The province should be “upfront with consumers” if it wants to build new transmission lines large enough for exports of electricity and explain how they will benefit users; the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association told a hearing on Wednesday. The north-south grid is the “back-bone” of Alberta transmission, there is a lot of concern about who is paying for the proposed new lines and whether two lines are needed. “The elephant in the room is: Do you need the power or not?” Quebec exports a lot of electricity to the United States and uses the money to pay for the debt acquired in building the expanded hydroelectric system. But that’s not the case in Alberta, where the cost of new lines is paid upfront by consumers. Others also questioned the need for “unfettered transmission,” which is the goal of the Alberta Electric Systems Operator in proposing the two new lines. Joe Anglin, representing landowners on the north-south corridor, told the panel there is no requirement in legislation for the AESO to build that kind of transmission capacity. Rather, the legislation requires “reliable and economic operation of the system,” not zero congestion.
An environmental group asserts that the federal government greatly underestimates the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that are produced by hydro electric facilities. A report issued by the Global Forest Watch concludes that the difference between emissions produced by fossil fuels and hydro electricity is not as great as was previously thought. The study concludes that the real quantity of hydro electric greenhouse gas emissions is between seven and 13 megatonnes of carbon dioxide. Most of these greenhouse gases are emitted in Quebec.