Date:
Expiry Date:
Current Status:
Sponsors:
District:
Year:
Convention:
Category:
Status:
Vote Results:
Preamble:
WHEREAS municipalities in high-growth areas of Alberta are experiencing delays to industrial, commercial, and employment-generating development because electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure is not being planned and constructed early enough to align with approved municipal growth plans; and
WHEREAS current provincial electricity planning and regulatory processes do not sufficiently require alignment between municipal land-use approvals, growth projections, and long-term electricity infrastructure planning; and
WHEREAS this lack of alignment contributes to circumstances in which utilities may defer infrastructure investment until after development is already in place; and
WHEREAS recent changes to Ontario’s planning framework offers a practical example of better integration, including a regional planning process involving the system operator, transmitters, municipalities, and local distributors; and
WHEREAS Ontario’s recent changes include provisions allowing distributors to use municipal statutory planning documents to forecast significant load growth and plan capacity in advance within qualifying development areas;
Operative Clause:
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Rural Municipalities of Alberta advocate to the Government of Alberta (GOA) to review the Electric Utilities Act and related provincial mandates, regulations, and regulatory directions with the goal of ensuring that the Alberta Electric System Operator and relevant regulated utilities incorporate approved municipal statutory plans, including Area Structure Plans and other recognized growth forecasts, into electricity transmission and distribution planning;
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the GOA require proactive infrastructure planning for designated high-growth areas so that necessary electricity infrastructure can be approved and constructed in advance of or concurrent with development readiness, rather than only after customer demand is already committed;
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the GOA direct AESO, transmission facility owners, and distribution utilities to establish a formal growth-readiness planning process with municipalities for major employment and industrial corridors, including regular information-sharing on load forecasts, constrained areas, planned upgrades, and infrastructure timing.
Member Background:
Rocky View County has identified electricity servicing constraints in the broader eastern growth corridor, including a mismatch between forecast demand and currently available capacity, resulting in delays for developments requiring more significant power connections and creating risks to investment certainty, assessment growth, and regional economic development.
Alberta municipalities require a more proactive provincial electricity planning framework that aligns transmission and distribution infrastructure decisions with approved municipal growth plans. Without this alignment, municipalities risk continued delays to investment-ready development, reduced certainty for industry, and lost economic opportunity.
Recent Ontario Energy Board code provisions allow distributors to use municipal statutory planning documents to forecast significant load growth and plan capacity in advance within qualifying development areas. This represents a practical example of better integration of municipal growth plans and electricity infrastructure, including a regional planning process involving the system operator, transmitters, and local distributors.
Requiring earlier coordination among municipalities, AESO, and regulated utilities – and enabling infrastructure to be planned and built ahead of demonstrated customer connection requests in high-growth areas – would better support orderly growth and provincial economic development.
RMA Background:
RMA has no active resolutions directly related to this issue.
Development:
Provincial Ministries:
Provincial Boards and Organizations:
Internal Notes:
