ATCO Electric revealed more details about a new power line and a proposed transmission facility that will connect Jasper National Park to the province鈥檚 main electricity grid during a public information session, May 26.
Known as the Jasper Interconnection Project, the project will still need to be approved by Parks Canada and the Alberta Utilities Commission before it can proceed.
Chris Clark, ATCO鈥檚 vice-president of transmission planning and operation, said she believes the project will meet all the necessary requirements to begin construction by August 2017.
鈥淕eneral public, landowners, stake owners鈥攁nyone is welcome to share their thoughts on the project,鈥� said project planner Landon Bawol. 鈥淚f anyone brings up any concerns at this session then they will be noted and taken into consideration.鈥�
The project includes building a new, 45-kilometre, transmission line that will connect Jasper to another proposed transmission line near Hinton. The project also includes a new substation that would be located where the existing Palisades Power Plant is, eight kilometers north of town.
Should the project go ahead then the Palisades Power Plant鈥攚hich is also owned and operated by ATCO Electric鈥攚ill be decommissioned and torn down.
The current electricity plant that provides Jasper with power is an isolated system鈥攎eaning it鈥檚 not connected to Alberta鈥檚 main grid鈥攁nd is currently Jasper鈥檚 primary source of electricity. The Astoria Generating Station also contributes power to the park鈥檚 electrical network, but to a far lesser degree.
Clark said the Palisades Power Plant is standing on its last leg, and by 2017 most of the plant will need to be replaced. However, after conducting a feasibility study, ATCO decided it would be better to scratch the whole plant鈥攚hich is how the Interconnection Project came to be.
鈥淲e have determined that when you look at the costs and the implications as far as the reliability of the power plant, it just makes more sense to connect Jasper to the rest of the Alberta Interconnected Electric System,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淲e believe it鈥檚 the most economic and reliable way to serve the community into the future.鈥�
If approved, the transmission line will run from the park鈥檚 east gate to the existing Palisades plant, paralleling Highway 16 and a large portion of the Kinder Morgan鈥檚 Trans Mountain Pipeline route.
The anticipated line will be built using 13 to 16 metre high wooden poles that will be about 110 metres apart from one another. However, Clark said the final design won鈥檛 be confirmed until later this year.
鈥淲e still have to go through our design detail phase,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淭he transmission line is a size that will meet the requirements of the Jasper community and will allow for a little bit of growth, but by no means is it sized for major transportation of lots of power,鈥� she said, essentially shutting down the idea that the new transmission line could one day聽 become a major power corridor connected to British Columbia鈥檚 power grid.
Dave Hatto, vice-chair of the Jasper Environmental Association, attended the information session, and said he believes the transmission line is something that is needed, but said he still had some reservations about the proposed route.
鈥淭here鈥檚 one section of the routing where it deviates from the Kinder Morgan right-of-way and drops down Snaring Road and just goes along the side of the road,鈥� Hatto said. 鈥淚 feel that the routing should be along an already disturbed right-of-way or as close as possible rather than creating a new right-of-way.鈥�
Bawol said ATCO is working with Parks on any environmental concerns it might pose.
鈥淲e鈥檝e worked hard to find the lowest environmental impact,鈥� Bawol said.
From now until September, ATCO will be busy holding public consultations about the project and, if approved, construction is slated to begin August 2017 and is expected to be completed in May 2018.
Kayla Byrne
[email protected]
