Surprise change will re-route power line

[b]By Julie TurnerrnOsoyoos Times[/b]

In a surprise move, FortisBC announced it will pursue a more costly route for its new Nk'Mip 63kV Transmission and Substation Project. The announcement came on day two of the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) public hearing last Tuesday, March 21.
Although Fortis had presented three options to the BCUC it had favoured the least expensive Option 1, in which the west Osoyoos substation would be upgraded, and larger poles and transmission lines would be installed along Kingfisher Drive and Highway 3/Main Street to a new Nk'Mip substation in east Osoyoos. The cost would be $8.97 million.
Option 2, which Fortis chose after a day-and-a-half of hearing comments from intervenors, will take a new transmission line from a new 'Bentley' substation to be built in Oliver, across the Osoyoos Indian Band reserve to a new Nk'Mip substation to be built on Band land in east Osoyoos. This satisfies many of the concerns voiced by the intervenors.
Fortis' statement, read by Vice-President of Transmission and Distribution Doyle Sam, indicated the company had heard the stakeholders' concerns and was prepared to act on them.
We feel that public consultation is not real unless you listen and act on what you've heard, said Sam, calling the hearing a real learning process.
As a result of the input from our customers and stakeholders on this project, we would like to alter our position and recommend option 2 as presented in our application.rnHe added the company would like to go on record to say it recognizes Option 2, at an estimated budget of $15.4 million, is a more costly option and would have a higher rate impact than Option 1. In addition, Sam said Fortis would consider the transmission line across the causeway (Highway 3) at a later date when and if growth demanded it.
Over the course of several months, including an open house last October, a pre-hearing conference in January and the oral public hearing last week, Fortis outlined its plans for the new Nk'Mip transmission line and substation, upgrades to the existing substation in west Osoyoos and the justification for the project.
Fortis maintains that, due to the growth in east Osoyoos, the present substation and feeders will likely meet their load capacity by the summer of 2007. Long-term reliability of the service, including upgrades to the existing transmission lines to increase their power handling capability, needs to be done.
Many intervenors registered to speak at the hearing, including the Town of Osoyoos, the Osoyoos Now Society, Hans Karow of the Coalition to Reduce Electropollution and many Osoyoos residents. Mayor John Slater stated the town's position is that it wants to see transmission lines buried and added it is Fortis' responsibility to pay for the new line.
Fortis introduced two panels: one to address the subject of electromagnetic fields (EMF) and another to answer technical questions about the project. The Osoyoos Now Society offered its own panel to voice the concerns of the community.
Osoyoos Now Secretary-Treasurer Robin Gubby said Friday he was surprised the alternate route option was selected by FortisBC in the middle of the hearing, but applauded its decision. However, he added Osoyoos Now still has a few more points to make to the BCUC in its final argument. Slater said the Town of Osoyoos is pleased at the outcome of the hearing, adding the new route would take care of the majority of residents' and business' concerns.
Individuals expressed serious property value, health, safety and aesthetic concerns. A few intervenors contacted B.C. Assessment Authority to find out how new poles and transmission lines might affect their property values. They were told that a downward adjustment of between 10 and 20 per cent could result.
Kingfisher Drive residents Diane Ball and Denis Hull delivered impassioned statements on day one of the hearing, before Fortis' announcement it was proposing Option 2.
If the project goes ahead with Option 1, how will Fortis acquire the land they need [from residents along Kingfisher]? I don't want to think that expropriation is the answer, said Ball, who noted her driveway had been marked with the words 'Pole 224'.
Our town, as most tourist towns, is based on its beauty and character. The very idea of having these huge poles placed down our precious lakeside paradise is unthinkable.
Hull spoke in detail about the application, adding he favoured a modified Option possibility of relocating the west substation. Option 3 has been estimated at a cost of $14 million. Hull said the project had taken a toll on his health and wallet over the past year as he waded through the Fortis documents.
Councillor Stu Wells spoke as an individual intervenor and asked how many times have we discovered the cheapest way was not necessarily the best way? East Osoyoos intervenor Barbara Smith said she was happy Fortis heard the residents' concerns and is looking at Option 2.
I am proud the Osoyoos Now intervenor team, with their suggestions and confidence, were able to speak to Fortis about what the people of Osoyoos wanted, she said.
She also added her voice to many who expressed a desire to see the west Osoyoos substation relocated from its present location to the industrial park, where Fortis also owns land, rather than attempt a $2.5 million bandage.
As a regulated monopoly, Fortis is mandated to take the lowest cost approach to the project, but it will be up to the BCUC to decide which of the three options (or perhaps determine a different option) Fortis will undertake. Written arguments by Fortis are due March 31 and by intervenors by April 7. A final argument by Fortis is due April 18 and it is expected the BCUC will make a decision in the weeks to follow.
BCUC Chair Len Kelsey noted the issue is complex and said the hearing had been extremely productive for himself and Commissioner Tony Pullman.