For decades, the mountain hamlet of Nordegg, about 170 kilometres west of Red Deer, Alta., has relied on hundreds of propane tanks to heat homes and fuel businesses.
But that will soon change.
In the coming weeks, a natural gas pipeline will go live, connecting the community to the Tidewater Stolberg Gas Plant, 11 kilometres away.
It’s a significant development for Nordegg, a former coal-mining town between 1911 and 1955, home to nearly 3,000 residents at the time. Currently, Nordegg is a quiet community of a few hundred people and a popular spot to enjoy the mountains.
(Nadeer Hashmi/CBC)
Rocky Gas Co-op broke ground on the $8-million pipeline last spring, with $2.5 million in funding coming from the province, around $2 million coming from Rocky Gas Co-op and the rest coming from Clearwater County.
Building through the mountainous terrain came with its own set of challenges, said Genny Mehlhaff, director at Rocky Gas Co-op, but it was all worth the effort.
“It’s very rugged. We literally had to drill through a mountain in order to get this there,” Mehlhaff said.
“Having a safe and sustainable fuel source makes it so that more development can potentially happen within that community.”
(Nadeer Hashmi/CBC)
Once the pipeline is live, she said crews will be adding connector lines to homes and public buildings.
“We should be having gas flowing into furnaces once the infills are done, hopefully within the month,” Mehlhaff said.
Future development more viableÂ
For residents like Roy McConnell, who is president of the Nordegg Community Association, it’s welcome news.
“Having the security of a pipeline that’s providing you with your heating, your heating material all the time. You know, that’s significant,” he said.
(Nadeer Hashmi/CBC)
Like other mountain communities, people in Nordegg are concerned about the threat posed by wildfires, McConnell said, noting pretty much every home in the hamlet has a propane tank.
“You heat them up enough and there’s danger of explosion,” he said.
(Nadeer Hashmi/CBC)
Paul Paridaen, a Nordegg developer, said switching to natural gas will also help save money. He said it costs more than twice as much to operate a building on propane.
It could make future development more viable, he said.
“It’s not the only thing, but it’s a big item in the overall ongoing development of Nordegg,” Paridaen said. “It is a game changer for sure.”
Jordon Northcott, reeve and Ward 4 councillor for Clearwater County, said he thinks the pipeline could unlock future tourism potential.
“It definitely would allow for, you know … if there were larger structures or hotels or so on, to be constructed,” he said.
(Nadeer Hashmi/CBC)
(Nadeer Hashmi/CBC)
Though he pointed out more tourism could increase the demand on municipal services like bylaw enforcement, search and rescue and emergency services.
“Tourism itself doesn’t pay for those services,” Northcott said.
Large-scale operators
Joe Pavelka, a Mount Royal University professor specializing in tourism, said Nordegg has a lot going for it.
“It is actually situated right in between Jasper and Banff,” he said. “And Jasper and Banff are two of our most iconic and branded parks. Then it is barely three hours from Calgary.”
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The provincial government has a goal of bringing in $25 billion in visitor spending by 2035. Pavelka said he believes Nordegg has a lot of potential as a tourist destination.
“Albertans just kind of need to be aware,” he said. “You know that this is going to happen, and it’s going to involve large-scale operators.”
But McConnell and Paridaen said they hope any change doesn’t come too rapidly.
(Nadeer Hashmi/CBC)
“It’s not kind of gold-rush growth, but it’s a steady and appealing kind of growth,” Paridaen said.
McConnell said he hopes the new pipeline will help build the local infrastructure the community needs, without losing its tranquil identity.