Tam Andersen's farm is famous for many things — its pumpkins, gardens, corn mazes and other attractions.
But she worries it could soon become infamous because of a power line. One route for the Heartland Transmission Project cuts right through her property. "They've sited a transmission tower directly overhead of our admissions booth to our corn maze," she said. "This has the potential to end our business."
Andersen was one of about 100 county residents that came to Morinville's St. Jean Baptiste Hall Monday night for an information session by the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC). The commission held the meeting to tell people how to get involved in the public hearing on the line, which is scheduled to start next spring.
It soon turned into a mini-rally as residents raged at the province for passing Bill 50, which allowed this and several other lines to bypass the normal needs-assessment process.
The province has cut out major steps in this line's approval process, said Colleen Boddez, spokesperson for the Sturgeon Blue Line Group, which opposes the alternate, western route for the line, including needs assessment, competitive procurement and a cost-control committee.
The province has proposed about $16-billion worth of new lines under Bill 50 including this one, Boddez said, lines that the Industrial Power Consumers Association of Alberta claims could cause electricity costs to quadruple in size. "You can't put in $16 billion with of infrastructure and not pass it on to consumers."
She and others voiced frustration with the approval process, arguing that because the AUC could not reject this project based on need, it had no choice but to approve it. "You're basically stamping something," Boddez said in the meeting. "We want to know why this is happening to us."
Locals frustrated
About 110 groups have already applied to intervene in the public hearing for the Heartland project, said AUC spokesperson Jim Law, which would string a 500-kilovolt double-circuit transmission line around either Morinville or east Edmonton to upgraders near Fort Saskatchewan if approved. "There's been a great deal of interest."
Many people have questioned the need for the line, Law said, but the government has already specified that need under Bill 50. "We cannot consider that in our review."
The upcoming hearing will not be a rubber stamp, said AUC lawyer J.P. Mousseau, speaking to the crowd. The AUC could reject both of the proposed routes, which would force line builders AltaLink and Epcor to come up with new ones. "We can deny it if the route's not in the public interest," he said. "That's where you come in."
Anyone who lives or owns property within 800 metres of the right-of-way for either of the proposed routes has been automatically granted standing to participate in the upcoming hearing, Law said.
But you have to register first, Andersen said — a process that took her seven phone calls and a lot of digging. "There are some pretty big barriers there for a normal person to get involved."
The AUC also caps the amount of legal fees it pays to participants, said Sturgeon County Coun. Karen Shaw, which means residents have to convince experts to work at below market rates. "We're starting with an unlevel playing field and that's not right."
Former county mayor Lawrence Kluthe denounced the whole hearing process as a waste of time. "With Bill 50, they've stripped every landowner of their rights and walked all over us," he said.
The only way residents could stop the line was to delay it until the next election and vote "Eddy and his bandits" out of office, he said. "We have to change the government and return democracy to Alberta."
The AUC is holding a meeting Nov. 2 at 9 a.m. at the Edmonton Expo Centre to hear preliminary arguments from participants and set a date for the hearing. Call 403-592-4500 to register.
