Dear Editor,
Re: The most recent proof that the Bill 50 transmission lines are a Fiasco.
Albertans are a tough breed. We are a salt of the earth kind of people who believe in supporting each other, lending a helping hand, and standing up for what is right.
If a thief comes to town, we aren’t letting him into our house, nor are we sending him to our neighbors. He’s not going to steal in our town, he’s not going to harm us or our children, and he’s definitely not going to compromise us or our way of life. It is the right versus wrong that all Albertans try to live by.
These are the principles that make us the envy of people in other parts of the world who aren’t able to enjoy such moral strength and dignity. And this is why we want to live and raise our children and grandchildren here.
But a thief has come to town, and Bill 50 is that thief. PC politicians created Bill 50 so that new electrical transmission lines could be approved quietly in the Cabinet room instead of by the Alberta Utilities Commission in public hearings.
The result is Albertans are now facing a huge $16 billion expansion of our electrical grid that independent experts from the University of Calgary and our major industries are saying is a massive overbuild. And it is us, the ratepayers, who will be paying the billions for the overbuild. You see the way the system works in Alberta is we pay for the costs of these lines on our monthly power bills. ATCO and Altalink build the lines and get to own them. They reap the benefits on not only owning the lines we pay for but they also get reimbursed for all of the costs plus a nine per cent rate of return. (These lines are not like schools, hospitals and roads which the public owns after we pay for them.)
Bill 50 removed all checks and balances that are part of a fair and just process. The thief has the keys to your home, business and your life, and he isn’t looking back.
Consider this: our present transmission system is worth $2 billion, so expanding the grid by $16 billion means Bill 50 is allowing for an eight-fold expansion.
That is why the experts say this is a massive overbuild. Our power bills will increase due to this massive overbuild, but more importantly we will watch as industries and companies, big and small, leave the province or close their doors. While you and I grumble that we can’t afford our power bills, the tripling of industrial power rates will force these businesses to move to other provinces with cheaper power, taking thousands of jobs with them, affecting all matter of economic activity in this province. And finally, when we can’t afford to pay the power bills, then all Albertans will know the thief.
If the PC government doesn’t repeal Bill 50, stop the overbuild, and do a proper needs assessment, then we will have been robbed of something precious in Alberta, and we will never get it back.
Colleen Boddez
Landowners Against Bills Society of Alberta
