The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) wishes to address comments expressed in a letter that appeared in your December 15th publication.
The AESO is the independent, not-for-profit organization that is mandated to plan and operate the electricity grid for the benefit of all Albertans. To meet this mandate, the AESO is required to analyze electricity consumption patterns in every area of the province and integrate data from multiple sources including the Conference Board of Canada, Canadian Energy Research Institute and Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers to determine where the demand for electricity will grow, where and how much generation is required to meet that demand, and what additional transmission infrastructure is required.
The Heartland Transmission Development Project, part of the backbone of our future electric system, is required to form the foundation for the supply of electricity into all of northeast Alberta. It will support oilsands development in the Christina Lake and Athabasca areas as well as strengthen the entire provincial network, benefitting all Albertans. Our engineers study and analyze the system on an ongoing basis, and the published AESO 24-month operation outlook indicates that we will begin to experience operational issues in the Edmonton-Heartland area as early as 2012. This is a clear indicator that the Heartland project is urgently needed.
The Heartland Transmission Development Project was identified as one of four Critical Transmission Infrastructure (CTI) projects by the Government of Alberta in the fall of 2009. The Electric Utilities Act clearly states that the Government of Alberta has approved the need for CTI projects, and the AESO follows the legislative process for all transmission projects in the province. The Alberta Utilities Commission continues to approve the need for all non-CTI projects, of which there are over 200 currently underway, as well as continuing to approve the siting, routing and final costs of all projects including Heartland and all CTI projects.
Albertans pay for all infrastructure in the province; this includes roads, hospitals and schools. The transmission system, being critical infrastructure, is no different. The cost of transmission is in direct correlation to the use of the transmission system; the highest users pay the highest costs for building new transmission. While all consumers have the option of self-supplying their own electricity, from a reliability perspective, the benefits of having the assurance of power availability at the flip of a switch far outweigh the costs.
The AESO is committed to building a transmission system that is cost effective and meets our regulatory mandate which requires us to operate a transmission system that is congestion free. An unconstrained transmission system provides certainty to those who invest in new generation projects that they will have the ability to move their electricity to Alberta households and businesses. It also gives those in other industries the confidence to do business in our province, secure in the knowledge that power will be there when they need it. Wind resources in southern Alberta are a current example of where investment has been stalled as a result of a lack of transmission infrastructure.
Transmission infrastructure is a public good that must be available in advance of need; Alberta’s quality of life and economic well being depends on it. The AESO encourages you to visit our public engagement website, www.poweringalberta.com to learn more.
Greg Retzer
Director, Project Delivery North Transmission
Alberta Electric System Operator