Strathcona County Council Raises the Ante as the AUC Power Line Hearings Draw Nearer

Recently, Council allocated more resources to supporting its challenge to the mega power lines. Increased support has come in the form of financial allocations to RETA, a public advocacy group and the legal firm of Brownlee LLP which has been diligently working on behalf of every resident in our municipality for two years - securing internationally respected experts and building the case against the proposed dual circuit 500kv lines. These lines will be about 73 meters or 240 ft tall – twice the height of any existing power line in Alberta. Council also expanded the options for proponents of the lines. We had said if the lines have to be built – bury them. Now we say bury them or go west. Take the alternate route brought forward by Alta Link and EPCOR where there are no dense populations, no schools and no hospitals.

The formula for burying lines in high density areas makes sense. Each side in this debate has powerful arguments on the cost factors that make up this equation: citizens’ health, sustainability, and economic health.

Public Health

The World Health Organization and Canada Health agree that there is ‘little to no risk’ but both say ‘more research is necessary’. The precautionary principles seem to have been shifted from the corporations to the public. How did that happen? Does anyone think we should just lay down and let these mega power lines roll through our County...and then see if the cancer rates increase in our municipality? I will not agree to our children and families being put into this type of mega watt research project as the lab rats.

Sustainability

Initial Capital cost - proponents Alta Link and EPCOR were telling open house attendees in 2009 that the cost of burying the lines was twenty times overhead lines. Now the costs being quoted are 1.7 to 3 times the cost of above ground. Roads and power lines are critical infrastructure to the economic well being of our province that needs to be paid for by all.

Efficiency –European studies show that there is less line loss to the environment through heat. In fact it has been proven that underground lines are actually 1/3 more efficient.

We have been led to understand that there are high maintenance costs. But, after ten years of maintaining an underground 500 kv line in Tokyo, the results show that maintenance costs were actually lower because of the lack of environmental stressors of wind, lightening and storms.  

Governments regularly accept high initial costs for projects and justify them to the public on the principles of future cost savings.

Economic Health

The province has put multi millions of tax payers’ dollars into promoting Alberta’s natural beauty – does this include a sky full of power lines? It seems to me that there will be serious impacts from this proliferation of lines.

One of the most disturbing aspects of this case is the lack of understanding that the Heartland Transmission Lines project is only the beginning. It is the test case for more lines to come- the first of six mega power line routes legislated to transect Alberta.

All levels of government need to look into the future with an eye to protecting the quality of life of our citizens.   

While European countries are legislating the burying of lines our provincial government is standing firm on their admittedly visionary allocation of the Utility corridor of twenty years ago. Yes, that was a good move – twenty years ago. It’s time to refocus and recognize that two different levels of governments allowed population density to increase exponentially adjacent to these corridors. Shame on them for not respecting their own visionary plans for a vast power corridor not close to high population nodes.

It is time to ensure that overhead lines of this magnitude do not over shadow the densest population areas in the province. The solution is clear – bury the lines near all dense populations and do not route mega power lines through existing populous areas.