Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. (MATL) is pleased to announce the release of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the MATL transmission line project.
   The United States Environmental Protection Agency is scheduled to post a “Notice of Availability” of the FEIS in the Federal Register – a key milestone in the regulatory process.  
   “This has been a long and thorough process,” said Bob Williams, MATL Vice President, and Regulatory.  “The FEIS is an extremely comprehensive document that shows a high degree of careful consideration by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).”
   Once the FEIS is filed in the Federal Register, the DOE can issue a Record of Decision after 30 days have passed.  The MDEQ can issue its decision after 15 days.
   Representative Llew Jones told the I-O on Friday, “While I find it disappointing that the DEQ took so long to release the EIS, I am pleased in that the final product does represent a balance between development interests and landowners.”
   He went on to say, “Given the huge potential economic benefit to our region and the state as a whole, I certainly hope that any further concerns can be worked out by direct negotiations between MATL and the landowners so as not to subject this process to additional delays.”
   Jones feels additional delays here could very well result in wind developers abandoning our region robbing everyone of the future potential for additional tax base and good jobs. Almost everyone in the entire region, and that state for that matter, would be hurt if that were to occur, Jones said.
   In a release issued Wednesday, Governor Brian Schweitzer said, “Once the anticipated approvals are in place for MATL and the construction is completed, the presence of the transmission line will trigger a billion dollars of wind power development in the north central Montana area between Great Falls and Lethbridge.”
   MATL is a Calgary-based energy transmission company that is constructing a 214-mile (345 kilometer), 230-kilovolt-transmission line from a substation outside of Lethbridge, Alberta to one near Great Falls.  
   The project will be the first power line interconnecting the electricity markets of Alberta and Montana.  It is a “merchant” line, which means MATL pays to build and operate the line with no construction costs passed on to ratepayers.
   The project ties together the Alberta and Montana power grids increasing the reliability of both electrical systems. Montana-based wind-energy developers have purchased 100 percent of the line’s capacity which can be sold into either the U.S. or Canadian markets.
   In August, the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board granted MATL a permit to construct and license to operate the line in Alberta.

   In conjunction with the permit issued by Canada’s National Energy Board in 2007, MATL now has all of the Canadian permits necessary to proceed with construction.
   Bob Williams commented, “We are very pleased to be fully permitted in Canada and we anticipate becoming fully permitted in the U.S. in the coming few weeks.”
   Williams noted that as part of the FEIS, MATL voluntarily committed to engage in formal dispute resolution proceedings with any directly impacted landowners in Montana who have unresolved issues.
   Copies of the FEIS have been mailed directly to all affected landowners and other stakeholders.  It can be viewed at http://www.deq.mt.gov/MFS/MATL.asp or on the MATL website at http://matl.ca .
   Editors note: Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. is a Calgary based company formed to build and operate the Montana Alberta Tie line.  Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. is 100 percent owned by Tonbridge Power Inc.  For more information on Montana Alberta Tie Ltd.  visit their website at www.matl.ca .