500 kV Power line
Published March 13, 2009
By now, everyone in Strathcona is aware of plans to construct a 500 kilovolt electrical transmission line through our community. On March, 3 2009, I formally moved that Strathcona County oppose this project unless the line can be safely constructed and operated underground. This motion passed with the unanimous support of my colleagues on Council. Although this matter is not under County jurisdiction, we felt it important to send a strong message that we take our responsibility for health and safety, both of which may be seriously compromised by this project.
The same week, "Responsible Electrical Transmission for Albertans (RETA)" held an information Open House at Festival Place to protest this project and its effect upon people's lives. The meeting was attended by nearly 1000 people. There was standing room only and many were turned away. Clearly this issue has touched a nerve in the community.
The power to be carried by these lines is not needed by residents or industries in the County. The power lines are being constructed as a business opportunity for private power companies who wish to make money by exporting power to Fort McMurray. If this project is not completed, the lights are not going to go out.
We are now in a deep recession. The world of limitless growth, of tar sands expansion and new upgraders no longer exists. These lines, wherever they are built, could well be white elephants with no customers.
The cost of constructing underground lines might be high. Who cares? This is a cost of doing business. To suggest, as some have, that construction economy should trump the safety and convenience of this community is simply shocking. If it cannot be done safely, let it not be done at all.
The entire power company rhetoric sounds depressingly like that of the tobacco companies thirty years ago, or the nuclear power industry before Three-Mile Island and Chernobyl.
In spite of the mixed messages we often receive from provincial departments and elected officials, whether these lines are built and where, is a provincial decision. In theory, the Alberta Utilities Commission will make the decision based upon need, cost justification, route, configuration and the merits of other competing technologies, such as cogeneration. In practice, if the Province wants the line to be built, it will be built, wherever they want it. We shall continue to oppose it through communication, education and if necessary by intervening formally in an eventual AUC hearing. This is planned for the fall, but seems more likely to occur in the spring of 2010.
We still have a long battle ahead. At the end of it all, we shall have at least learned whether or not we live in a democracy where folks can look out for the welfare of their community.
Alan Dunn
Councillor, Ward 6
780-464-8206
dunn@strathcona.ab.ca
Last updated: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Page ID: 2060