SaskPower held informational meetings last week in the communities of Swift Current, Shaunavon and Gull Lake  - its second round of public consultations - to unveil plans to upgrade and replace two transmission lines in the Southwest.
One proposed project is a 230 kilovolt (kV) transmission line to supply service to TransCanada Pipeline’s Keystone Piapot site, while the second proposal is for a 138 kV transmission line to supply service to the TCC Keystone Grassy Creek site southeast of Shaunavon.
Construction of the two lines was initially planned to begin in January 2013 and be completed by November 2013, but recent delays in getting U.S. approval for the Keystone project has pushed back the proposed start date to August of 2013. The dates could change again depending on TransCanada's schedule.
This is the second trip to the Southwest by SaskPower officials. Consultation meetings were also staged in the three communities last spring that included several different options - including routing alternatives - for the project.
The most recent series of meetings were organized to announce SaskPower’s “preferred route” for the lines.
“Now - through the process of elimination - we are down to one (route) that we think will work,” said Bernie Bolen, SaskPower Supervisor, Environmental Issues Management. “And we’re here to explain the rationale for our decision.”
The two new proposed lines would start at the Swift Current switching station, located about eight km west of the city. The first portion of the lines would use double circuit structures and carry both the 138 kV and 230 kV conductors south and west of Swift Current. The two lines would then branch off from one another near Gull Lake, with the 230 kV service continuing west to the Piapot site and the 138 kV service continuing south past Shaunavon to the Grassy Creek site.
Even though the project is linked with the Keystone project, which has yet to receive full approval for construction, SaskPower is selecting an appropriate route for the proposed lines now, and securing the necessary environmental approvals for these routes so that it is prepared to proceed when TransCanada is ready.

However, even if the pipeline doesn’t proceed, SaskPower still plans to move forward with system reinforcements in the Southwest as part of its plan to renew its electricity system to meet the province’s growing needs.
The Southwest, which has seen a significant increase in oil and gas activity over the past few years, is one of those regions targeted for upgrades.
“We’re trying to accommodate the TransCanada pipeline project,” said Bolen. “But, in addition to that, we're also looking at the overall upgrade of the transmission in the region.”
“At some point, if (TransCanada) was somehow to get delayed three years, we can’t wait that long, we will start to build some of this anyway.” he added.
Right now, Bolen says that most of the Southwest, including Shaunavon, is serviced with 72 kV lines, which were the biggest lines available almost a half century ago when they were first installed.
“But now they are 50 years old, so all around the province we are looking to upgrade those 72 kV lines,” he said.
Bolen says that SaskPower is facing two challenges at the moment.
“One challenge is to replace aging infrastructure and the other is trying to meet the growing load in electrical demand across the province,” he stated. “The Southwest is certainly very active in the oil and gas sector. We see a lot of growth in that area and we are trying to accommodate it.”
“We have the load forecasts and the 10 year plan,” said Project Manager Scott Campbell. “We are well aware that the load demand is growing in the area and we are poised to meet that.”
In developing the project, SaskPower says it has worked hard to minimize agricultural, environmental, social and other impacts.
“For instance, we plan on doing the majority of the construction in the winter because there are some environmentally sensitive areas (along the proposed route),” explained Campbell. “We need to get in and out of those areas in the winter to minimize the impact on the land and farming activity.”
The Crown Corporation also took steps to manage economic impacts such as construction costs, maintenance, operation and impacts to landowners, communities and stakeholders.
SaskPower says that once the new lines are up and running the old structures would eventually be removed.
The proposed transmission line will still require a project submission to the Ministry of Environment.