Re: Farmers can save $1 billion?, letter to the editor, Red Deer Advocate, Nov. 17
Since becoming the minister of Energy, I have had the opportunity to meet and debate with the MLA for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre. During that time, I have observed two things. One — he has strong convictions and presents himself in a friendly and charming fashion; two — he is surprisingly inconsistent. This combination is extremely problematic and his inconsistency undermines his true passion for the issues.
In his letter that ran on the weekend, the MLA went on at length to say the Eastern Alberta Transmission Line was not needed and that HVDC technology was too costly and inappropriate. I find this very interesting. When the MLA was the chair of the Lavesta Area Group (a local landowner group), he spoke in support of using HVDC technology. His own group stated that HVDC technology was more economical over the long term and had less impact on the land. Lavesta went on to advocate that HVDC technology is much better because it has less line loss. That is correct. In fact, HVDC technology has some 80 per cent less line loss. Less line loss means Albertans pay less over time.
Perhaps the strongest evidence of the MLA’s flipping and flopping is from a davealberta.ca blog post from 2009. These are the words of Mr. Anglin, “Also, the only reason HVDC is being proposed is because of my efforts. HVDC was originally rejected outright when I first got involved and it took three years to get AESO to approve the use of the technology. I take full credit for advancing the HVDC argument in regards to this issue.”
One can also search Youtube and find presentations from Mr. Anglin were he uses similar language.
This really comes down to credibility. The MLA is passionate about electricity but his story changes so much that he fixes his facts to fit his story. Another great example of this is when he talks about the cost of these new critical transmission lines. He uses the figure of $16.6 billion in his article. That number is completely inaccurate and misleading. The current estimated cost for the four critical transmission projects is $5.2 billion. He is rounding up a mere $11 billion.
As someone who grew up on a ranch in Southern Alberta, I can fully appreciate the need to respect landowners, and we need to find the right balance between protecting property rights and making sure the lights stay on in the province. To find that balance, we need to have thoughtful, constructive conversations that are supported with facts.
Ken Hughes
Minister of Energy
Edmonton