Alaskans eye B.C. power line
A COALITION OF Alaskan politicians and business leaders can’t wait for the Northwest Transmission Line to be built up Hwy37 North, saying the line is the key to wealth and jobs in the Alaskan Panhandle.
The line is to terminate at a substation at Bob Quinn just off of the highway and a mere 70 miles from where an American transmission system now stops on the other side of the border with the Panhandle.
Bridging that gap would make thousands of megawatts of hydro power developments in the Panhandle economically feasible because the Northwest Transmission Line, by feeding into the North American power grid, would provide the connection with eager customers in the lower United States.
“We believe it’ll be the catalyst to developing more hydro power here,” says Ernie Christian, a Wrangell municipal councillor and a member of the ACECoalition with ACE standing for Alaska-Canada Energy, of the Northwest Transmission Line.
“There’s the possibility of 10,000 megawatts (of power) of which we believe 3,000 is economically feasible and at the moment there’s 200 megawatts,” said Christian.
“Without that intertie with your line, any hope of more power here is stranded.”
By comparison, B.C. Hydro now has an installed generating capacity of approximately 11,000 megawatts.
The small hydro developments that exist now in the Panhandle mostly serve the communities within the region.
The ACECoalition is one of several lobbying efforts underway to extend the American transmission system into Canada and it is holding a summit Dec. 12 in Wrangell to build up support.
Just three years ago intertie backers were successful in getting the Alaskan state government to put up $3.2 million for design and environmental studies for the line but $2 million of that was taken back the following year, said Christian.
“This time, with the Northwest Transmission Line, we’re pretty excited,” said Christian.
Helping fuel the optimism is the Canadian federal government commitment of up to $130 million for the Northwest Transmission Line which is estimated to cost $404 million.
But Christian also points to the American federal government’s desire to spend billions to expand green energy production.
He says that shift to environmentally-friendly power will provide a foundation for a connection for Panhandle power to the outside world.
“That certainly applies to us,” said Christian of the federal American initiative.
He said people need look no further than the amount of rainfall that falls in the Panhandle to realize the potential for hydro development.
“Here in Wrangell we get 83 inches of year but in Ketchikan they get 170 inches a year. Now what’s that in metres?” said Christian.
One of the biggest boosters for a line connecting the Panhandle with the Northwest Transmission Line project is Elmer Derrick, the chief land claims negotiator for the Gitxsan.
Derrick, who will be at the Wrangell summit, is co-chair of the coalition of politicians and business leaders which has lobbied for construction of the Northwest Transmission Line.
The initial push for the line came from companies with mining properties throughout the region who said the availability of stable power that is cheaper than on-site diesel generators would make their projects feasible.
That line is to run 335km from the B.C. Transmission Corporation Skeena Substation near Terrace to Bob Quinn and be 287kV in size.
But given the potential of Alaskan power running south and the possibility of Canadian hydro developments in the region, Derrick now says the line isn’t big enough to handle supply and demand.
“Mining companies tend to think in brief periods of time, perhaps 20 years. But when you start thinking of power developments, you’re thinking in 50-year cycles at least,” he said.
Derrick thinks the Northwest Transmission Line should be a 500kV one, which would be the same size as the main transmission lines which form the backbone of the provincial distribution system.
“If you think it rains in Prince Rupert, it rains even more up there,” he said of the Alaskan Panhandle. “And right now that rain is pouring into the ocean and it could be turned into power.”
“Even without Alaska there’s potential for more power development. There’s the Yukon which could have up to 200 independent power projects and here there’s tremendous potential through waste wood,” said Derrick.
So far Derrick says he’s having trouble convincing the provincial government to listen to his case for a larger line.
“But I tell them to think of the revenue stream that would be created by charging to carry power from Alaska down into the United States,” he said.
The Northwest Transmission Line still needs to pass through a provincial environmental review and there’s no word yet on when the B.C. Transmission Corporation will formally ask for that to start.
The Nisga’a Lisims Government and aboriginal groups along the line’s route will also need to give approval.
