Western governors endorse energy super-corridor concept

[Jason Fekete – Calgary Herald ] Western premiers and U.S. governors on Sunday hailed their push to develop a cross-border Western Energy Corridor that will develop both non-renewable and clean-energy options.

Spearheaded by Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, the initiative could open new markets to the Prairie provinces, which all produce both renewable energy and fossil fuels.

Wall, Alberta’s Ed Stelmach and Manitoba’s Gary Doer – all in Park City, Utah, for the Western Governors’ Association annual conference – met Sunday with state leaders to explore a broader energy relationship.

“The western part of North America has this great swath of both renewables and non-renewables in terms of energy sources and huge opportunities around sustainable energy development, but we need to be co-operating,” Wall said in Park City, a mountain resort 50 kilometres east of Salt Lake City.

“We know that there’s an interest in the part of the consuming states perhaps on the West Coast for more renewables.”

Stelmach said the western governors are very supportive of the corridor concept and recognize there’s a lot of trade possibilities.

Energy development is key for global competitiveness, job creation and economic growth, he said, so the entire western region stands to benefit.

“They know that we have an excellent opportunity as neighbours on the North American continent to co-operate,” Stelmach said.

“There definitely is an interest.” Schweitzer, vice-chairman of the Western Governors’ Association, went even farther.

He declared the oilsands – the second-largest proven oil reserves in the world – are critically important to U.S. energy security and a major component for a powerhouse energy corridor.

“The most important energy corridor on the planet is no longer the Persian Gulf. It runs from the oilsands, Fort McMurray to Port Arthur, Texas,” Schweitzer said. “A large part of energy independence is going to be dependent upon developing the oilsands.”

The corridor also is home to some of the best wind and solar resources on the planet, he noted, and also contains massive coal and natural gas deposits, as well as uranium in Saskatchewan.