By Keith Sones, Executive Vice President, Strategy & Business Development
Or at least it feels that way much of the time. That fancy computer phone in my pocket. How does it work? I have no clue. How does that huge airplane, full of people and luggage, even get off the ground? It looks like it shouldn’t be able to, but it does every time. Does trickle-down economics benefit the average citizen? Not sure.
There are, however, a few things I do know. Being immersed in the world of electrical infrastructure for the past 30-plus years, a few things have become very apparent. Ironically, one of the most important lessons I picked up along the way had nothing to do with power, but in fact, resulted from killing some time in a big American city.
I attended a conference about 25 years ago and had a day before the festivities kicked off, so I went for a drive. I had no particular destination, just sightseeing and checking out the neighborhoods. After a couple of hours, I found myself in the middle of nowhere, or so it seemed. There was a freeway exit, a fulsome road network, a water tower, and nothing else in sight. ‘Who built this?’ I wondered. ‘Why spend all this money, and there’s no one even close? No houses, no businesses, nothing. What a waste,’ I told myself, then continued on my journey.
A few years later, I worked for a utility with the mandate to get transmission lines and substations sited and approved to build. It felt like someone was fighting me at every turn. “It’s ugly,” one homeowner told me during a town hall meeting, assembled to discuss the location of a new electrical substation. “Put it somewhere else,” said a small town mayor, referring to the proposed route for a new mid-sized transmission line. “I know we need the power, but no one wants it near them.” And so it went as I was forced to spend loads of time and effort (and money) trying to satisfy everyone’s demands. It became evident that building something was fairly straightforward but getting residents, politicians, special interest groups, and regulators to agree on the route and appearance of the infrastructure was like pushing a boulder up a mountain.
It dawned on me that the planners and developers who built the roads before the homes and businesses inevitably showed up were an intelligent bunch. “Build it, and they will come” must have been their mantra, and while I’m sure someone opposed it (because someone always will), it was probably a lot easier and faster to get approved than what I had experienced.
The world is on a trajectory to electrify mines, cars, buildings, and many other things. Society and governments have pledged that renewable energy will provide an increasing amount of that power, which means we will need more and more infrastructure to get electricity to where it is required. Valard Construction has been privileged to participate in a series of visionary projects, including the Wataynikaneyap transmission line, designed to reduce fossil fuel use in a substantial number of northern Ontario First Nations communities and the East West Tie Line, which will allow more power to flow to northwestern Ontario homes and industries. And we will need a lot more.
It takes a long time to forecast, plan, approve and construct these facilities, and many voices need to be heard. If you have a project in mind, even if it’s well into the future, speak up now.
