Western Standard - Capital Region to Benefit from Wastewater Infrastructure Enhancements

00:00:00.000 or circumstance you hear an alarm go off uh just please muster up by the temporary trailer direct

00:00:06.880 behind you and wait instructions from kate um we would really appreciate your cooperation on that

00:00:13.200 as uh most of you know or some of you know my name is ken mckay i'm a counselor with the city

00:00:18.720 of st albert but it's also my pleasure to be chair of the aero utilities board uh so

00:00:24.960 So before we begin, I would like to honour the Treaty 6 territory and Métis homeland

00:00:31.580 where we are gathered today as these are traditional lands of First Nations and Métis people.

00:00:38.100 We express our respect and gratitude for the rich histories and cultures in the area and

00:00:43.940 our shared responsibility to protect these lands and waters.

00:00:48.920 Let us take wisdom and teachings from the region's Indigenous peoples as we steward

00:00:54.000 our resources for generations to come. I want to extend a very warm welcome to our special guests

00:00:59.280 joining us today for this exciting announcement. The Minister of Transportation and Economic

00:01:05.440 Corridors, the Honorable David Drieschen. The Minister of Affordabilities and Utilities,

00:01:10.080 the Honorable Nathan Neudorf. We have also joining us Mayor Acker from the City of Spruce Grove

00:01:18.000 and Kate Polkowski is our CEO and I also want to recognize many of our mayors that are in attendance

00:01:24.720 thank you very much for attending and we also are being joined by two MLA's as well in as joining us

00:01:31.120 too so thank you very much also sprinkled out through the crowd are many members of the board

00:01:38.000 there's 13 municipalities that represent the munis represent or have elected representatives

00:01:44.960 on the board and they are all joining us today so thank you all for attending for nearly 40 years

00:01:50.800 our organization has supported the region by providing responsible wastewater transmission

00:01:56.720 and treatment for our member municipalities and while we started this work as the alberta capital

00:02:03.520 region wastewater commission we recently transformed into aero utilities to emphasize

00:02:08.720 the future of our organization as a leader in wastewater processing and treatment by harnessing

00:02:15.480 the potential of embracing a circular water economy. As our organization continues to grow

00:02:21.220 and as you can tell from behind us here to support the region and the industries within it like the

00:02:27.700 exciting and burgeoning hydrogen economy and our valuable agricultural sector I am confident that

00:02:34.260 Aero Utilities and our team are up to the task of delivering results. What's more, it's very

00:02:40.460 comforting to know that we have the support of the Government of Alberta. Their support means

00:02:46.420 Aero Utilities will continue to deliver reliable, predictable, and affordable wastewater services to

00:02:52.880 more than the 400,000 Albertans, thousands of businesses, and key industries that call our

00:02:58.820 region home. So I now want to welcome Minister Drieschen to say a few words about why we are here today.

00:03:10.480 Well, thank you so much, Ken and Kate, for having us here at Air Utilities. It's such an impressive

00:03:16.560 sight. And to see so many of my colleagues, Minister Newdorf, as well as Jackie Armstrong

00:03:21.680 Hominick and Andrew Boychenko, regional MLAs here in the Edmonton area, it's great to see the

00:03:28.000 political support and then obviously on the municipal side so many different mayors and

00:03:32.080 reeves that came out today this this announcement here today is really a transformational announcement

00:03:37.520 for the edmonton capital region so it's great to see the support of of the provincial government

00:03:42.160 as well as municipal governments all all working together so it's just a great beautiful day it's

00:03:47.520 supposed to get wildly cold later this week so i guess we picked a good day to be outside

00:03:51.680 but budget 24 if passed will have significant amount of water projects in it 481 million dollars

00:04:00.320 it will be going out to municipalities for grant applications over the next three years

00:04:05.360 and water obviously in the province of alberta has been such a precious resource whether it

00:04:11.040 was pioneers creating farms and ranch ranches near rivers and lakes or cities that would be

00:04:17.280 built alongside them the the use of water here in the province of alberta has been so important to

00:04:22.800 populations to communities as well as industrial growth and businesses so water obviously to

00:04:29.600 sustain our population with clean drinking water and to attract job creators who use water we need

00:04:36.240 to manage our water in a sustainable environmentally friendly way and so that is why i'm proud to say

00:04:41.840 that a budget 24 has a 50 million dollar grant to aero utilities former the edmonton capital region

