The Jasper Local June1 2016

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wednesday, june 1, 2016 // ISSUE 74

RAIN DANCE // ESTELLE BLANCHETTE MAKES HER WAY UP “FREE DIVER” ON THE RAINY DAY SLABS IN THE MEDICINE LAKE AREA. // SEAN PROCKTER

ATCO to pull plug on locally-sourced power Jasper’s natural gas-fired electricity plant will shut down and the community will connect to the provincial power grid, ATCO Electric has confirmed. Representatives from the utility provider hosted an information session on May 26 to inform residents of the Jasper Interconnection Project. The main thrust of the presentation was to explain why ATCO has decided to connect the community to the Alberta Interconnected Electric System (AIES), and how that process will take place. “We evaluated the alternatives,” said Chris Clark, VP of Planning and Operations with ATCO Electric’s transmission division. “From an economic perspective we determined the best way to supply the community was to provide new transmission lines.” The Jasper Interconnection Project will see approximately 45 km of 69-kilovolt transmission lines strung in the park,

mostly along existing right-of-ways. The transmission lines will lead to a new substation at the existing Palisades site, said Clark. The current plant will be decommissioned and removed. The other option would have been to replace the Palisades Power Plant. Some local jobs will be affected, Clark said. Nearly two years ago, The Jasper Local reported on this same story; at that time, ATCO representatives confirmed their decision to replace the Palisades plant but in a subsequent interview with another newspaper, denied it was a sure thing. The Jasper power plant has been in operation since 1974, when it was built to replace another plant which burned down. That plant was built in 1942. Construction on the new infrastructure will begin in August 2017, subject to approval by the Alberta Utilities Commission. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com


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