Mason: Tories fail to act after letter warns of sk

May 16, 2011

Alberta's NDP Opposition leader Brian Mason is releasing a letter sent to the PC Caucus last October showing Alberta homeowners will pay hundreds of dollars more per year by 2018 if the PCs push through proposed massive power line projects.

 “Albertans can’t trust this PC government to protect their pocketbooks,” says Mason. “The PC Caucus was informed back in 2010 about these looming cost increases. They ignored the facts and are still forging ahead with these massively overbuilt power projects.”

 The attached October 26 letter to the PC Caucus from Alberta Direct Connect and the Industrial Power Consumers Association of Alberta calculates that, in a best case scenario, residential customers will pay between $154 and $256 more per year in transmission costs. If there are cost overruns in an overheated economy, consumers could pay between $248 and $413 extra every year.

 Those increases affect only the transmission portion of power bills. They are in addition to expected increases in power costs due to other causes.

 “The PCs don’t understand, or don’t care, that families are under pressure to pay their bills already. These increases will add to their burden,” Mason says.

 Mason is calling for the government to scrap Bill 50 and allow the public to judge whether $13 billion in proposed power line projects are needed.