BARRHEAD – Woodlands County is again protesting proposed changes to the transmission tariffs charged by the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) that could see local companies charged millions of dollars more for power.
At their Jan. 19 meeting, Woodlands County councillors passed a motion to submit a letter to the province and the Alberta Utilities Commission calling for a full analysis of the possible impacts on Albertans and Alberta companies to be conducted before any changes to the Independent System Operator (ISO) tariff is implemented.
The AESO is a not-for-profit organization responsible for managing and planning Alberta’s power grid. To recover the costs associated with these duties, it charges the ISO tariff, which is reviewed yearly by the Alberta Utilities Commission.
Unfortunately, the costs required to be recovered by the tariff have been increasing over the past decade while new technologies such as distributed energy resources are changing the way the transmission system is used.
To modernize the tariff, the AESO launched a consultation with industry back in late 2020. (Incidentally, back in January 2021, Woodlands County signed a letter drafted by the Town of Whitecourt that objected to possible changes within the tariff.)
That consultation is over now, and the AESO submitted a new rate proposal to the AUC over the summer.
However, a number of companies — including Millar Western and the Alberta Newsprint Company out of Whitecourt — have argued the proposed changes could see their bulk and regional costs increase from six to 80 per cent and their overall transmission costs go up anywhere from five to 40 per cent.
Furthermore, these companies have argued that AESO has not looked at the economic impact of changing the ISO tariff, which could result in individual companies no longer remaining competitive in Alberta.
Mayor John Burrows noted that he had also been contacted by some of the affected companies.
“Being a municipality with three mills operating in the area, it’s certainly very significant to us when you see these kinds of changes that affect industry,” said Burrows.
In the case of the Alberta Newsprint Company, he noted, they saw a changing market years ago and responded by adding power generation to their portfolio.
Now that they have finally reached a stable operating environment, the rules are changing and it’s potentially going to cost them millions of dollars, he said.
Coun. Peter Kuelken said a big part of the overall problem right now is the way the electrical grid is designed, which has created some inefficiencies.
Kuelken expressed concern that if these companies see their power costs go up dramatically, “it’s going to shift things dramatically as to whether or not these companies entertain the idea of regionalizing some of their power supply.”
