Wildrose opposition utilities critic Joe Anglin has given his support to an appeal filed by Alberta landowners challenging the constitutionality of billions of dollars in new transmission lines pushed through by the PC government.
The appeal filed Jan. 4 asks the court find that the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) does not have jurisdiction to approve the Eastern Alberta Transmission (EATL) line and the Western Alberta transmission line (WATL) as they will be used as a part of an international network built for the purpose of exporting electricity.
“It’s been troubling to see the AUC reject the constitutional arguments brought forth concerning federal jurisdiction over the export of electricity while continuing down this path of building unnecessary and expensive transmission lines,” said Anglin, MLA for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre.
Both EATL and WATL were pushed by the PC government through Bill 50 and are set to cost Alberta power consumers billions of dollars through higher power bills without ever going through an independent needs assessment process.
“This whole process has been flawed since the beginning starting with Bill 50,” Anglin said. “Not once have Alberta consumers had a chance to receive a full public evaluation of their electricity needs and now they are stuck on the hook for billions of dollars added to their power bills.