with their thoughts and notes, and we’ll be doing that throughout the night,” Way said.
As for the previous eight of 26 proposed m open houses, Way said they’ve gone very well.
“We’ve been getting a pretty good turnout to most of them - some were a bit disappointed, but there’s been a good turnout and lots of interest in what we’re doing, which is exactly why we’re doing it,” he said. “We know people are interested and we know people are concerned about power lines and so we’re trying to talk with them and go over their concerns.”
While Way said he was not a part of the open house held in Rimbey last year that ultimately resulted in the dissolving of the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) and replacement with the AESO, he was quick to point out that things are different this time around.
“Well there are a few different things. We’re going back to Square One and starting over again. We’re looking at some new geographic options,” Way said. “We’ve had a fresh look at some different geographical alternatives than we looked at last time – particularly a line out of the Fort Saskatchewan area, that’s one big difference. A second difference is some of the technologies we’re looking at. Some of the higher capacity technologies are more competitive this time around and to a certain extent, there’s been a regulation change that gets us more focused on higher-capacity options.”
While Way suggested technological advances could mean higher-capacity lines that may last for up to 20 years or more are the most likely options, he added that they’re also trying to heal some old wounds,
“The last thing is we’re doing far more consultations. We’re out doing this process – we do this kind of process with all of our projects around Alberta and we’re much more intense with the consultations,” he said. “So with this part of the process, we’re hoping people will see us differently than last time. We’re aware that something different than all the other open houses could happen here tonight and we’re not really sure what it is. We’re interested in talking to people one-on-one and getting their views, so we’re focused on our part but we all understand that there’s something different about the Rimbey open house.”
While there were several protesters representing the Lavesta Group on hand for the open house – including the Raging Grannies who were selling cookies as a fundraising tool, Way said the AESO is listening to the public.
“People are concerned about power lines so we’re getting genuine concerns. We’ve been getting positive comments about the process – the fact that we’re here, the fact that we’re talking to people, the fact that we’re telling them our plans – lots of positive comments in that regard,” he said. “But at the end of the day, people are concerned about power lines and they’re here to express those concerns to us.”
Even representatives of the Lavesta Group felt the meeting was productive, however they added that there’s still plenty of hard feelings leftover from last year’s public forums.
“I thought it went extremely well,” said Lavesta Group Chair Joe Anglin. “We needed to convey a couple of messages and I think we were able to do that. What we wanted to convey is that we want to be part of the process – we want a fair and transparent process. We wanted to remind them how they treated us the last time. What we’re saying is we want to be treated fairly and we want the process to be transparent.”
At least one positive step was taken during the open house – that being an agreement between the two camps that advances in technology could work to benefit both groups.
“The beauty of the newer technology is we don’t need to have these lines all over people‘s properties,” Anglin said in suggesting direct current (DC) power was the way to go. “It’s only two wires – it’s a much smaller footprint, it’s more efficient, all around there should not be much of an argument.”
Anglin said the only element missing for the two camps to both agree on the issue is leadership in the decision-making process.
“What we’re missing right now is somebody to grab the bull by the horns and say let’s get it done,” he said. “Again, this is where new technology works to everyone’s advantage. You don’t to take a quarter-mile worth of land. One direct current (DC) line can go right down a road allowance, and you don’t have to take anyone’s property.”
The Rimbey open house was one of 26 scheduled to be held throughout the province by the AESO before a final decision of the location of the power lines is made.