Enmax – TransAlta opinions Differ at Hearings

Enmax Corp. argued the dual high voltage direct current lines being pushed by the Alberta government as critical would be redundant in the province’s new energy landscape. More megawatts of power are being produced south of Red Deer and less in the north, reducing the need for lines which were planned to flow electricity to the Calgary region. Enmax is building an 800-mega-watt natural gas-fired power plant on the southeastern border of Calgary, expected to come online by 2015. The plant will have a significant impact on the provincial transmission sys-tem by reducing north-south flows. Enmax noted nuclear and hydroelectric plants proposed in north-central Alberta have been shelved, and that new coal-fired generation is unlikely because of federal carbon reduction legislation. He called for sections of Bill 50 on critical transmission to be repealed, leaving decisions on need to experts and allowing for public intervention. TransAlta Corp., the province’s largest power generator, argued the high cost of a 500kv line was justified by allowing more power to move across Alberta. TransAlta sup-ported AltaLink’s proposed 300km line between generation west of Edmonton and Strathmore, just east of Calgary. The line would be a shorter and more direct line to Calgary than Atco Ltd.’s 500km eastern line from the Gibbons and Redwater area northeast of Edmonton to the Brooks area southeast of Calgary…A report released Wednesday by the C.D. Howe Institute says Newfoundland and Labrador should delay its plans to develop the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project – the provincial government should first reform regulations that he says support excessive power consumption.