Local Wildrose candidates tried to generate resistance to the province's power line plans by bringing in long-time opponent Joe Anglin, who argued to a crowd of 40 in St. Albert that the plans remain bad for Alberta.
Anglin, a Wildrose candidate in southern Alberta, has been opposed to the building of new high voltage, north-south power lines between Edmonton and Calgary, as well as other lines, since they were first proposed.
His appearance in St. Albert on Thursday came the same day the province endorsed the findings of an independent panel that recommended those lines be built as soon as possible.
Anglin argued the lines are simply not required. He said both Energy Minister Ted Morton and Premier Alison Redford said the lines weren't necessary during their leadership race, but now seem willing to accept the opposite.
"Here they come and they accept the report without any critical analysis," Anglin said.
In his response to the independent report on Thursday, Morton said the panel had presented clear evidence that the province needed to update and reinforce its energy grid. He also announced the province would ask for a panel on how to spread out the costs of energy transmission over a longer term to avoid a shock to consumers when the lines are built.
In the legislature Thursday, Redford announced she would be asking the Alberta Utilities Commission to temporarily freeze the ancillary costs on power bills for transmission and administration. She also promised an independent panel to investigate how the regulated rate option – the price most consumers pay for power – is determined.
The independent report concluded that the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) assessments of load growth were justified, but Anglin said he can't see how officials came to that conclusion.
"There is nothing to back that kind of statement," he said.
Anglin stated the lines proposed for the province could have only one possible purpose.
"These lines are for export and it has always been for export," he said.
Anglin also took aim at the cost of power in the province, saying though deregulation promised a free market system, it has only helped electric companies while punishing consumers.
"It is a system that is not a free market system. It is a system that is rigged," he said.
Land use scorn
Anglin also focused on the government's land use bills that have drawn scorn. Despite amendments the government has introduced, the bills are still infringing on people's rights, he said.
"They have created certain smokescreens that show you have a right and then take it away."
Travis Hughes, who will carry the Wildrose banner in Spruce Grove-St. Albert in the coming election said he organized the event to bring more attention to the power lines and to the land use bills.
"It is so important to know what is going on in the province. Our government is behind these bills. Our current MLA voted for these bills and they are obviously flawed."
Hughes organized the event along with St. Albert Wildrose candidate James Burrows and Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock candidate Link Byfield.
Hughes said the issues have certainly resonated more strongly in rural areas, but that doesn't mean they aren't important to people living in cities like St. Albert.
"These issues don't seem to be getting discussed in the urban areas and I don't know if it is people just don't realize how much they affect them," he said. "We want to get the dialogue going on these issues in the urban areas."
Hughes said he hopes bringing attention to the issues will encourage people to think about their power bills and deal with them in the future.
"If we open people's eyes to these other issues hopefully people start catching on," he said. "It is not just health care and education – there are so many more issues."
