I believe that the title provided for my previous letter to the editor Need for transmission lines disputed is not entirely correct. Although I do dispute the need for the lines that are being promoted so thoroughly by AESO and AltaLink, this is not my main concern.
It is much deeper than that.
My main concern is systemic and foundational faults within AESO. Though supposedly independent of industry it is not difficult to see that they are not independent of government, as we have witnessed by their insistence on pushing through lines authorized under Bill 50.
AESO is using stats from one area of the province to justify need for the whole province — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
AESO have presented confusing assessments of line necessity and have used both line congestion and line load to justify expansion when line load is the only statistic that actually affects consumers, and thus should be the only one consumers are concerned about.
Why would they do this?
I can only conclude that this is a result from a desire to push through transmission that is not only unneeded but has not been demonstrated to be economically sound. I would be willing to change my mind on this with reasonable evidence, but for some reason I have doubts this will materialize.
AESO’s mandate is not to serve the people and business of Alberta, but to serve generation.
Their policy is to build enough transmission for 100 per cent of all power generation, whether we as Albertans need the electricity or not.
Such a board is in my opinion close to useless if they are so ‘independent’ that they are not even responsible to the people who pay their salaries (ie, every taxpayer in the province).
I am not inherently anti-AESO. I just do not wish for a future where my grandchildren may have to choose between paying their electricity bills and having a roof over their heads.
Shane Dyck
On behalf of UPTAG
Red Deer County