Electricity project to increase power supply in city’s northeast

Alberta power lines in an undated photo. (CTV News Edmonton)

A parcel of land adjacent to a northside highway will soon be home to a new electricity substation that the city’s utilities provider says is part of one of the largest electrical grid updates in Edmonton history.

Epcor’s City of Edmonton Transmission Reinforcement (CETR) project recently received approval from the province’s utilities commission, allowing it to move ahead with construction of the substation north of Yellowhead Trail at 125 Avenue and 62 Street, nine kilometres of new transmission lines and connecting power lines.

The utilities provider says the $398-million project, when completed, will improve power reliability in Edmonton’s northeast as existing infrastructure ages and reaches its limits. Construction of it is slated to begin this summer and be completed by 2029.

Epcor says it consulted with about 19,000 people in the area over the last three years about the project, and discussed it directly with 1,000 nearby businesses and residents.

More to come.