Mason: Documents expose Tory transmission plans

May 19, 2011

Alberta's NDP Opposition leader Brian Mason says a Wikileaks cable is evidence the Tories have mislead Albertans and are in fact building massive power transmission projects to export electricity to the U.S.

 “The PCs swore to Albertans that massive power line projects – set to cost Albertan households hundreds of dollars per year – had nothing to do with exporting power. This cable shows the Tories have been misleading Albertans about their intentions – telling the public one thing and then promoting exports to U.S. diplomats,” says Mason. “Albertans should not be on the hook for $13 billion of lines not even meant to be used by Albertans.”

The 2003 diplomatic cable details how then Energy Minister Murray Smith and a group of oil industry representatives “wanted to make sure” U.S. officials were aware of the massive export potential of electricity generated in Alberta’s oilsands. The only problem, Smith told diplomats, was the lack of transmission capacity linking Alberta to the Rocky Mountain states. “Albertans see this as a promising issue for future provincial-state, Washington-Ottawa and regulator to regulator co-ordination,” reads the leak.

A separate July 2009 public presentation from TransCanada Corp. clearly maps how the Northern Lights HVDC project would tie into large transmission projects already proposed to export power to the U.S.

 “The PCs need to come clean with Albertans about how much they will be asked to pay just so power companies can profit,” Mason says. “Clearly electricity de-regulation serves power companies first, and Albertans last.”