Alberta Utilities Commission Gives Go-Ahead To AltaLink Transmission Line Route

The transmission line that has been the talk of the news cycles for months if not years, finally has an approved route. The AltaLink transmission line will run from Edmonton to Calgary and will cost roughly $1.5 billion to build. It will start just east of the city of Edmonton and then run southeast for some 350 kilometres until it reaches the Langdon area, east of the city of Calgary.

The builder is AltaLink Management Ltd, part of the SNC-Lavalin Company. The latter firm will take care of the construction part of the line from the engineering aspect to the necessary procurements. Of note is that over 60 percent of the route that was approved mirrors the existing transmission lines and right of ways. That means less tearing up of lands for construction, a more pleasing visual outcome and a lighter footprint on the environment.

Scheduled ground breaking is early in 2013 with completion sometime in mid-spring of 2015. Countless meetings, hearings and documents went into the proposal. AltaLink made sure to thank the various landowners involved for working with them amicably.

There were critics who thought the main intent was to funnel power to the United States with little benefit to the province. The Alberta government disagreed and in 2009 noted that it was sorely needed to keep up with the province’s growing power needs.

Part of the cost will be offset by adding roughly $1.50 per month to home power bills when the line becomes active. But the cost of power itself will decrease by roughly $3.00 per month because of the more efficient power grid.