Fortis and the Central Alberta Rural Electrification Association (CAREA) are butting heads over plans to bring three-phase power to the Eagle Hill area.Appearing before Mountain View County's policies and priorities committee on Feb. 22, Fortis officials said they are looking at “an extraordinary solution” to upgrading distribution in the area to 25,000-volt power lines.“The issue we have is that citizens will see in some cases a low-voltage, single-phase line on one side of the road and a new three-phase line on the opposite side of the road,” Fortis stakeholders relations manager Michael McGaughey told P&P.The upgrade is coming in response to pressure from oil and gas companies operating in the area, which have been hampered by the existing service – a low-voltage, low-capacity line installed in the 1950s, McGaughey said.Since parts of the current single-phase system are owned by CAREA, McGaughey said, Fortis had proposed CAREA upgrade its lines, with Fortis covering the cost. The company ran into “a bit of a snag,” however, when CAREA came back with an estimate that was “basically double the cost we would have expected,” he said, “and that changes the economics.”As a result, Fortis is now looking at building parallel lines throughout the area and is in consultations with landowners, he said.“We're still pursuing our original request, trying to figure out why the price has come in a little more than double what was expected. We've asked CAREA to help us understand these costs, so that in fact, building our own line will be cheaper than to upgrade their system.”Contacted last week by the Gazette, CAREA general manager Pat Bourne said she was “a bit dumbfounded” by Fortis's position.“I don't know what (costs) they would have expected. In this case it's a large project, we had to go outside and took (requests for proposals) from contractors and went with the lowest price,” Bourne said.“The costs are what the costs are. The costs are fair and that's what I believe is important.”The area in question is part of CAREA's service area and Bourne said a longstanding agreement between the two power providers requires the party that is bringing new consumers on to the system to bear the cost of the upgrade.One thing that has changed in recent years, she said, is that Fortis can structure its rates based on how much capital they invest, so that shareholders get a return on their investment.“My understanding is they already quoted the oil company and started designing the system before they even contacted us.”The Eagle Hill upgrade would not be the first joint project between CAREA and Fortis, Bourne added.“I'm really disappointed that Fortis would be treating this project any different from any other projects we've done with them,” she said.“We will be talking to the county and to landowners in the area and we may file with the Alberta Utilities Commission to prevent this from happening. This is a big deal. We're talking about eight miles of line and they should not be building lines on the other side of the road.”In his presentation to P&P, McGaughey said of the 21 REAs in the province, 15 have contracted Fortis to do all their construction, operations and maintenance, while “a few have decided to do their own.”“If we are successful with this technical solution of paralleling lines, the REA that owns the system out there would be absolutely able to hook on to it any time they choose,” which would allow the removal of the low-voltage lines, he said.When asked, he said he was not aware of any conflict between the two power providers.
