Transmission line permit granted
The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board on Tuesday granted a permit to a Calgary-based company to construct a 230-kilovolt transmission line between Lethbridge, Alberta, and Great Falls.
The Montana Alberta Tie Ltd., a subsidiary of Tonbridge Power out of Toronto, announced the decision this morning. The transmission line is called the Montana Alberta Tie Line.
“We want to thank all landowners who have and continue to meet and work with us,” said Bob Williams, the company’s vice president of regulatory.
As a condition of approval, the EUB required MATL to negotiate with landowners in a formalized dispute resolution process to reconcile unresolved issues, according to the company. Some landowners, on both sides of the border, have objected to the line because it crosses farmland.
About 130 miles of 203-mile transmission line would be constructed in Montana and approval still hasn’t been granted in the U.S. The state Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Department of Energy are teaming up on completing an environmental impact statement, which is expected to be released for public comment by late summer or early fall, said the DEQ’s Tom Ring.
To construct the line in the U.S., MATL needs a certificate of compliance under the state Major Facilities Siting Act and a presidential permit to build across an international line from the Energy Department. Decisions on whether to grant those permits will come several weeks after the release of the environmental impact statement.
Most of the line crosses private land, but Ring said the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management also need to grant easements for the project to proceed in the U.S.
Alberta farmers who hope to halt construction of the line were granted permission to appeal the project in July before the Alberta Court of Appeals. Their attorney, Scott Stenbeck, said the appeal will be heard Jan. 13.
“MATL wouldn’t be too bright to start putting poles in the ground until the appeal is done,” he said.
James McCorquodale, MATL’s land manager, said the company will be making formal offers to landowners throughout the summer. “We’re still meeting, talking, listening and negotiating,” he said.
Montana-based wind farms have purchased all of the 600 megawatts of north-south capacity on the line with plans to export the power to the growing Alberta market, according to MATL.
13 August 2008
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
Some possibly related stories:
- Appeals delay construction of MATL transmission line
- Alberta issues permit for MATL tie line
- MATL developers cautious despite recent victory, but other transmission lines are in the works
- Montana landowners, MATL reach compromise
- Canadian court green lights MATL green light
- Mont-Alberta power line gets final approval
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