Building Trust Before Anything Else

Everything we do depends on the strength of our relationship with local residents. This was evident in 2008 in our stakeholder consultation work on the Coolidge Generating Station, the 575-megawatt, simple-cycle, natural gas-fired peaking power generation station we plan to build in Arizona during the summer of 2009.

The first step in the process was to satisfy the regulatory requirements of The Arizona Corporation Commission for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility (CEC). The CEC process considers project attributes such as land-use planning, socio-economic impacts, noise, visual impacts, and possible effects on air, water, biological and archaeological resources. Public communication is the key to satisfying that process. We accomplished this step in less than a year, a considerable achievement for a US$500 million project that will supply electricity to tens of thousands of Arizona residents.

TransCanada began by identifying and understanding the various stakeholders, their interests and their issues. With the help of consultants with detailed local knowledge, and a client with extensive experience in the area, our project team researched the project area and met with stakeholders to develop a comprehensive Stakeholder Relations Plan.

The plan considered a range of key internal and external stakeholder groups, potentially affected residents, the communities of Coolidge and Randolph, Pinal County, local, state and federal government agencies, Native American tribes, local news reporters, TransCanada employees and TransCanada shareholders. To build trust and relationships in a new market, we met face-to-face whenever possible.

In one year, we:

• Briefed representatives of all affected jurisdictions;
• Held two stakeholder working group meetings for elected officials and jurisdictional representatives;
• Visited hundreds of local homes and spoke directly with 39 different families;
• Presented our plans to four Native American tribes;
• Mailed information to all residents within two miles of the proposed project site;
• Mailed the same information to all zip code addresses within seven miles of the project site;
• Launched a web page that provided a wide range of project information;
• Installed a toll-free telephone line to respond to enquiries;
• Organized two public information open houses, including a community barbeque;
• Placed notices of our plans in local newspapers;
• Put up posters in public gathering spots throughout the region; and
• Made ourselves available whenever someone desired more information or further explanation of our plans.

The result of our extensive community outreach program was considerable public support and little opposition to the Coolidge project. Our ability to listen to local residents and our track record of responsible development were key factors in the decision allowing us to proceed. As Coolidge City Manager Bob Flatley said, TransCanada “promised to be inclusive and engage the community in a productive discussion related to their project and that’s exactly what they did.”

Construction will create hundreds of jobs and local contract service opportunities, while the operations phase of the project will require 13 permanent staff.