Electricity consumers in Alberta may have to help cover a $35 million bill for fees incurred by Altalink to map out transmission lines between Edmonton and Calgary, even though the controversial power lines were never built.
The project received a lot of opposition from landowners and was axed three years ago following a spy scandal which involved the utilities regulator, then known as the Energy and Utilities Board.
At the time Altalink was hired to map out the proposed transmission lines, incurring costs of $35 million. The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), a non-profit agency responsible for planning Alberta's regulated transmission system, paid Altalink for their work in December and is now asking the Alberta Utilities Commission to recoup their costs by charging consumers.
"It's embarrassing ridiculous," said Joe Anglin, a landowner who has been at the centre of the controversial proposal since it was first brought forward.
Anglin was amongst a group of Rimbey residents who reported that the government had spies listening in on landowners who opposed the transmission lines.
"The shameful insult to the rate-paying public of Alberta is that there are incentives and pay bonuses embedded in this $35 million dollars," said Anglin.
Altalink isn't denying that part of their fee includes bonuses, but they do say they simply asked to be paid for the work their company did.
"We compensate people like all employers do, fairly. said Leigh Clarke a spokesperson for Altalink. "That can include bonus payments. We're competitive and the Utilities Commission looks at those costs and regulates them."
"We've simply been reimburses the costs. There's no profit there – it's just the costs we've incurred and we've been reimburses given that we were out of pocket for those costs," said Clarke.
Critics however say shifting the $35 million bill onto consumers who already pay a high price for electricity is evidence of poor planning on the part of the government.
"The bills keep going up and the electricity transmission doesn't seem to be getting any better," said Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald.
When the $35 million is split amongst all of Alberta's electricity users it will work out to an extra $5 on their bill a year.
With files from Deborah Shiry
