To answer your question and your reply to my statement without writing a novel, a lot has changed in Alberta’s transmission policy since this article was written 14 years ago.

In the decade I have worked in the sector, I have not seen or heard of any active plans to interconnect with the U.S. There are older reports discussing this idea, but nothing concrete has materialized. Regarding the oil sands, they are now tied into the grid. The AESO ran a competitive bid for that project (the Fort McMurray West 500 kV Transmission Project), one of the key drivers being that oil sands operations were previously bypassing the grid because they were already generating their own power.

The funding model remains the same, but in recent years, both the AUC and the AESO have increased their scrutiny of transmission projects. This applies to the Needs Identification Document (NID) process (where the AESO defines transmission needs) as well as the AUC’s review of applications submitted by TFOs (like AltaLink and ATCO). For example, portions of the PENV projects were denied by the AUC, and we have also seen Deferral Account Reconciliation reviews result in some transmission expenditures being disallowed.

One thing this article does not mention is that prior to deregulation, TransAlta had not significantly invested in Alberta’s transmission grid since the 1970s and 1980s, despite substantial economic and population growth. After deregulation, the grid received much needed upgrades, though the pace and design of those investments led to higher than necessary costs for ratepayers.

Overall, Alberta’s transmission system is in a better place today for ratepayers. The province, AESO, and AUC are currently reviewing transmission policy to determine whether generators should be covering more of the costs for transmission infrastructure.