00:04:48.160 wastewater commission to build this project right behind us so it'll be an impressive

00:04:53.520 impressive investment to error utilities that will increase the treatment of water and that

00:04:59.440 will also keep water rates affordable to as ken mentioned the 400 000 people living in the edmonton

00:05:04.800 capital region and will also create a revenue stream and i promise that's the first and only

00:05:10.320 water pun that i'm going to use today that will be used to to sell fresh water for industrial

00:05:16.640 purposes in the surrounding edmonton region and that equates to about 35 million liters per day

00:05:23.600 that would be taken out of the north saskatchewan river that will be replaced with this facility

00:05:29.200 and just putting that into perspective that's 14 olympic size swimming pools every day that would

00:05:34.800 would be drawn out of the North Saskatchewan River that now will not have to be so technically

00:05:40.200 we'll get into more specifics when Kate comes up and air utilities can explain the specifics about

00:05:45.880 this new train for expansion which will increase the water treatment facility in this area essentially

00:05:52.960 doing more with less and just as a regional collaboration with the province and the 13

00:05:58.720 municipalities that will benefit from this expansion and the rate payers in this area not

00:06:03.860 having to see water rates go up with air products or other new utility users coming into this region

00:06:09.920 to the industrial heartland is such a bonus for for the entire province and the thousands of

00:06:15.460 businesses like air products that use that will use this water in the production of hydrogen and

00:06:21.100 others in the industrial heartland it's just such a great partnership that the province of Alberta is

00:06:24.900 doing with this area and I know water treatment plants aren't shiny new rec centers but they're

00:06:31.960 obviously very critical to our population growth and our industrial growth and as much as other

00:06:38.440 colors of government may talk about environmental projects and to say that you have to pay more in

00:06:43.640 a carbon tax to just go to work and to go home this is an environmental program that actually

00:06:48.680 will mean something and will actually clean up the environment and make sure that we can use

00:06:52.680 our water in a more sustainable way so this conservative government when we talk about

00:06:56.360 environmental projects it's actually something that means actually cleaning up the environment

00:07:00.680 and doing good to the environment rather than just empty rhetoric and words and more taxes.

00:07:07.240 So with that, I'm happy to turn things over to my colleague, Minister Newdorf,

00:07:11.540 the Minister of Affordability and Utilities, to say a few words.

00:07:14.220 But thanks, everyone, for coming out here today.

00:07:15.860 Appreciate it.

00:07:20.320 Thank you very much.

00:07:22.220 Great announcement.

00:07:23.020 Thanks, Minister Drieschen.

00:07:24.600 And I thought Ken said this was a big project.

00:07:28.100 This is amazing.

00:07:29.460 love to see the amount of work and the construction industry hard to work behind us but they're just

00:07:36.100 incredibly developing what we need for alberta to continue to grow as the minister of affordability

00:07:42.020 and utilities the premier tasked me with doing everything that i can to help alberton save more

00:07:47.300 of their hard-earned money the cost of utilities whether that's power natural gas or water impacts

00:07:53.060 every alberton not only do you pay your monthly utility bill but utilities pay play a role in

00:07:58.100 the cost of your groceries and so many other things that we purchase. Reducing the cost of

00:08:02.900 these utilities is a necessary step towards making life more affordable for Albertans and I'm proud

00:08:08.180 that Alberta's government is taking action to address this most significantly here today. Budget

00:08:14.500 2024's investment to help expand the capital region wastewater treatment project will keep

00:08:18.580 water rates affordable. Not only does this help thousands of businesses and key industries in

00:08:23.620 the capital regions 13 municipalities but it will help lower the utility bills for more than 400 000

00:08:29.140 residential ratepayers and talking to kate earlier the the hope is that this could do something more

00:08:35.060 cut the rates by more than 60 percent for some of those ratepayers which is just incredible

00:08:40.420 we appreciate their their foresight and their work to helping make this become a reality

00:08:45.380 it will also provide the infrastructure needed to support this region's growing population

00:08:49.860 ensuring that our utilities are not just affordable but also reliable for generations to come

00:08:54.660 this investment will just take part of our is just part of how our government is helping make

00:08:58.740 life more affordable for albertans aero utilities project will also support hydrogen production at

00:09:03.540 the nearby air products plant exploring and supporting new technologies such as hydrogen

00:09:09.220 that will improve our electricity system is a key part of my role as minister of affordability and

00:09:14.180 utilities and a top priority for our government and with that i would like to hand the mic over

00:09:18.820 to Mayor Acker for some of his comments and remarks as we enjoy the day thank you so much

00:09:31.460 well as Minister Newdorf just mentioned I'm Mayor Jeff Acker the proud mayor of the city

00:09:35.140 of Spruce Grove now this is certainly an exciting moment for aero utilities for our region and for

00:09:41.140 the city of Spruce Grove and its residents as we look at what's ahead for our province

00:09:45.780 and the municipalities that span across it we need to think thoughtfully and pragmatically about how

00:09:50.980 we review and treat our water resources especially in the face of record population growth in the

00:09:56.500 capital region a bustling economy attracting new business and industry and anticipated drought

00:10:02.420 season ahead it's great to know that our provincial government is willing to step forward and make

00:10:07.540 investments that address the opportunities and challenges we face ahead i want to first thank

00:10:12.740 Minister Driesen and Minister Neudorf for their dedication in Champion Aero Utilities Train 4

00:10:18.900 plant expansion. The leadership you have both individually shown in this vital project has

00:10:24.500 been a critical part of its success. So thank you very much. I'm also grateful to the Aero Utilities

00:10:29.700 board members for their commitment and vision as you work together to transform Aero Utilities

00:10:34.660 this past year to be better prepared to support local industries. So thank you very much all the

00:10:39.540 board members here today as well i want to thank all the elected officials and we see many of them

00:10:45.780 here today and their councils who have supported its cause and operations and finally to the expert

00:10:51.460 team at arrow utilities your hard work keeps the systems running it sparks innovation and

00:10:56.740 bold thinking about what we can achieve through water circularity today's investment of 50 million

00:11:03.380 allows arrow and its member municipalities its businesses and industries that call our region

00:11:07.860 home to become better stewards for our water resources it will mean in the city of spruce

00:11:13.300 grove that we will be able to confidently welcome new residents and economic growth

00:11:17.540 knowing that we will have reliable wastewater infrastructure for generations to come

00:11:22.820 something that has never been more important as our communities contend with record low water

00:11:27.220 levels as and as both my municipality and those across our capital region continue planning for

00:11:32.980 our future this investment today brings confidence that whatever we face we have partners at the

00:11:38.660 table to weather the storm partners like the government of alberta

00:11:48.980 it is windy so thank you again for your leadership both of you and to the province

00:11:53.860 because investments like this one will surely set us up for success today and into the years to come

00:11:59.380 So I'm now going to turn this over to Kate our CEO at Aero Utilities for her final remarks.

00:12:03.860 Thank you everyone.

00:12:11.060 As Mayor Acker mentioned my name is Kate Polkovsky and for nearly three years I've served as a CEO

00:12:15.940 for Aero Utilities. This is truly an exciting moment for the organization and our region.

00:12:20.900 As we look to the future of Aero Utilities and view how we treat our water resource,

00:12:25.380 it's incredible to know that our provincial partners share our vision and are willing

00:12:28.740 to step forward with us to make it happen. I want to first thank Minister Dreschen and Minister

00:12:33.460 Nurdor for their dedication in championing air utilities trained for plant expansion.

00:12:38.100 The leadership you have both shown in this vital project has been critical

00:12:41.460 to our part of our part of our success. I am also grateful to the air utilities board of directors.

00:12:47.860 This past year there's been transformational change and we're better prepared to support our

00:12:53.060 future sustainable development where we've got a strong water availability and serves as a vital

00:12:57.540 resource for our region and the province of alberta i also be remiss to not thank the elected

00:13:03.060 officials from remember municipalities who have consistently supported us throughout our operations

00:13:08.100 and our cause i want to acknowledge both associate engineering for their work in the design element

00:13:13.380 and for pcl in their outstanding work thus far as our dedicated contractor

00:13:18.900 and to all of my members and colleagues of air utilities it's unreal the hard work and

00:13:23.460 dedication you put forth to both the project and the continuous improvement initiatives to support

00:13:27.860 both water circularity and innovation within the commission but perhaps the most important

00:13:33.620 but most importantly it's helping us change the conversation of how we think and use water as

00:13:38.260 responsible albertans planning for our future as we move into what's shaping into a challenging

00:13:43.140 drought season these conversations are becoming more valuable than they ever were before

