CURRENT NEWS AND ISSUES
News
Check this site regularly for more news and updates.
On Feb. 10, 2012, CAREA released a joint press release, in conjunction with other REAs, regarding multinational utilities buying up REAs with customer money. To see this press release, click here.
CAREA recently released an article summarizing the Alberta government's Smart Grid Inquiry report, so association members can keep up to date regarding this industry-changing technology. Click here to read more.
Current Member Newsletter
Click here to download the current issue of the CAREA newsletter, Shock Talk.
REA Activities
Click here to see photos and a small write up regarding the CAREA Cares golf tournament, which was held on Wednesday, July 27.
Click here to see the aftermath of a tornado that touched down near Innisfail on Thursday, July 7, and CAREA crews working hard to restore power for members. (Larger file size - 2 MB)
Click here to see CAREA's Onoway field staff hard at work, setting up new power poles in June 2011. (Lager file size - 2.5 MB)
Click here to see photos of the Onoway area, where CAREA's other office is located. (Larger file size - 2.5 MB)
Click here to see photos from CAREA's recent fire training session, held at the Innisfail Area office on May 26.
Click here to see photos from the April 13 MLA Breakfast CAREA hosted in Edmonton.
Click here to see photos from the 2011 annual general meeting, which was held on March 30.
Legislative Issues
CAREA would like to remind its members of the association’s current application that is before the Alberta Utilities Commission.
This application was filed on Sept. 30, 2010, and the intent of the application was to clarify CAREA’s service area. Filing this application was done as part of a long-term viability strategy. The Board of Directors has the responsibility to protect the interests of the REA owner-members and filing this application was part of protecting those interests.
Below is an update on the current status of the application, as of Aug. 22, 2011:
· Entities such as ATCO and FortisAlberta Inc., which intervened in the application process, submitted information requests of CAREA. Information requests are simply questions they would like CAREA to answer.
· CAREA responded to these requests.
· ATCO and FortisAlberta Inc. were not satisfied with CAREA’s responses and have filed a motion with the Alberta Utilities Commission, requesting that we provide further and better responses to a number of the information requests. Further, they have requested that the proceeding be suspended until such further and better responses are provided.
· CAREA has now filed a response to this motion.
· The next step will be for the Alberta Utilities Commission to determine if it will approve the motion ATCO and FortisAlberta Inc. put forward, or deny this motion because the Commission is satisfied with CAREA’s responses.
The overall process has taken longer than CAREA anticipated, but CAREA will continue to act and respond to the Alberta Utilities Commission in a straightforward and respectful manner.
For those members wishing to see all of the documentation CAREA has filed so far, you can go to
https://www.auc.ab.ca/eub/dds/EPS_Query/ProceedingDetail.aspx?ProceedingID=886, then click on "Proceeding Submissions" and make sure all drop-down menus say "[ALL]" and click on "Search." This will bring up all of the documents that have been filed so far, which can be viewed in PDF format.
Archived Member Newsletters
Below is a list of our previous newsletters: