Petro-Canada merger gets closer

Shareholders from Petro-Canada and Suncor Energy have approved merging both companies into one

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The merger of Petro-Canada and Suncor Energy was approved by 96 per cent of Petro-Canada’s shareholders and 98 per cent of Suncor’s shareholders at each of the companies’ annual general and special meetings in Calgary on June 4.

The merger between the two companies will be complete if approved by the Canadian Competition Bureau.

It is still unclear how the merge would impact local jobs at the Petro-Canada refinery on the west side of Sherwood Park, although Suncor president and CEO Rick George previously said some job loss from the company in general could be expected.

“Shareholders recognized that the merger between Petro-Canada and Suncor would create Canada’s premier integrated energy company with the assets, cost structure and financial strength to compete globally,” said Ron Brenneman, Petro-Canada’s president and chief executive officer after the approval was announced.

After Brenneman’s remarks, Suncor’s shareholders went into their annual general and special meeting and gave their support of the merger.

The potential merger between Petro-Canada and Suncor was announced a few months ago. At the time, it estimated the combined worth of both companies would be $43.3 billion, with a savings of $300 million in operational costs.

According to George, both companies also combine to hold 22 billion of barrels of oil that have yet to be retrieved from the ground in Alberta‘s oilsands.

As for projects planned by each company, they will be reviewed, should the merger happen.

“After closing, we will start a detailed review of both companies’ capital projects and our priority will be on those projects with: the strongest near-term cash flow potential, the highest anticipated return on capital; and the lowest risk,” George explained.

With the merger, the company will trade under the Suncor name, while the Petro-Canada brand of gas and diesel will continue to be sold to consumers.

Petro-Canada was created in the 1975 by then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s Liberal government.

Speed motion brings emotion from council

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Strathcona County residents will be asked if they want to lower residential speed limits on the next resident satisfaction survey.

Coun. Linda Osinchuk made an emotional plea with council to research the feasibility of reducing residential speed limits to 40 km/h from 50 km/h across the county.

“We want to ensure we have livable streets,” she said. “I cherish our children.”

Osinchuk’s original motion of conducting a feasibility report including a survey to be completed by mid November was lost in a 5-4 vote.

In favour of conducting a full scale report were Osinchuk, Coun. Peter Wlodarczak, Coun. Vic Bidzinski, and Coun. Glen Lawrence.

Wlodarczak originally suggested the speed limit issue be brought to a plebiscite in 2006, but the motion was defeated.

“I’ve been beating this down for a long time,” he said. “Personally, I feel 50 is too fast.”

Wlodarczak, a former RCMP officer, said the courts unofficially tell police there is a 10 km/h allowance for drivers, so the effective speed limit now is 60 km/h.

Osinchuk said the need for a reduction comes after seeing statistics related to deaths of children.

Coun. Jacquie Fenske said as a former school teacher she would not be where she is had it not been for her caring about children, and said she took exception to Osinchuk’s comment insinuating other councillors didn’t cherish children.

“I think it’s about time we watch what we say,” Fenske said. “Please don’t think I’m not concerned about the well being of children.”

Fenske said she voted against spending money on the survey, not because she was against the safety of children in the county.

“I’m concerned the use of taxpayer money that is circumventing the system,” she said.

Coun. Roxanne Carr brought up the idea of lowering all speed limits when the council passed a 40km/h limit on residential neighbourhoods without sidewalks and said she is “sensitive” to the issue. She said when she spoke with a parent’s council they were not in favour of lowering the speed limits.

“You would think a parent’s council would say lower the speeds. They didn’t,” she said.

Gariepy agreed with putting the issue on the resident survey.

“I have a sick curiosity to see what people would say,” he said. “Who speeds through residential areas? The residents.”

Gariepy said that if people are willing to risk a collision in their neighbourhood by speeding, putting a sign that says 40 km/h instead of one that says 50 km/h will not make a difference.

Osinchuk accepted an alternate recommendation to put the question the resident satisfaction survey, which is conducted in November and December, with results released in January.

Lawrence agreed with putting the question on the existing survey.

