A day after the Alberta Utilities Commission approved a 65-kilometre above ground powerline, Strathcona County says it may appeal the decision to move forward on the Heartland Transmission Line.
The proposed Heartland Transmission line is a 500 kilovolt, double-circuit transmission line that would cover 65 kilometres from south Edmonton to the Heartland region near Fort Saskatchewan.
The Alberta Utilities Commission said the route was chosen over another proposed west-bound route – because of the shorter distance, and will have an effect on fewer people.
The line was approved despite protests by residents who wanted it buried.
The Alberta Utilities Commission ruled that putting the line underground would cost $300 million, and that would be a waste of money.
"This is 15,000 residents that are living directly in this area, there is a school, there is a daycare," said Strathcona County Mayor Linda Osinchuk.
One local mother told CTV News she was devastated when she heard the decision. She says the powerline will be built near the school where her nine-year-old daughters attends.
Cheryl Przybilla's daughter goes to Colchester School. As president of the parents' association, she says parents were surveyed earlier in the year asking them if they would pull their children out of school if the powerlines were built above ground. She says 95 per cent said yes.
"We hoped that people would choose in favour of the children and not in favour of corporate, big business Alberta, so hearing that yesterday was a really devastating blow," she said.
Przybilla says parents will meet with the school board's superintendent later this month to discuss their options.
The powerline is expected to be in operation by 2014 or 2015.
Strathcona County says it will decide soon whether it will appeal.
