A group of area landowners looking to stop the east route of the planned $1.49 billion Fort McMurray West 500-kV Transmission Project are continuing their crusade as the hearing process begins.
The East Route Landowners Opposition Group (ERLOG) plans to be out in full force at a Jan. 27 meeting hosted by the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) at the Westlock and District Community Hall.
The company behind the project, Alberta PowerLine came up with two proposed routes running through Westlock County (the east route) and the County of Barrhead (the west route). In November, the company indicated its preference for the transmission line to follow the west route.
AUC spokesperson Amanda Brinker said the meeting is designed to be informational only and will teach residents how to get involved in the summer hearing process.
“What these meetings are about how to get involved in our review of the application,” said Brinker, stressing the Jan. 27 meeting is not the place to simply voice concerns about the power line project.
Aware of AUC’s intentions, ERLOG still intends to attend the meeting as an opportunity to demonstrate its opposition.
“As far as our group, ERLOG, is concerned, the hearings are more of just to show the overwhelming opposition to it,” said Nelson Jespersen, ERLOG representative for the Westlock County area.
“We want to see our membership come out in large numbers to just show the AUC that we’re serious about this.”
Jespersen said the group is already well aware of the hearing process through their legal counsel, who is experienced in handling similar cases.
“None of the information they’re going to give us is going to be groundbreaking news,” he said.
Statistically, Jespersen said the AUC selects the preferred route approximately 80 per cent of the time, which is the Barrhead route, which still leaves the opportunity the east route through Westlock could be chosen.
He said any opportunity to demonstrate opposition is one the group won’t pass up on, until the final call has been made.
“AUC isn’t looking for confrontation in this setting. It’s just an information session, and they’ve stated that in their advertisement of the meeting,” Jespersen added.
“We’re not necessarily going there to argue it, we just want to have our membership come out in droves so that they know and see it first-hand.”
ERLOG has also erected signs around Westlock County for the purpose of keeping the dialogue going on the issue.
“We wanted to get the message out to both our membership and other people in the county,” Jespersen said.
“We don’t ever want it to become stagnant until it’s over. We want to keep the conversation going.
“I think that’s beneficial both to ATCO to understand we don’t want to let off and the AUC. ”
ERLOG will look to continue its battle until the hearings in June. The location for the hearings have not been decided, though Brinker said the AUC tries to hold hearings near the proposed location for a utilities project.
“This one’s a bit tricky because it’s quite a lengthy project,” she noted.
AUC will make a final decision on which route it will proceed with sometime afterwards.
