The Alberta government is sticking to its guns in the battle over Bill 50, proposed legislation that would speed up approval of billions of dollars worth of construction to upgrade the province's electricity grid.

Bill 50 would give cabinet more control over which power lines are built and when. (CBC)"The government is going to legislate four lines, and that's it. That's what Bill 50's about," Tim Grant, assistant deputy minister at Alberta Energy, told members of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties in Edmonton on Wednesday night.

Bill 50 has come under fire because it would eliminate the legal requirement for public hearings on the need for the transmission lines.

"And quite frankly, if government didn't legislate them," Grant said, "it would just take two more years to go through that process, and government doesn't believe we have the luxury of that time."

In total, more than $14 billion in new transmission lines are being proposed, Grant said. But he added there's no way every project will go ahead.

"Realistically, we expect that Albertans will only pay about $5.5 billion in the next 10 years," he said. "We think you'll end up paying about $5.70 [a month], and you're not even going to pay that until 2015."

Bill 50 is expected to be passed before the fall session wraps up next month.