$1.6B Fort McMurray West transmission line approved

Construction on Crown land to commence immediately with energization set for 2019

A $1.6-billion transmission line project running from just west of Edmonton to the Fort McMurray area has been approved by the Alberta Utilities Commission.

The Fort McMurray West 500kV Transmission Project includes the construction of a 500-kilometre single-circuit transmission line, three optical repeater sites and the expansion of the Livock substation.

Construction on Crown land is expected to start immediately while construction on private land is expected to start later this year.

Energization is expected to take place in June 2019.

According to a 353-page report released late Friday, the project will predominantly cross Crown land, with about 30 per cent covering private lands and “parallels more existing linear disturbances such as transmission lines” to “affect fewer residences.”

The Alberta PowerLine project, a partnership between Albertabased Canadian Utilities Limited (an ATCO company) and U.S.based Quanta Capital Solutions, was required to “allow more power to flow in and out of the Fort McMurray area, increasing the capacity of the existing system to meet the growing demand for power in this area, while also bolstering the overall reliability of the Alberta transmission network.”

Not without its detractors, the commission heard that Alberta PowerLine considered “over 80 route suggestions proposed by stakeholders and discussed these suggestions with potentially directly affected parties to determine whether an opportunity to minimize impacts was available.”

In approving the project, the commission heard from 11 groups, including landowners and aboriginal groups, in a public hearing between Oct. 12 and Nov. 10 last year.

Opponents to the project cited “potential health risks associated with high voltage power lines” on not just humans but on grazing cattle, as well as concerns about “electrical interference on TV, radio, cellphone and Internet services.”

Dairy farmers in the area also raised concerns of the effects of “stray voltage” on their cattle which they stated “caused distress to the cows and a severe drop in milk production.” The decision imposes conditions related to mitigating impacts on traditional lands, plus a caribou protection plan approved by Alberta Environment and Parks.