Alberta Utilities Commission approves Heartland Transmission Project

Alberta’s independent utilities regulator has approved, with conditions, an application for the Heartland Transmission Project, including its preferred east route option.

In Decision 2011-436, issued today, the Alberta Utilities Commission found the application from AltaLink Management Ltd. and EPCOR Distribution & Transmission Inc. to build the Edmonton-area Heartland line was in the public interest and met the need specified in law by the provincial government.
The Heartland line, a proposed 500-kilovolt, double-circuit transmission line with an associated substation and an 18-km 240-kilovolt transmission connection, would extend approximately 65 km from south Edmonton to the Heartland region near Fort Saskatchewan. The need for the line was specified by the Alberta government as critical transmission infrastructure in 2009 in the Electric Statutes Amendment Act.


The AUC has approved the applicants’ preferred east route for the line, which skirts the city of Edmonton to the south and east and travels through an existing transportation and utility corridor (TUC) for roughly half the line’s length. The Commission concluded the preferred east route is both in the public interest and superior to the alternate west route based on land-use, cost and environmental considerations. The preferred east route would utilize the public lands of the TUC, which were set aside to provide a location for this type of project.

The applicants provided information to the AUC on monopole and underground options for the Commission to consider. The Commission concluded an underground option would not be in the public interest as the evidence brought before the Commission indicated it would not mitigate electric and magnetic fields (EMF) or materially mitigate the impact on property values, while substantially raising costs. On EMF, the Commission found that evidence showed that there would be no material difference between underground and overhead lines at the nearest residences, schools, daycares, hospitals and businesses and that in any event EMF produced by the lines “will be much lower, and likely indistinguishable from, background magnetic field levels at the nearest residences, schools, daycares, hospitals and businesses.” The Commission has required that EMF monitoring be conducted at Colchester Elementary School before and after construction of the line.

The Commission has required monopoles for a 9.5-km stretch from Hwy. 14 to Baseline Road, to reduce the visual impact on residents in the area. In addition, the Commission asked the applicants to examine additional options for routing the line near the Colchester Elementary School to reduce visual impact, which could move the line a further 50 metres, to 190 metres from the schoolyard, while remaining 213 metres from the school building.

Estimates provided by the applicants indicated that the cost for the line on the preferred route, without monopoles, would be $582 million. The cost with monopoles would be approximately $610 million.

Today’s decision marks the completion of an AUC review procedure that stretches back to 2009 and represents the most substantial application process in the AUC’s history, with a 25-day oral hearing, more than 1,300 exhibits, thousands of documents and more than 170 witnesses.

In recognition of the scope, nature and timeframe of the application, the AUC developed an enhanced process that included broad notification and provision of information, automatic standing for most parties, and multiple options for participation including community hearing sessions. The result was a remarkably open and transparent review that maximized the amount of preparation time for all participants. The application was received on September 27, 2010.

The decision along with extensive additional information related to the Heartland Transmission Project application, and the AUC’s hearing process, can be found on the AUC’s website, at www.auc.ab.ca. The decision conditions relate to the use of monopoles, the Colchester School alignment, pre- and post-construction EMF monitoring at the school and environmental requirements. In addition, the conditions require an approval from the minister of infrastructure to build the line within the TUC.

Attached to this news release are, separately, a timeline for the AUC’s Heartland Transmission Project application process, and highlights of the AUC’s decision released today.

The Heartland Transmission Project application is the first of four critical transmission infrastructure projects for which need was deemed by the Alberta government in the Electric Statutes Amendment Act, 2009 and an application was made to the AUC.

The Alberta Utilities Commission is an independent, quasi-judicial agency of the province of Alberta. As part of its mandate the Commission has jurisdiction over the siting of facilities deemed to be critical transmission facilities, as well as other transmission facilities, electric power plants and natural gas transmission pipelines.