00:13:47.380 we thank the government of alberta for not shying away from the challenge but instead mobilizing

00:13:51.780 communities and making smart investment decisions like this one that sets us up for success and

00:13:56.500 well into the future i want to also thank you all for joining us and turn it over to jesse for

00:14:01.140 questions okay with that we're going to now turn over to questions from the media we're going to

00:14:08.100 start with reporters here in person and then we'll move over to the phone lines please state your

00:14:12.180 name and the outlet you're with and a reminder we're going to be doing one question one follow-up

00:14:15.700 so a first question please please step up to the mic okay seeing no questions we're going to turn

00:14:21.380 over to the phone lines operator can you please put through the first caller

00:14:27.620 bob weber canadian press

00:14:31.540 good morning uh it's bob weber from the canadian press this is a question for minister newdorf

00:14:36.740 uh minister late last week we got a first look at the map your department has drawn to uh i

00:14:42.740 guess direct the development of renewable energy in the province uh my first question is i i'd like

00:14:48.420 to know what kind of research or or study or or or justification your department went through to

00:14:55.540 for the placement of these lines

00:14:59.380 well we we went through our pristine view escapes and what that means to albertans which is

00:15:04.260 predominantly our foothills and rocky mountains and we added the 35 kilometer buffer zone for that

00:15:10.500 we also took care to protect our unesco world heritage sites and made sure that we were taking

00:15:16.580 those into consideration and from that we developed the map with a lot of input from our

00:15:20.660 regulators and industry and that's what you see. Minister, those lines were meant to protect

00:15:31.620 viewscapes but those viewscapes have been logged, drilled, mined, grazed, cut-lined. What makes

00:15:40.180 solar and wind development uh so different that they have to be uh they have to be legislated

00:15:46.100 out of existence for those for those areas well they're not uh it only applies to vertical impact

00:15:51.700 which is wind all other developments already had visual impact assessments and we just clarified

00:15:57.140 those for for all those developments that are going in there and again good principles that

00:16:01.940 we can apply today we'll continue to do that across other industries as needed

00:16:06.100 Okay, Opera, can you please put through the next caller?

00:16:10.100 Janet French, CVC.

00:16:13.100 Hi there.

00:16:15.100 I have some fairly nuts and bolts questions about the wastewater treatment plant.

00:16:19.100 So the $50 million, if you could just clarify for me whether that's over one budget year,

00:16:26.100 multiple budget years, and how far that goes, how does that compare to the complete cost

00:16:32.100 of the expansion project and where if there's other sources of funding what

00:16:36.840 are those sources of funding sure yeah budget 20 thanks Janice budget 24 has

00:16:41.420 10 10 and 30 of the three out years for this 50 million dollar project and that's

00:16:46.980 just the because the construction project on is underway obviously you can

00:16:51.240 see it's it's early stages now so as it gets farther on and it's couldn't build

00:16:55.500 out that's where they'll need additional funding but that's the that's the

00:16:59.200 provinces grant going towards area utilities for this overall project and

00:17:03.100 because that 50 million is being covered by the province that that is where we're

00:17:08.260 going to see the savings for all the municipalities in this region so that

00:17:12.580 they won't have to recoup that money through the ratepayers through through

00:17:16.060 higher higher utility charges going forward and for your second question

00:17:22.720 yes I think there was an illusion that or

00:17:29.200 a suggestion that kate would explain more about this but about the cost of bills going down so

00:17:34.240 what's the timeline for people consuming water in this area to actually see a noticeable reduction

00:17:41.920 in their water bills we're probably too early to really define any reduction in utility bills

00:17:47.760 locally the project's scheduled to be finalized in 2025 to which then the sale of water reuse will

00:17:56.000 be going to industry um currently we're working on the reuse rate with a third-party contractor

00:18:02.080 which will be a direct input to those um dollars and projections but we're probably too early to

00:18:07.600 really project what any reduction would be or how it would stabilize the wastewater rate long term

00:18:12.560 because it's really a long-term game as opposed to a short-term win okay operator can you please

00:18:17.760 put through the next caller there are no other questions in the queue at this time okay and with

00:18:24.880 with that, that ends our announcement for the day.

00:18:26.540 Thank you everyone.

Western Standard - March 18, 2024

Capital Region to Benefit from Wastewater Infrastructure Enhancements

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