“It would just be another question,” he said. “No added cost, no added time.”

Coun. Alan Dunn said as a cyclist he thinks reducing speed limits is a great idea, but he wondered about the effectiveness.

“If it doesn’t work, there’s no point to it,” he said.

Mike MacGarva from engineering and environmental planning said most people in the county want consistency in the roads. MacGarva said lowering the speed limit is unlikely to influence driver behaviour, and most people monitor their speed based on how the road is engineered.

In addition, MacGarva said, the RCMP said it is unlikely that they will divert resources to enforce lower speed limits.

Bidzinski was the only councillor to oppose the compromise.

He said he tested the difference in speed on a road and found about a 14 second time difference when driving at the two speeds. He said he supported the idea of lowering the speed limit after the Portland conference that gave specifics in the chance of survival of a child being hit by a car at different speeds.

“The difference between the fatality is a substantial difference,” he said.

 

 

Resident organize against power line

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Several hundred residents packed the gymnasium of Fultonvale elementary junior high school Wednesday night to learn about the impacts of a potential high-voltage transmission line running through Strathcona County.

Currently, there is a high-voltage line proposed to run from the power generation facility in Wabamun to the Industrial Heartland in northern Strathcona County and several of the proposed routes run through the county.

Last night it was residents who lived on the east side of Sherwood Park who gathered to listen to several speakers and ask questions about the proposal.

The meeting started off with a talk from John Kristensen of Responsible Electricity Transmission for Albertans (RETA) who warned residents of the potential health risks of the power lines as well as what other impacts they would have, such as significantly decreasing property values.

Kristensen spoke about how much safer putting the lines under ground would be, compared to having them linked by 200-foot towers above ground. According to Kristensen, the only downside to the underground power lines is the cost. RETA has been told burying the lines could be between three and 20 times the cost of overhead lines. However, he said that higher initial investment could be made back over the life of the project because underground lines have significantly less power loss.

Kristensen also faced numerous questions from the audience, such as where RETA would prefer the line to go, if it had to choose. RETA’s stance is that the only acceptable option is to have the line buried under ground, rather than building the line above ground somewhere else.

“Put it in the TUC (Transportation and Utilities Corridor) but bury it,” he said. “The time has come here in Alberta to bury power lines.”

He also asked if the need for the transmission line was still there. When the line was initially proposed, there were nine bitumen upgraders planned for the area — now there is only one confirmed.

RETA, which represents many residents along the west and south sides of Sherwood Park, also used the meeting to reach out to residents east of Sherwood Park to join the group and build up strength in numbers.

Strathcona MLA Dave Quest, who passed a private member’s bill in the legislature earlier this spring for the government to research the feasibility of underground power lines, was invited up to speak on the issue.

Quest addressed Bill 50, which was introduced in the legislature on Monday by Energy Minister Mel Knight. If passed, the bill would expedite the process of building critically-needed transmission infrastructure, which hasn’t been substantially upgraded in Alberta in 20 years.

He also commended RETA on its work.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in the RETA people. I’ve heard more from them than I’ve heard from anyone else. I’d certainly encourage you to be working with them,” he said.

Residents also heard from Jeff Hutton, Strathcona County’s manager of utilities. Hutton was accompanied by Strathcona County councillors Alan Dunn and Glen Lawrence.

Hutton outlined what the municipality has been doing with this issue, including passing a motion that opposes the construction of the overhead lines, as well as a motion to take intervenor status when hearings for the power lines come forward next year. He also encouraged residents to ask questions to AltaLink and Epcor and voice their opinions to those organizations.

Next meeting

RETA also used Wednesday’s meeting as an opportunity to let the public know about another upcoming public meeting on the power line issue. On June 17 at 7 p.m., RETA will be hosting a meeting at the Coast Edmonton East Hotel in Sherwood Park. Joining RETA at the meeting will be the Alberta Electric Systems Operator (AESO), AltaLink, Epcor and several politicians.

There will also be several representatives of a company called Eurocapable, which has expertise in building underground powerlines in Europe.

