REGINA – There are 228 landowners living along the route of a proposed SaskPower high-voltage transmission line who say they won’t sign easements allowing the corporation to build on their land.
James Smith, of Allan, told reporters last week the landowners, who represent 85 percent of those affected, have sent letters to the minister responsible for SaskPower, Eldon Lautermilch, outlining concerns about the project.
The 230-kilovolt line from Condie, just northwest of Regina, to the Queen Elizabeth switching station in Saskatoon, is necessary to provide power to northwestern Saskatchewan, Lautermilch said.
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Cost is a concern
But opponents are worried about health and safety risks, lower land values and the cost of the project.
“Landowners are looking at 10 times the compensation that SaskPower is willing to offer and they’re also wanting guarantees that SaskPower will stand behind any health concerns, health problems that people or livestock have further down the road,” Smith said.
If the corporation is forced to expropriate land, the cost will be even more than the $40 million price tag it now carries, he said.
“To have 85 percent of landowners having their land expropriated, it will be unprecedented in Saskat-chewan,” Smith told reporters. “They will have to answer for this because they can’t run roughshod over the population of Saskat-chewan when there are alternatives present.”
The opponents say a 150-megawatt conservation program would make the line unnecessary, but Lautermilch said the line makes environmental and economic sense.
Unnecessary action
He said expropriation is not an option SaskPower would choose and he doesn’t think that will become necessary.
“We have a number of people who have signed a letter of concern, who … once they came to understand the need for the line, have signed easements.”
Smith said that statement is incorrect because easements for construction are not being collected until fall. He said landowners will continue to protest.
Lautermilch said he is hoping to meet with landowners after the legislative session ends.
