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Power line may bypass county

Alberta PowerLine, the company behind the planned $1.49 billion Fort McMurray West 500-kV Transmission Project, has revealed it now favours the proposed west route for the development.

Alberta PowerLine, the company behind the planned $1.49 billion Fort McMurray West 500-kV Transmission Project, has revealed it now favours the proposed west route for the development.

Previously company representatives had said that there was no preference for either the east pathway through Westlock County or the west route via the County of Barrhead.

The announcement came in an interview with Alberta PowerLine vice-president Carey Kostyk on the finalization of the company’s project submission to the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC).

“In our filing we are indicating the west route has the least overall impacts from our analysis, but to be clear we’re applying for both saying the east route is a valid route as well,” he said.

“We recognize both routes have impacts and our results from consultations, and when we look at the data and interpret the data, we believe the west route has the least amount of impacts.

Alberta PowerLine is a partnership between ATCO and Quanta Services, a U.S.- based energy and technology construction company.

When the consortium began public consultations on the project earlier this year, representatives stated that there was no preference for either route and that it would let the AUC decide.

Now the company says that after feedback and other factors are taken into account the west route is the one of least impact, despite the fact that it’s longer and predicted to cost more.

“There’s lot of components,” Kostyk said. “When we go through the west route it will be a bit longer and when we looked at all the components on that we thought it was preferred.”

Yet the company will still be putting both options to the commission, and that means there is still a possibility that the AUC may choose the east route. The decision by Alberta PowerLine to now make a recommendation on preference to the AUC has been welcomed by the East Route Landowners Opposition Group, or ERLOG.

But the message from spokesperson Dean Dumbeck was that the fight was still not over and won’t be for a while.

“Everyone is kind of eagerly awaiting the official release,” he said. “We’re happy that Alberta PowerLine has listened to our concerns and has counted the amount of opposition on our side using their own techniques and policies.

“We’re going to stay the course until the final announcement. ERLOG is against the east rout altogether.”

The announcement about change in preference came as Alberta PowerLine finalized its submission to the AUC.

After months of public consultation the company has made minor adjustments to the path the line would take through the Westlock County, but on the whole the east route is mainly unchanged.

One major update to the plans that fall outside Westlock County has seen a proposed southern section on the east route combined into one option running from the power plants around Wabamun to Alberta Beach — originally the designs had the east and west routes splitting off closer to Wabamun.

Dumbeck counts that as a win.

“We had a huge victory earlier this year when Alberta PowerLine abandoned the southeast portion of the line which was a success for over 200 ERLOG members.

“That left the remaining members to the north to continue the fight and we’ll continue until the AUC makes its final decision lake next year.”

Once Alberta PowerLine submits the final plans to the AUC another round of public consultation will be begin, this time lead by the commission.

All people who believe they will be affected by either route will have the opportunity to provide comment to the AUC. That feedback can be provided via the AUC website or during hearings, should the commission choose to undertake them.

Both Alberta PowerLine and ERLOG are urging anyone affected by the project to make a submission.

“We encourage people impacted to get involved and share,” Kostyk said. “Sharing with the commission is a good thing, and we also think sharing with us is good because if we talk we can try to mitigate and work out any concerns or issues. If they don’t ever talk to us we’ll never know what their issues or concerns are.”

Dumbeck said much the same thing.

“We’ve always instructed our members to tell Alberta PowerLine whatever they want,” he said. “If they’re opposed to the line we want them to tell them why and how it impacts them. It’s the personal stories that really hit home with the AUC.”

The AUC has 180 days to make its final decision once the consultation phase begins. That thumbs up for either of the routes typically comes 90 days after public comment period ends.

Once the decision on which route has been selected, Alberta PowerLine hopes to begin construction in early 2017.

Running concurrently with the AUC consideration and selection process will be Alberta PowerLine’s right-of-way acquisition process.

During that time the company will seek landowner agreement to access land in anticipation of the build phase.

Kostyk said that in line with the company’s preference for the Barrhead option, such land purchases would begin on the west route.

This is also good news for ERLOG.

Industry insiders have told the News the it’s not uncommon for companies involved in this type of project to get as many agreements as they can from landowners as a way of quantifying opposition to the AUC.

However, while Dumbeck can’t say if any landowners along the east route have been approached to sign agreements, discussions between ERLOG members and Alberta PowerLine have covered everything short of signing on the dotted line.

“I don’t believe they have been offered a legal version of the early-access agreement,” Dumbeck said. “But our members have definitely been approached.”

Alberta PowerLine stands firm that no landowners have on either route have been asked to sign anything.

“We have not started getting land access agreements yet. We’re going to start doing that in January 2016,” Kostyk said. “In terms of when we start the process, we’re going to start in the west. Whether we do both routes will depend as we go though.”

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