Fact sheets

RETA has posted 22 fact sheets to its website, which have been compiled from hundreds of publications around the world, to give residents a better idea of what they are actually dealing with, according to Bruce Johnson, RETA’s president.

“As we talked to our membership and people in the community, it turns out most people really don’t know what’s going on. A lot of people received information from AltaLink and Epcor and we feel not all the required information is being communicated,” he said.

The fact sheets deal with a number of issues including health, safety and the impact on the environment.

“It’s been quite an undertaking,” Johnson said. “But we feel that it’s important for residents to understand both sides of the story.”

The fact sheets can be found on the web at www.reta.ca.

Strathcona to oppose power lines at hearing

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Strathcona County council will spend at least an estimated $250,000 so that it can make a submission to the Alberta Utilities Commission opposing the construction of proposed high-voltage powerlines that may run through Strathcona County.

The county will use the money so that it can apply for intervener status and submit evidence that supports the opposition to the overhead lines.

According to Jeff Hutton, manager of the county’s utilites department, the money will be used to secure experts and have them prepare evidence on the issue. It will also fund having the process overseen by a technical expert as well as the involvement of legal counsel. Work on the submission will start immediately in preparation for a possible December hearing.

The motion comes after a previous motion passed in March that officially stated the county’s opposition to the above-ground high-voltage power lines, which was introduced by Coun. Alan Dunn.

“This is probably one of the most important issues that faces us. Taking this position as a county, we have to fund the intervention which is the only way for us to fight this thing off,” Dunn said in council on Tuesday.

The $250,000, which is to come out of an extraordinary issues reserve, is only an estimate of what the process may cost.

“This is our best estimate of what this process would cost to see it right through to the hearing. However, if the hearing was to become an extended matter, or if we were to expand our scope on this issue, that would affect our resource requirement,” Hutton said.

Hutton said the county will continue it’s working relationship with RETA, a resident-based organization that opposed above-ground powerlines. He said the county will keep the lines of communication with the group open.

“We have common interests and it’s to our advantage to share information back and fourth,” he said.

Coun. Linda Osinchuk said the county should also be looking at other partners, such as other municipalities in the region.

“I support this, but maybe we can look at other partners, other than RETA,” she said.

Biogas to be turned into power

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Waste heat will be turning turbines sometime in the summer of 2011.

The project that’s been sitting on the idea shelf at the Alberta Capital Region Wastewater Commision (ACRWC) for several years is finally in the works after receiving infrastructure cash from all three levels of government last Friday.

The Commission’s wastewater treatment plant, located alongside the North Saskatchewan River at Township 540, will spend a little more than $3.1 million on turning excess biogas into electricity for the plant.

Once the project is complete about 28 months from now, according to ACRWC’s engineering manger Gill Carleton, the plant will reduce its dependency on outside electrical generation by 50 per cent.

That means a huge cost savings, since the plant uses up to 750,000 kilowatt hours every month.

“Right now, the biogas is burned off on two flares. Specifically, this project will significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions,” Carleton said.

“I’m excited and looking forward to kicking this project off. With all of the other capital projects that we are planning for, this money has advanced this one by several years.”

The money is being evenly split between the federal and provincial governments along with Strathcona County.

“The commission has dreamed about this project for a long time,” said Strathcona County Mayor Cathy Olesen. “It’s also great way to boost to the local economy.”

Strathcona MLA Dave Quest and Vegreville -on hand for the announcement with both commenting this is the perfect time to do this kind of project.

“This is one of 73 projects around Alberta getting underway through the $227 million Building Communities Fund. And even though I’m concerned by the recently announced deficit, this is borrowing money that will be well spent on good projects and for the benefit of taxpayers with a cost of virtually nothing and the price of tenders dropping,” said Benoit.

While Quest focused the environmental aspects by stating, “It’s great to see the use of a byproduct of the breaking down of waste to generate electricity. This project will have such a positive impact on the environment.”

Carleton anticipates the project to pay for itself within six years after it begins operation and that work will begin immediately on the engineering and design work, which will take between eight and 10 months to complete. Carleton hopes to have that finished sooner and get the tenders out as soon as possible.