Preferred and Alternate Routes
The Heartland Project Team has selected a preferred and an alternate transmission line route.
Preferred: East TUC Route
Approximately half of this route uses the Transportation/Utility Corridor (TUC) on the east side of Edmonton, then travels generally northeast to the Heartland region. This option is highlighted in green on the map at the bottom of this page.
Alternate: West Route
This route passes to the east of Spruce Grove, to the west and north of Morinville, then east to the Heartland region. This option is shown in blue on the map below.
Click to view larger image
Our selection process focused on identifying routes which have the lowest overall impacts, in the context of the following seven major factors as they related to each potential location:*
- agricultural impact
- electrical considerations
- residential impact
- visual impact
- environmental impact
- special constraints
- cost
We received extensive feedback from stakeholders through nearly 3,000 one-on-one consultations plus discussions at Open Houses, Information Centres, as well as presentations to stakeholder groups and various levels of government. We also received comments from stakeholders through hundreds of e-mails, letters, and phone calls.
We conducted in-depth evaluations of each route, incorporating field investigations and additional information regarding potential impacts.
A Facility Application has not been submitted to the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC). Only one route will be built.
In addition to the proposed preferred East TUC Route and the alternate West Route (west and north of Edmonton), the Heartland Project Team will include a stakeholder-requested underground option in its Facility Application* if the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), through its underground study, determines that underground transmission is a technically feasible option for this project. The underground option could consist of a 20-kilometre section of underground transmission line within the TUC, and 45 km of a 500 kilovolt (kV) double circuit overhead line.
* to be filed with the AUC
For more information on the AUC Regulatory Process, go to "Who makes the decision?" section on this website.
Proposed Routes | Original 4 Route Options
