Jason Stockfish | [email protected]
Top of mind at municipal council鈥檚 Sept. 13 committee of the whole meeting was the immediate concern of power outages and power sustainability facing the community.
A few motions on the matter were discussed and passed unanimously by council, three of which were put forth by Coun. Scott Wilson.
The first motion Wilson put forward directed administration to work with ATCO to identify the current capacity of the emergency generators that are running Jasper at the moment, as well as determining how much of that capacity is actually being utilized.
The information Wilson is seeking would also answer Coun. Ralph Melnyk鈥檚 question of what kind of buffer of energy is currently available to users.
The question of a buffer is important, because if there is a significant amount of energy being produced that isn鈥檛 being used, perhaps it is appropriate to welcome visitors back to town and get the economic engine back up and running.
Whereas, if the buffer is small and any extra use could lead to a power outage, then the current message that now is not the time to visit Jasper should remain in place.
At the time of publication, the municipality had shared ATCO's message that reads, "We have made great progress in repairing our infrastructure and we are at the point where we are able to energize the line and move from the temporary generation system back to the transmission system.
"Starting Wednesday, Sept. 14 at approximately 1 am, we will be moving the town back to the transmission system in a phased approach.
"If this goes well, we will also start moving the outlying communities back on the transmission system. We continue to have the temporary generation system remain in place for backup."
After a friendly amendment from Mayor Richard Ireland, Wilson鈥檚 next motion directed administration to reach out to ATCO to compile a list of current commercial properties in Jasper that are able to supply their own power through independent generation.
Immediately after that motion was carried, Wilson put forth another directing administration to provide council with an update from ATCO regarding when Jasper can expect to be back on the provincial grid.
CAO Bill Given said administration expected to be able to provide answers to the questions posed in these motions relatively quickly.
Coun. Rico Damota asked if the Emergency Advisory Committee (EAC) had heard any concerns from ATCO about getting Jasper reconnected to the provincial line.
As a member of the EAC, Mayor Ireland explained that the power provider assured them that they have what they need and progress is being made as powerlines are being installed and the re-energization of the transmission line is coming along.
鈥淎TCO has not indicated that they are lacking equipment or physical resources,鈥� added Christine Nadon, director of protective and legislative services.
Access to some of the trouble spots has been the real hindrance, she explained, as some areas have been inaccessible due to fire and some roads remain impassable due to a burned bridge and trees on the roads.
However, firefighters are clearing the roads and the necessary supplies, such as power poles, are being brought in by helicopter to keep the work moving along.
Anticipating questions from residents and businesses as to how the power outage was allowed to occur, Coun. Rico Damota put forth a motion he hoped would provide those answers.
Damota鈥檚 motion asked committee to direct administration to attempt to locate the detailed environmental impact analysis that Parks Canada conducted on the interconnection project when Jasper transitioned from the diesel and gas-powered generation at the Palisades Power Plant (that was decommissioned in January 2022) to the provincial grid in 2019.
鈥淭here are some community members who are concerned that suggestions weren鈥檛 followed correctly, so if we can discover the analysis, we can be prepared (for this discussion) in the future,鈥� Damota said.
Later, Damota added that many residents have also told him that the municipality and Parks Canada have done a great job of keeping people apprised of relevant information regarding the fire and resulting power outage.
Before discussion on the matter came to a close for the day, the mayor offered some thoughts.
鈥淎ll of council has learned to appreciate that when an emergency strikes, it has to be managed, not governed, and that puts council in a different spot, and I appreciate that our staff has stepped up to manage the response, which they are required by legislation to do, and they鈥檝e done a really affective job,鈥� Ireland said.
鈥淎nd, I appreciate the response, overwhelming by residents, who have responded with patience, good will, kindness and support throughout.鈥�
Ireland also expressed gratitude to the tourism sector for all its efforts at lessening its draw on a limited power supply.
The mayor added that he hopes people will recognize that there is not a divide between residents and tourism stakeholders.
Rather, that intertwined relationship is 鈥渢he lifeblood of the community鈥�.
鈥淎ny individual in town needs power to refrigerate the milk, they need a grocery store to go resupply the milk, and they need a job and wages to buy the milk. It is all interconnected,鈥� Ireland said.
鈥淚 am very appreciative of the united and unified response from our community.鈥�
