EDMONTON — An Alberta regulator about to rule on a controversial power line east of Edmonton says there’s been no arm-twisting from Premier Alison Redford.
Jim Law, spokesman for the Alberta Utilities Commission, said Tuesday that having Redford publicly reiterate this week that she wants the Heartland Transmission Line to go ahead doesn’t affect the panel’s deliberations.
Critics have said Redford is interfering with the decision of an independent body whose chairman can be hired or fired at her direction.
Law said critics are missing the point. The commission, he said, is not ruling on whether the line is needed, but simply on where it should go.
Law said cabinet under former premier Ed Stelmach ruled two years ago that the $596-million line was critical infrastructure and ordered that it go ahead.
“We were not legally permitted from Day 1 to consider the need for this project,” said Law.
“We are involved with looking at the routing and the alternative routes and determining which, if any, of those are in the public interest.”
Law said the panel has three options: it can approve the suggested routing, approve it with conditions, or reject it as not being in the public interest given financial, social and environmental impacts.
Law stressed the proposal can’t be rejected on the grounds the power is not needed.
The Heartland line was one of four projects fast-tracked by cabinet under controversial changes to electricity legislation. Those changes, contained in what has become known as Bill 50, were passed into law two years ago.
Redford has said she has concerns with Bill 50. Last week, at her direction, the province asked the commission to place on hold two of four proposals while the government reviews them.
Critics have said the Heartland line is a massive overbuild that will impose a heavy burden on taxpayers while allowing power companies to sell excess power to the United States for a hefty profit.
Redford says it is critical to service customers in the sprawling refinery industrial area north and east of Edmonton.
In Monday’s opening day of the fall sitting of the legislature, the Wildrose party suggested Redford’s approach to Heartland is blatant political interference to avoid a much bigger public relations black eye in the future.
“The government has determined that they’ve sunk so much cost already into this project that rather than face the embarrassment of going to ratepayers and saying, ’Whoops, we’ve made a mistake that has cost you hundreds of millions of dollars,’ they’re doubling down,” said Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith.
“They’re going to go forward with it and create a mistake that’s going to end up costing us billions of dollars.”
The commission was to release its findings earlier this week, but has since delayed that until Nov. 1.