We’re building a new power line near the town of Prince, near North Battleford. The new line will improve power reliability in the area.
Why We’re Doing It
We’re working with Strathcona Resources Limited (formerly Serafina Energy Limited) to add more distribution service to support their oilfield operations in the Meota and Prince areas.
To ensure there’s enough power for both Strathcona Resources and nearby communities, we’re building a new substation in the Prince area. We’ll also build a new 138-kilovolt power line to connect the new substation to an existing power line in the area. The new line will be about 6 kilometres long.
Both the new substation and power line will increase the amount of available power and improve power reliability in the Meota and Prince areas.
Our Progress So Far
It’s important to us that stakeholders are able to share their thoughts or concerns with us before we make big decisions.
We’ve reached out to the Rural Municipality of Meota. We’ve also talked to landowners in the area to learn more about the location and ways we could reduce impacts from this project.
In October 2022 and January 2023, we discussed potential route options for the new power line with stakeholders. During those conversations, we learned about fluctuating levels of water bodies, alkaline soil and some wildlife in the area. We also learned about the need to reduce impacts to agricultural operations and the environment, and to prevent clubroot spread. The feedback, with our routing considerations, helped us reach a decision on a final route and structure placement for the power line.
Check out the Prince/Meota Transmission Line Project Information Sheet and the project map for more information.
What to Expect
We typically consider the following key items when building projects like this one:
- Indigenous knowledge
- Land use
- Social aspects
- Environment
- Technical components
- We expect construction of the substation to start in summer of 2024 with the new power line construction happening in fall/winter of 2025. The new facilities are expected to be powered-up by winter of 2025.
Respecting the Local Environment
We recognize that what we do today impacts our future. And that’s why we:
- use various tools like databases, satellite imagery and field surveys to understand the environment
- ensure all protection standards are in place
- develop a plan to reduce or avoid impacts to rare and endangered species, habitats, sensitive landscape features or heritage resources
We’ll follow all applicable provincial environment assessments and approval processes.
