Pen Meets Paper July 27 '09

Opinion by Helge Nome
I believe most of us should have received a form letter in the mail from the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) regarding additional electric power lines between Edmonton and Calgary. Two 500 kilovolt direct current lines are proposed, one through the western part of the province and one further to the east. And Alberta's electricity consumers get to pay for these lines, as part of our monthly billing.
The question that comes to mind is: Do we need all that extra electricity here in Alberta, or is most of it designed to go elsewhere?
In their mailed out document the AESO says that people encountered in their public consultation told them to "think big" so as to avoid interrupting peoples lives with more transmission lines later on.
I wonder, who told them to think big, Alberta consumers or power exporters? It would be very convenient for exporters to have a freely provided highway for their energy going south, wouldn't it?
We pay for their highway.
Another suspicious element in this whole picture is an old "friend" of mine, Bill 19, which ensures that any meaningful public opposition to projects like the new power lines can result in jail time for those that oppose them.
In fact, the AESO document brags that this legislation was introduced by the Government of Alberta on June 1st. to pave the way for their projects. And I distinctly remember that government MLAs strenuously claimed that Bill 19 was for ring roads around our large cities.
It goes to show you just how far down the hole the Stelmach Government has sunk. They simply say what they are being told to say by the bureaucrats that are working on behalf of Big Energy. That is what it boils down to.
And Ed Stelmach, just for good measure, is giving away $2 billion of our dollars
to the same people so as to help them develop carbon capture technology. I wonder what board positions have been promised to him after he leaves public office?
How long are you prepared to put up with these pension seeking politicians that have sold their souls to Big Energy?