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Message: Lethbridge Herald article
| Alberta, Montana project to proceed |  |
| Written by Ric Swihart Lethbridge Herald | ||
| Thursday, 22 October 2009 | ||
Armed with a Thursday decision by the Supreme Court of Canada denying landowners leave to appeal construction of the power line, Bob Williams of Calgary, MATL vice-president regulatory, said the court decision was “the last remaining road block and we plan to start construction as soon as possible.” Much of that early work will be construction of a new power substation 15 kilometres northeast of Lethbridge. That substation will tie into two 240-kV power lines that cross the Oldman River heading to Calgary and Brooks. Some early construction is also likely along the parcels of land where 31 of 113 landowners along the 128-km of power transmission line route in Alberta have signed agreements to allow MATL to use their land to build the line. Scott Stenbeck, a Medicine Hat-based lawyer representing a landowner group in the case “Roy Swanson Farms Ltd. et al. v. Alberta (Energy and Utilities Board) et al” could not be reached for comment at press time. Williams said the court decision will also allow MATL to resume its work directly with the remaining landowners who have not signed agreements to use their land. “Our focus continues to work with the landowners on an individual basis,” he said. “We will continue to engage landowners, to listen to their concerns, to look at possible ways to mitigate their concerns and to negotiate a fair settlement for use of their land.” He admitted some of the landowners who remain to settle with MATL said they wanted to wait for the Supreme Court decision. “Now it is time to sit down and work through the issues.” The power line project has undergone a complex, comprehensive and lengthy regulatory approval process taking almost four years including public hearings, environmental assessments and stakeholder engagement at multiple levels in both Canada and the United States. The line will be capable of moving 300 megawatts of power either north to south or south to north. Construction of the line provides a more reliable supply of electricity for southern Alberta and northern Montana and accesses the power grid for almost $1 billion in renewable wind power projects in the U.S.A. The line will be served mainly by three large wind farms in the Shelby-Cut Bank-Conrad areas. Two of the them will be owned and operated by Naturener which has purchased exclusive transmission rights to ship electricity north into Canada. It will allow Naturener to import renewable energy into Alberta, he said. MATL will build, own and operate the line. MATL is 100 per cent owned by Tonbridge Power Inc., a Toronto-based power project investor. Its principle asset is MATL. |
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